Month: October 2025

Celebrating 25 years of Simcoe hops! In collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops, we’ve created a very Simcoe-y release to showcase one of our favourite ingredients from the world of humulus lupulus, and celebrate the significant impact it has had on the modern beer scene.

Back in the year 2000, a new hop variety burst onto the scene and it very quickly became a major component of the backbone of some of the world’s most sought-after beers.

Our Obsession series is the perfect place to spotlight a single hop, and so we’ve kept the malt base straightforward with just a little biscuit malt for a hint of sweetness, providing a clean backbone to allow these very special hops to truly shine. On top of that, we’ve added an absolute abundance of Simcoe, across whole cone leaf, T90 and Cryo hop form, dosed in liberally throughout the brewing process to really make the most of its wonderfully versatile nature.

Expect zesty grapefruit on the aroma, with flavours of resinous pine, more citrus fruit and a tantalising hint of fresh red berries, followed by a hearty, bitter finish. Weighing in at 5.8%, to allow for a full body without overwhelming booziness. Packed with Simcoe character, it’s bold, vibrant and we think a fitting way of putting this rockstar of the hop world centre stage.

The leaf hops we used were grown by Tributary Farms, owned by the Smith family who are founders of Yakima Chief Hops and Yakima Chief Ranches. YCR are the breeders of Simcoe (which was originally named YCR 14), so the Smiths would have been some of the original growers of Simcoe hops 25 years ago. And the T90 pellets we used in this batch were grown by Double R Hop Ranches, also one of the grower owners of YCH – 5^th generation hop growers based in Moxee, WA.

Obsession Simcoe is available now in cask, keg and can (including from our online shop). Please join us in raising a glass to a quarter of a century of this incredible hop!

With thanks to Yakima Chief Hops for the information about the hop growers, and for involving us in celebrating 25 Years of Simcoe!

A couple of weeks ago, our Production Director John was lucky enough to be invited by one of our hop suppliers, Barth Haas X, to join them at the US hop harvest! It was a whirlwind few days spent meeting the farmers, intense sensory sessions at the Hops Academy and getting to know the local beer scene – an amazing experience. Over to John, to give us a blow by blow account of a fantastic and educational work trip:

“We flew into Portland, Oregon, where the beer scene is absolutely thriving. It was straight off the plane and into a different kind of flight at Loyal Legion, where there were 100 different beers on tap covering a huge range of styles. This is where we met the Barth Haas team who were our hosts for the week – Ian, Sam, Joanne and Enrico from Barth Haas X, the UK and European arm of the business, plus Melissa from John I. Haas, which is the American side of the company. I was representing one of several breweries on the trip, with my fellow attendees from the UK and Ireland including Lee and Wayne from Brew York, Dan from Radio City, Lally from Polly’s, Cathal from Rascals in Dublin and Harry from Attic – we were also joined by brewers from Serbia, Poland and Italy. A great group of folk who it was a privilege to spend time with.  

Our first full day began at a local café called Grendels for breakfast – watch out for one of these appearing on our Mythical Creatures inspired pumpclips in 2026! We spent this day acclimatising to the new time zone and visiting some of the breweries that use hops grown by Barth Haas. Highlights included a trip to Wayfinder who specialise in brewing lagers, chatting to their incredibly knowledgeable head brewer and tasting their exceptionally clean, true to style beers. My favourite here though, was a delicious West Coast IPA called “Petting Zoo of the Damned”.

Next up we crossed the Columbia river, across the border into Washington State to visit Trapdoor Brewery, where we had opportunity to try beers using traditional hops alongside the same beer brewed using fresh “wet” hops from the recent harvest to taste the difference the alternative methods made. I learned the technique of using a leaf mulcher to help break up the freshly picked hops, in order to infuse the flavour more strongly and get the biggest character possible from them. Also superb was Grains of Wrath – big thanks to Mike for showing us around. Again, lots of lagers of varying styles were on offer, which I thought was a change from my previous trips to the US and was really interesting to see, but also a whole range of IPAs and 100+ Bourbons!

