Everything you need to know about this year’s milestone Sheffield Beer Week…

Sheffield’s annual celebration of all things beer returns from 4th-10th March – and this year they’re celebrating a very special milestone!

Unbelievably, 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of Sheffield Beer Week and it’s shaping up to be another standout edition.

This year, key Beer Week strands include ‘Beer and Food’, ‘Community’ and ‘Heritage’; with ongoing organic strands including International Women’s Day events, 10 years of Sheffield Beer Week and celebrating our access to vital green spaces alongside The Festival of the Outdoors.

Sheffield Beer Week founder, Jules Gray. Photo Credit: Mark Newton

Jules Gray, Sheffield Beer Week founder, said of the upcoming event: “A decade of showcasing great independent beer in Sheffield is something to be hugely proud of as a city and community. A city with a long-standing heritage of beer and brewing that goes back hundreds of years.

“It’s a testament to everyone involved and everyone who supports the beer scene. Beer is part of the city’s fabric, its culture, its heritage, jobs, economy and keeping the high street vibrant.”

We’ll certainly raise a glass to that, Jules! The Exposed team will also be keeping a close eye on Sheffield Beer Week’s website (sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk)

and socials (@sheffbeerweek) for the latest announcements and listings, but in the meantime, here are a few highlights that stand out so far…

Photo Credit: Mark Newton

SHEFFIELD: BEER CITY

Through a challenging climate, many of Sheffield’s beer businesses have survived, thrived, and we’ve even seen a few recent additions to the scene. 2024 sees the revisiting of Sheffield University’s commissioned ‘Beer Report’, which has broadcaster Pete Brown reviewing the regional beer landscape once again. Look out for its launch during Sheffield Beer Week, where we’ll find out whether we can still rightfully claim to be the best city in the world for beer.

A GRAND FEAST

As is now tradition, on the weekend preceding Sheffield Beer Week (1st and 2nd March) Sheffield’s best craft beer festival, Indie Beer Feast, will return to the city centre at Trafalgar Warehouse.

The much-loved event is a celebration of great independent craft beer with brewery bars, street food, low intervention wines and fine cider, which champions and supports The Everyone Welcome initiative.

British Guild of Beer Writers’ members and leading UK award-wining beer writers David Jesudason (current Beer Writer of the Year), Pete Brown and Adrian Tierney-Jones will be heading up to host pop-up tastings.

David will be discussing his latest book ‘Desi Pubs’, while Pete will be launching the aforementioned Sheffield beer report.

Dr Christina Wade will be celebrating her new book, ‘The Devil’s in the Draught Lines’, which charts 1000 years of women in Britain’s beer history. Elsewhere, Henry Kirk of soon to launch new brewery, Sunken Knave, will be discussing his passion for Old Ales. Look out for more intriguing talks to be announced this month.

Hop supplier Barth Haas X have sponsored the talks and tastings and will also host their own trade panel discussion.

Breweries pouring include Sheffield outfits Heist, Triple Point, Kelham Island, Grizzly Grains and Abbeydale. These are in addition to Manchester’s Track, Liverpool’s Neptune, Leicester’s Round Corner, Reading’s Siren, Leeds’ Amity Brew Co and Tartarus, Wales’ Sobremesa Drinks, Derbyshire’s Thornbridge and Torrside, North Yorkshire’s Turning Point Brew Co and Hitchin’s Crossover Blendery. Reckon that’s about enough for you?

www.indiebeerfeast.co.uk

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Visit Sheffield’s The Festival of the Outdoors has become a vibrant month of annual activities in March and this year, as part of Sheffield Beer Week, there will be a special running and beer event from Hop Hideout and Run Talk Run which includes a brewery tour from Triple Point Brewery. Heist Brew Co are also collaborating with The Foundry Climbing Centre on a beer to go alongside their beer and climbing social.

Photo Credit: Mark Newton

SPECIAL BREWS

Once again, loads of special beers are brewing to be released as part of Beer Week. Here are a few that we can’t wait to get a taste of…

• Triple Point Brewery will be collaborating with Indie Beer Feast, Sheffield Beer Week and The Festival of the Outdoors on a special brew to highlight South Yorkshire green spaces and inspirational Peak District campaigner Ethel Haythornthwaite.
• Lost Industry and Thornbridge are both brewing their own International Women’s Collab Brew Day beers.
• Abbeydale are re-releasing their 2023 Sheffield Beer Week collab with Cloud Peak due to popular demand, and this year it will include a limited art print alongside.
• Beer shop Hop Hideout is collaborating with Heist and Indie Beer Feast on a super limited sour- style beer.
• New microbar The Wonky Labrador are collaborating with Triple Point on a birthday beer.

TAP TAKEOVERS AND EVENTS

As well as an influx of breweries heading to Indie Beer Feast, you’ll find a number of tap takeovers and meet the brewers happening at venues across the city, including…

• Pangolin (Turning Point Brew Co),
• The Beer House S6 (Amity Brew Co)
• Kelham Island Tavern (Siren)

More tap takeovers will be announced in the coming weeks, with The Rutland Arms, The Crow Inn, Beer Central, The Riverside, Heist Brew Co Tap, Shakespeares, Hop Hideout, The Wonky Labrador and The Old Shoe all starting to plan events.

Photo Credit: Mark Newton

To celebrate the above-mentioned launch of Dr Christina Wade’s book, Hop Hideout have created a collaborative beer alongside the writer and Torrside Brewing which takes its inspiration from historical women’s recipes featured in the book. This will be in addition to hosting a Queer Brewing tap takeover (founder Lily was commissioned to take photographs for the book).

Thornbridge Brewery are also set to host Bundobust, Newbarns and Red Willow at their pubs The Greystones, Hallamshire House and The Stag’s Head, while brewery tap openings so far confirmed include Saint Mars of the Desert, Fuggle Bunny Brew House, Heist Brew Co, Triple Point and Tapped Brew Co.

It’s all shaping up to be one of the busiest Sheffield Beer Weeks to date! To keep up with all the latest announcements, head to: sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk