Sheffield Hopcast

This month with James away on holiday in New York we decided to not let that get in our way and record April's episode anyway. We discuss New York and trips to America whilst using a transatlantic theme for our beers.

Alas it has arrived: Sheffield Beer Week 2022. We head away from the city centre and down London Road to the super Jabbarwocky - if you need a better description of where it is, there's a very very long one in the episode. James, Adam, Laura and Sean talk about their adventures for beer week so far including Indie Beer Feast and what else we have planned in the coming days. And of course there are some lovely beers consumed including the launch of something very seasonal!

A month later than our usual anniversary episode we are back at Bar Stewards and joined by Charlie and Al A.K.A THE Bar Stewards.

We're back online this month because of you-know-what, so we put a brave face on it and share our Christmas Leftovers. No, not turkey or nut roast - the beers we still have in the fridge after the festivities of the last few weeks. We also discuss an alpaca named Gordon, the beer names of Eyam Brewery, Mastermind specialist subjects and find out what Sean won a massive trophy for. Happy 4th birthday to us!

And so this is Christmas... and after spending it on Zoom last December, we're back out in Sheffield this year. It's not quite a pub crawl but we pop into the Beer Engine and our old favourite the Rutland Arms for a couple of beers and some festive chit chat with Laura, Sean, Adam and James. Whatever you're up to this Christmas - stay safe and all the best from us to you and your family. Merry Christmas!

This month we visit one of Sheffield's newest ventures, The Social on Snig Hill. Tune in to find out what makes them a little bit different. Expect some great beery (and often non-beery chat) as the team catches up on the last month's events.

James, Adam, Laura and Sean pay a visit to The Bear on Abbeydale Road - one of the newest venues in Sheffield. And it's October so that means Halloween. Each of the crew have to decide whether they want a 'Treat' - a beer they'll definitely like - or a 'Trick' - something a bit out of their usual comfort zone. We're joined by Matt, who runs The Bear, who tells us how his fledgling venue is already an award-winner. Happy Halloween folks!

September takes us back to Sheffield and to a new venue - Industry Hophouse on Leadmill Road. It's owned by our good pal Darren, of Industry Tap fame, who also joined us on one of our lockdown episodes. James, Laura and Sean set Darren the task of picking them each a perfect beer from his full to overflowing fridges. So where does the cock ale come in? Well have a listen and find out. Industry Hophouse is well worth a visit and is two minutes from the train station, so a pretty perfect location.

With restrictions lifted we finally got the chance to have our Summer away day this year and after a lot of love shown for York in a recent episode, we decided we should pay it a visit. In amongst all the beer chat we found time to check out Sean's best animal impressions and have a little chat about the recent Olympics... as you do!

James and Adam bring you a special podcast recorded live at this year's Tramlines festival at Hillsborough Park in Sheffield, including some highlights of the Everly Pregnant Brothers' set on Saturday afternoon and a chat with their lead singer, Big Shaun. It was amazing to see so many people back together having fun. Lots of smiling, and lots of laughing. Tramlines went ahead as a Government test event, with everyone needing proof of their Covid status using the NHS App. It was amazing well organised and run by the Tramlines team and a huge well done to all of them for making it all happen at such short notice. Tickets for Tramlines 2022 go on sale 6pm on Monday 26 July here: https://tramlines.org.uk/ Find out more about the Everly Pregnant Brothers at https://everlypregnantbrothers.co.uk/ and get tickets for their September gig at Sheffield City Hall at https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35005859D8CAA4FC?did=ukvenpre You can also follow Shaun on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BrotherShaunEPB Roll on Traml

The first in-person episode with the full team since Feb 2020. We visit new kids on the block, The Pangolin in Hillsborough. A fantastic little micropub and bottle shop and a much-needed addition to the area. Many of you will know owner Nick Davy from his time at Walkley Beer Co and his appearances on the show in the past. We look back at what was happening last time we all at together and in a change to the usual format we each pick beers from the venue for each other. It's great to be back!

It's a return to the virtual Hopcast and a return to a theme we've done before: Beer Cocktails. Each of the crew come up with own variation on the theme. Our guest is regular listener Paul who quizzes the team on their real Sheffield beer credentials (spoiler alert: it doesn't go well). If you don't want to ruin the surprise of just how amazing Paul's beer cocktail creations are, stop reading now. Here are his recipes: "For Crying Out Loud" (breakfast stout cocktail) Add a shot of espresso (Tiamo from Pollards is my choice), shot of Bourbon, (Knob Creek is my choice) tablespoon of Chocolate ice cream (Our Cow Molly is my choice) to !/3 pt of Thornbridge Necessary Evil Imperial stout, and mix. Whip 100ml of double cream with a shot of Coffee Baileys, and float on top of stout mix. Top with Coco pops if you are Adam! "Tropicana Royale" Freeze a can of Tiny rebel Clwb Tropicana for 90 mins (so it turns to a slush) Put a shot of Pineapple gin, shot of orange juice, and 1/2 shot of sugar syrup in a gla

For the first time in 14 months, three quarters of the team got together for beer at an actual pub! So that was the perfect opportunity to record a little bonus episode. We chat a bit about what we've been up to since the pubs have reopened in April.

We're joined by Luke from the awesome Rhythm & Brews podcasts for a bit of a music special. Except, there's no actual music. But we talk about it a lot.

It's a few days afterwards but this episode is a bit of a St Patrick's Day special. We all pick a beer roughly along those lines and stake our claims for Irish heritage. Our guest Declan definitely wins that one!

As the reopening of pubs and bars moves closer, we focus on our favourite Brewery Taps. Adam, Laura, Sean and James are joined by guest Frank, who came up with the idea for the theme. We each pick out a beer from a brewery with a taproom that we love. Well... apart from Sean who has to be a bit different, of course!

The panel are joined by Robin Baker from Abbeydale Brewery as they each pick a beer that represents somewhere they'd reeeeeaaaally like to be right now. There's a real mix of locations and Sean's completely catches James out!

It's our valentines special 2021. This year we all simply pick a beer we think represents that theme - be it a beer we love or some other meaning. And Sean might just have met his beer for life! Have a lovely Valentines however you're spending it and remember - we love you. We really do.

Our guest is Tom Scott who started a digital agency called Little Mesters. Long story short, we use that as the inspiration for our theme this time: Sheffield Heritage. As ever, Sean's connection is quite tenuous! There's plenty of beer talk and a nod to a couple of new places opening in Sheffield too.

It's Dry January! It's Tryanuary! Well, for us, it's both. We give the panel the choice of 'Dry' - an alcohol free beer - or 'Try' - something they wouldn't normally pick off the shelf. We're joined by Robin who set up an alcohol free beer delivery club in the first lockdown which has gone from strength to strength (OK no pun intended) Of course, we're back in lockdown again so we talk about that too.