On day 2, we set off on the road to Yakima! This was a long day of travel in classically huge US trucks, taking in some sights on the way, including the spectacular Multnomah Falls. Our lunch stop was Hood River, a beautiful small town which still managed to be home to a vast number of breweries! We visited the fantastic pFriem – a huge operation which did great food (I had the local white salmon) alongside a variety of beers, including their own Kriek, and cider from the local cider farm. The stand out beer for me here was a 2023 Maple Syrup BA Smoked Porter (9.1%) – decadent and delicious. pFriem was the biggest surprise of the trip for me – it looked like a fairly small operation from the taproom, but as we were led on a tour we turned a corner to be greeted by an ENORMOUS brewery producing around 250,000 HL a year, which is over 10 times what we make here at Abbeydale! pFriem are brewing 7 days a week, 7 times a day – simply remarkable.

Continuing on our journey we passed through varied and ever-changing landscapes which felt at times like being on a Wild West movie set. After arriving in Yakima, we were lucky enough to go to Haastoberfest at Haas HQ – a beer festival put on by John I Haas to celebrate the harvest with farmers, brewers and staff. This was a brilliant evening filled with food, games (including a Stein holding competition) and of course the beer was flowing! It was great to meet the farmers and hear their perspective on growing hops. I bumped into our friends Chad and Rebecca from NoDa, as well as seeing Mike from Grains of Wrath after visiting his brewery the day before. To round off the day those still standing were taken to a local saloon bar, The Old Town Pump Saloon, for a bucket of Coors Banquet, some tunes on the jukebox and pool before a very late bedtime.

Day 3 was Hop Knowledge Day and time to go back to school! We were treated to a traditional café breakfast as it was going to be a long day in the classroom. This was actually my 2^nd breakfast of the day and was French Toast so sizeable it was served on 2 plates, with bourbon and maple syrup caramelised peaches and cream, bacon, sausages, eggs and fried potatoes, served alongside a 32oz “cup” of coffee. I skipped lunch that day!! Upon reaching the Haas Innovation Centre we learned all about hop breeding and the varieties grown in the local climate, with deep, rich fertile soils, cold winters and long hot sunny growing seasons (late Feb-November) which are ideal for growing hops (and fruit too – we saw fields and fields full of peaches, oranges and apples!). In late September there were still 12 hours of sun per day with temperatures in the 30s. There isn’t much rain, so irrigation is a crucial part of the work of the hop growers. A lot of this comes from mountain melt water which can be directed from the rivers into a canal system. We learnt that warmer winters over the last 3 years have led to less water availability and farmers are finding it more difficult to access sufficient water to keep their crops healthy. Hop acreages have reduced by 6% this year, and by 31% since 2022 – a considerable decline and indicative of the challenges the farmers are facing.

We also had a Hops Academy Masterclass with experts Jeff and Rikki, where alongside quality assurance (an area of investment for the company) we were taken through hop sensory procedures and the “sensory lexicon” or aroma notes, to calibrate our noses and make sure we were ready for selection, and how to rub hops to most effectively assess their quality. We were reminded also of the importance of making sure we were well hydrated!

Finally, there was a visit to the laboratories and brew plant, where trial varieties of hops can be used to deep dive into the qualities they bring to a beer. This meant there was an an on-site bar too to showcase beers made using these experimental hop varieties – Hoppy Hour in the taproom! We were introduced to a new product called Lupocore, a new blended product to produce consistent hop characters true to varietal style, similar in appearance to a T90 pellet but softer and crumblier, which means it can dissolve more easily and allows a greater surface area for the beer to interact with. We’re looking forward to trying Lupocore out in a future beer!

Before returning to our hotel we paid a trip to Single Hill who make some stunning fresh hop beers. Here they could not only macerate their own wet hops but also pelletise them to add them into their brews. Hops are just so integral to the breweries here; the innovation was really fantastic to see.

That evening we were hosted at the ‘Lupo Lounge event’, in the old Sports Center, where we enjoyed pizza and wings, paired with beers produced using the new Lupocore products.

The next day was hop selection, where our team were responsible for picking out the batches that will be available to all European brewers over the coming year – so no pressure! We assessed 52 batches across 8 different hop varieties, before being given a tour of the state-of-the-art pelleting plant facility. Bales were stored between 0˚C – 1˚C to maintain freshness before being pelletised. It was notable that very few leaf, whole cone hops seem to be used in the US and even for fresh hop beers they were macerated or pelleted.

