Year: 2025

The latest in our acclaimed Travel Poster inspired series of collaboration beers is out now… and you might just recognise our visitor to the brewhouse! We’ve recently welcomed Loch Lomond Brewery to create something delicious with us, and their Lead Brewer, Scott Murray, made the long journey to represent Scotland right here in Sheffield. If you’re thinking Scott looks familiar, that’s because he was once part of our brewteam too – so it was wonderful to invite him back and spend the day catching up as well as making a beer together.

Introducing Live, Laugh, Loch Lomond! A 4.2% single hopped pale made in the spirit of friendship, bursting with good vibes and just a touch of whimsy. A light biscuity base meets uniquely flavourful Krush hops to create a fruity little number with a luscious impact. A tropical aroma translates on the palate to bright and breezy notes of mango and pineapple, with a thirst-quenching finish. Available in cask only, celebrating not just the spirit of collaboration and community but our wonderful pubs too.

This brew follows on from our Dan making the journey up to bonnie Scotland a couple of months ago, where the “away” leg of our collaboration resulted in the release of Rubus Black – a Cranachan Porter weighing in at 6%. This one can’t be bought from us directly (although members of our subscription box club will have found one in this month’s box!) but you can pick cans up from Loch Lomond’s online shop here. Rich and decadent, delicious oaty and infused with the tart sweetness of real Scottish raspberries. Some of this tasty treat is still quietly resting in an ex-Oloroso sherry barrel too… be sure to follow Loch Lomond to find out when this will be making an appearance!

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

Beer festival season is well and truly in full swing, and next weekend we’ve got beer at no less than 5 fantastic events around the North of England!

First up is CAMRA’s Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival, which kicks off on Thursday 3^rd July and is held in the gorgeous surroundings of St Clement’s Church. Absolutely loads of beers to choose from including a wide selection of our own.

The absolutely stunning historic Merchant Adventurer’s Hall in the centre of York is playing host to a charity beer festival, with a fantastic list of cask and keg beer curated by our friends at Brew York, on Friday 4^th and Saturday 5^th July. A truly unique setting to enjoy a few pints! Over 70 beers will be available, including both a cask and keg from ourselves. Tickets are available here (at the time of writing, the Saturday afternoon session was already sold out, so don’t hang around if you’re keen to attend!).

And also on Saturday 5^th July, our pop up bar is going on tour to Roosters Brewery near Harrogate, where you’ll find our Robin and Sam slinging pints at Suds With Buds. It’s our first time pouring here and we absolutely can’t wait! The brewery line up looks absolutely sensational, and we’ll have four beers available including our beloved Moonshine, and our collaboration with Roosters themselves, Heading into Harrogate, on the bar. Plus there’s a great selection of street food on offer and some fab live music throughout the day too. Find out more and get your tickets here.

This one isn’t a festival, but a fantastic event nonetheless – community pub, The Fox & Goose in Hebden Bridge, is celebrating the UN International Year of Co-Operatives, and has chosen to showcase our Employee Owned brewery as a part of it! From 12-5pm on Sunday 6th July they’re hosting an afternoon of informal talks, music and pizza which includes a tap takeover featuring a whopping ten of our beers!

Finally, for something a little bit different (and ok this one isn’t quite in what we might call “the North”!), Moonshine and Discover Ossett are the beers of choice at The Gate to Southwell folk and acoustic music festival, a volunteer run event in beautiful rural Nottinghamshire.

Hope to see you at one of the above – please do tag us in your festival snaps to let us know where you’ve found our beers! You can find us on Instagram @abbeydalebeers.

Team Abbeydale

Next up in our new series of natural print inspired cask only releases (you can read more about the development of this range here), we’d like to introduce you to Linden, a 4.1% pale ale single hopped with Most™ – our first time using this new and intriguing hop variety.

Most™ hops (pronounced “moss-t”) were developed in the UK by our hop suppliers Charles Faram, in collaboration with farmers in the Czech Republic, which is where the hops themselves are actually grown – the first variety from the Charles Faram Development Program to be grown outside of the UK. The word “Most” is Czech for bridge, so the name represents this ethos of working together and symbolises friendship and community in the aftermath of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Most™ is a sister variety of UK grown varieties Jester® and Olicana® and so shares some of their delectable characteristics.

