Forgemasters brews up a new venture

Sheffield Forgemasters has swapped castings for casks in a partnership venture with The Sheffield Brewery Company.

Sheffield Forgemasters has teamed up with the brewery to deliver a tailor-made Forgemasters beer at the company’s historic brewery building in Neepsend.

It is now widely available in traditional casks via an initial 16 independent pubs across the city and through a limited bottle-run which is only available to purchase directly from The Sheffield Brewery Company.

Numerous local luminaries gathered to sample the brew and gave it the thumbs up at a launch event at The Sheffield Brewery Company on October 31.

Forgemasters’ beer has been created by chief executive, Graham Honeyman, who recognised Sheffield’s growing status as the real-ale capital of the UK and saw an opportunity to team up with local brewery boffins to engineer the perfect pint.

Graham said: “Sometimes it is good to step back and take on a new challenge. And with some of the county’s finest breweries right here on our doorstep it seemed like the ideal project, to engineer the perfect pale ale and to market it through the region’s best pubs.

“Sheffield has a status of quality across the world for its engineering achievements and this is simply an extension of the philosophy which underpins that ethos, to take something and make it to the best of your ability.

“Crucially, I wanted the beer to become a household name in the region. I’d like people to walk into the pub, see the Forgemasters beer label on the bar and order it, confident that it will be of the best quality.

“We chose to work with a small, artisan brewery that could deliver the beer to our specific requirements, which involved a significant amount of research and development to get the correct balance of qualities – as do all of our projects! Even the bottles for the beer have been hand selected because nothing about this beer is run-of-the-mill.”

Peter Rawlinson, director of The Sheffield Brewery Company, said: “We were delighted to be selected and the venture between the brewery and Sheffield Forgemasters is a great initiative and celebrates all that is good about the city."

Tim Stillman, the brewer, said: “We have delivered a bespoke beer for Forgemasters, to their specification, which uses Lager malt and Maris Otter pale malt to give a very pale, straw colour, with Saaz hops used at the beginning of the brewing process and American Cascade hops at the end to give a really nice citrus twist to the drink. This has created a beer which we think has broad appeal.”

Pubs serving the Forgemasters cask beer initially include The Old Monk, Crucible Corner, The Red Lion, Shakespeares, The Fat Cat, Kelham Island Tavern, The Ship Inn, The Gardeners Rest, The Sheffield Brewery Company, The Cremone, The Place, The Jolly Farmer, Sheaf View, George & Dragon (Rotherham), Rutland Arms (Holmsfield) and The Wentworth, which is located next to the Forgemasters facility in Brightside.

Meanwhile, to order a pack of three limited Forgemasters bottles for £10 from The Sheffield Brewery Company call 0114 2727 256 or email sales@sheffieldbrewery.com.

For more information on The Sheffield Brewery Company visit www.sheffieldbrewery.com.