Whilst in Yakima we were driven around by Dennis in the “Little Hopper” minibus, who safely got us between farms and venues, and even had a cooler full of beers in case we got thirsty on the journeys! We visited Longmire Farm for second lunch (you might see a theme developing to this trip…) as well as trying a “double triple dry hopped” beer – I didn’t manage to work out quite what it was but imagine it was like a 75-minute IPA which was then dry hopped three times. It tasted delicious! We were shown around the hop fields and their processing facilities, which were a mammoth operation and was incredibly interesting, particularly their cone separation and huge drying kilns which allowed for vast flexibility to handle large yields. Once dried to below 10% moisture, the hops were piled up into huge mountains before being packed into bales.

And after all that hard work, it was on to a karaoke night organised by Barth Haas with Yakima Valley Hops – I picked a back-row spot with no microphone. There is a video, but we’ll leave it to your imagination! [Editor: we hear John let out a sterling rendition of Sweet Caroline!] A very fun night cementing new friendships with bar games, music, food, and of course plenty of beer.

Goldings Experimental Farm was our first stop for the morning after, which is where the breeding programmes of the experimental hop varieties take place. Here the emphasis is on seeking out new and interesting aromas and flavours, alongside good yields and disease/environmental resistance. Citra and Mosaic were created here, and there are currently 4000 varieties being cultivated. The hop processing facility would be the envy of hop farmers across the UK, with state-of-the-art equipment, meaning the hops can be treated at an early stage in their development exactly how they would be when in full production. After sampling beers brewed using some of these new varieties (sadly there wasn’t opportunity to try all 4000) and having chance to give feedback on them, we headed to Varietal brewery & taproom for lunch. This was our host Melissa’s husband’s brewery, where we had excellent burgers and beers, including an Imperial Stout for pudding.

Shorthead Brewing was our destination for the evening, just north of Yakima in an area called Tasker – this was my favourite brewery of the trip, a Western saloon style bar full of rugged regulars, built in an old fruit processing plant. We then moved on to Nomad for the farewell dinner of the trip, where we were treated to an absolutely superb tasting menu. A real highlight and a fitting way to round off an amazing few days.  

All too soon it was time to depart Yakima, embarking on a 32-hour journey home via Hood River and Grassland BBQ, plus a final brewery trip to Ferment Brewing, which wasn’t on the official agenda, but when in America…! And finally, back to Portland to say our goodbyes.

Thank you to the whole Barth Haas X and John I Haas teams for inviting us on the trip and for their impeccable, generous hospitality – it was an honour and a privilege to be a part of, assessing and choosing the hops which will be used by the Barth Haas customers throughout Europe.”

We are unbelievably proud to share the fantastic news that last week, our brewery founder Patrick Morton was awarded the Roger Ryman Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Brewers Choice Awards, recognising his immense contribution to the modern beer scene of the UK, and his unique legacy in creating the first (and currently only) Employee Owned brewery in the country. Two of our Co-Owners, Laura and Jim Rangeley, were present to receive the award on his behalf – we knew we’d been shortlisted for Beer of the Year and Brewery of the Year, but this particular accolade was a big (and very wonderful)  surprise!

We’ve now presented Pat with his tankard in person (which he was delighted with and filled with beer immediately), and his thank you speech was simply: “Well I certainly can’t do what Spike Milligan did and say I did it all myself!”

Renowned beer writer Melissa Cole, who was one of the judging panel and along with the editor of the Brewers Journal, Tim Sheahan, presented the award, said of Pat’s achievement “Pat’s commitment to providing the local community with a brewery that represents them and to then make it employee-owned means this award is not just deserved, it’s a great example for others to follow.”

We thought the best way to tell the story behind this amazing achievement was to share with you a version of the pitch that we put to the judging panel. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate our first year of employee ownership, or a more fitting accolade for our fantastic founder. Cheers to you, Pat!

As we hope many of you will already be aware, Abbeydale Brewery is a Sheffield based, independent business founded in 1996. In 2024, we became the first and currently only employee owned brewery in the UK. The brewery was sold (as an Employee Ownership Trust) to the 50 members of staff who work at the brewery and our pub, The Rising Sun, by founder Patrick Morton, and his wife Sue – herself also a remarkable figure. Although Pat is now therefore beginning to enjoy a very well-earned retirement (almost – he’s very much still on speed dial whenever anything breaks down, as well as remaining on the Board of Directors, and of course carrying out all important quality control), we really wanted to see his past three decades of ingenuity and passion recognised, and felt he would be an incredibly worthy contender for the Lifetime Achievement Award as a result.

The legacy Pat has trusted us with is one of the largest and most highly regarded breweries in “real ale capital” Sheffield, capable of producing 240 brewers’ barrels per week, employing 25 talented, dedicated members of staff from the local area, and running a successful community pub. The business comes to us, after 29 years of organic growth, in a strong position to continue driving forwards and building on our reputation, despite the significant challenges our industry continues to face. Pat and Sue could have gone down the route of selling the business for likely a much greater sum to a large corporation, as we are seeing happen more and more frequently in the beer world at the moment – but in their own words, “that really wouldn’t have been very Abbeydale”. The decision to instead leave it in the hands of those who know it best – our team – is indicative of Pat’s attitude, trust, and commitment to independence.

Pat hasn’t always worked in the industry, and came to brewing in the early 1990s at the very start of the real ale revival following many years of working in engineering (and a number of homebrewing experiments of varying success!). Pat’s career in beer began with four years at Kelham Island Brewery, where he was instrumental in the creation of many of their recipes including previous Champion Beer of Britain winning beer Pale Rider, before setting out on his own and establishing Abbeydale Brewery almost thirty years ago.

Pat took a hands-on, slightly eccentric approach to building his own business – and it blossomed because of this, at times against all odds. The beer world was a very different place in 1996 – there was no small brewer’s duty relief, very few independent breweries existed and almost all lines were tied. Economically speaking, you could say that it was folly bordering on madness to start a small cask focused brewery… but that’s what Pat did. The kit was cobbled together from four old 5 BBL tanks and, somewhat oddly, some curtain netting, and the first brews were ready to be produced. The fashion at the time was for what Pat refers to as “boring brown beer”, so true to form his first creations were a US hopped pale ale (Moonshine, still far and away our biggest seller) and Black Mass, a Cascade single hopped black IPA. Pioneering the use of new world hops is one example of how Pat has always been either ahead of the curve or willing to embrace new trends – we’re still not entirely sure which!

Pat has instilled in our team the value of education and training. The whole team is encouraged and supported to gain qualifications in the industry such as the GCB, and two of our brewteam are currently working towards their Diploma. It is typical of Pat to enable a brewer with specific interests to receive the investment, training and support required to develop their skills to a point where they have the confidence and knowledge to flourish. A great example of this is our Funk Dungeon barrel ageing and mixed fermentation project, where our brewer Jim was empowered to build the project from scratch, with significant investment into equipment, barrel stock, and continual professional development – resulting (amongst other things!) in Jim being named Brewer of the Year at the Brewers Choice Awards 2024. Pat began by making the beer he wanted to drink, after all, so this spirit is something which has always been integral to us all, and passed down through the entire team. It is this which enables the brewery to still be pushing boundaries almost thirty years after its inception. In Pat’s words – “you stand still, you die”.

Pat and his wife Sue (who joined the business in its early years, bringing a wealth of experience alongside a level headed, methodical approach to balance Pat’s rather more gung ho attitude!) have been a familiar presence at pubs and beer festivals for decades, and are champions of independence, quality and locality, working with small Sheffield businesses for everything from manufacturing our barrel racks to the coffee that keeps the brewery running! Alongside this, they make friends with fellow brewers wherever they go – meaning Abbeydale Brewery have had opportunity to collaborate with a whole host of amazing breweries worldwide, including GABF gold award winners GriffinClaw (Michigan) and NoDa (North Carolina).

We’re known for being a humble bunch who generally fly a little under the radar, getting on with what we do in an understated way – and although we don’t have any grand plans to change that despite it now being all of us “in charge”(!), we’re absolutely thrilled to see Pat’s unrelenting resolve, unfaltering faith, and indefatigable good humour recognised for his outstanding contribution to the beer scene of not just Sheffield, but the UK as a whole.

Thank you to the Brewers Journal for organising the Brewers Choice Awards – judged by a panel of industry experts who share decades of experience between them.