Charles Faram describe this exciting new variety as a dual purpose hop, which can be used for aroma or bittering. We used it in whole cone form in our hopback, which we feel allows it to shine most brightly. Versatile and clean with a unique flavour profile, Farams add that Most™ has a more powerful aroma than what you might usually expect from a Czech-grown hop, described as boasting notes of strawberry and bubblegum alongside some tropical citrus and fresh tones.

Whilst the versatility of Most™ means it can be used across a wide range of beer styles, as it’s our first time using it we wanted to do what we think we do best – a classic, 4.1% pale ale which uses these gorgeous hops in isolation. The result is a fresh, grassy and eminently drinkable beer – aromatic and citrussy with abundant red fruit flavours, hints of sherbet and a gentle bitterness in the finish.

We reckon it’s a “Most” have on the bar!

We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be working with Ben’s Centre as our charity partners for 2025.

Ben’s Centre is a charity that aims to provide a safe space and an open hand to those who suffer through substance misuse and its associated barriers. Their day centre is based just a couple of miles from us on Wilkinson Street, Sheffield, which offers “a place of sanctuary for the vulnerable” such as those affected by homelessness, and they also operate a city centre outreach service. They offer an incredibly valuable service, non-judgemental and with careful and empathetic consideration of each individual’s circumstances – in their own words, “there’s no one type of person that we support at Ben’s Centre. Each individual has a different story. Often people like this are generalised into one group – homeless. In reality, they represent so much more. We see men and women, old and young. We have clients with families, and clients with no-one left. Clients who’ve been living rough for years and clients that have just found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have some clients needing fresh clothes, hot meals, and a bit of warm shelter and some clients that just stop by for a friendly chat and a mug of coffee with our staff. Without Ben’s Centre, all of these people struggling with dependency in Sheffield would have nowhere to go.”

We partner with a different local charity every year, and when Ben’s Centre approached us we were thrilled to be able to collaborate with them, helping to spread the word about the unique work they do, and raise some extra funds for them to continue helping people affected by addiction and homelessness.  As a brewery we recognise the potential issues surrounding alcohol, and the importance of promoting responsible drinking, so partnering with Ben’s Centre allows us an opportunity to broach this subject. You can read more about their decision to work with us here.

We were able to welcome some of the wonderful team who work for Ben’s Centre to the brewhouse to help us rustle up something delicious, and are proud to announce that our exclusive cask only fundraising beer, Ben’s Bazaar, will be available from Monday 7th July. Named in homage to their old charity shop and support hub, it’s a classic pale ale – light and refreshing with Citra, Cascade and Centennial hops, we hope this one will fly out! 10p from each pint sold will be contributed towards Ben’s Centre, supporting them to provide acceptance, practical support and harm reduction for vulnerable people affected by addiction and associated issues like rough sleeping in Sheffield.

As well as the beer, we also hope to work with Ben’s Centre on other projects and fundraising campaigns throughout the year, so stay tuned for more information!

Head here to visit Ben’s Centre’s website, to find out more about the work they do and how you can support them, including how to make a donation.

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

We’ve created a new series of cask only beers, designed to be enjoyed whilst supporting your local pub, with artwork inspired by vintage botanical prints and nineteenth-century lithographs of the nature we find around us.

First up in this range is Fen Violet, a classic 4.3% pale ale hopped with Vic Secret and Columbus. Expect lovely aromatic qualities, with gentle herbal notes of marjoram in the background and tasty, fruity, tropical flavours up front. As with all our beers, it’s gluten free too. (And no fen violets were harmed in the making of this beer!)

We’ve taken inspiration from various sources for the designs of this series, including the gardens of Team Abbeydale and our favourite plants and flowers found within them, and a trip to Sheffield’s beautiful Botanical Gardens. It’s really important to us and integral to our identity that the artwork we produce is based on tangible reality and borne of true creativity. Each element has been meticulously hand drawn by our designer James Murphy, and in a nod to the historic lithographic plates which inspired the series, the year of release and number it comes in the range has been included in the background of the design. You will notice too that the colour palette chosen is a little more subtle and evocative of the natural elements shown in the artwork, when compared to some of our other ranges, which could be considered more graphic in style and use bolder, more accentuated tones – again in keeping with the inspiration.

An aesthetic of a time which has become timeless. Look out for these at the bar! (And to our trade customers, if you’d like a cask for your venue, please do get in touch!)

Cheers!

Rejoice! As we start to work towards our 30^th anniversary next year, legacy beers from the Abbeydale Brewery archives are being re-released, with a fresh new look.

First up… it’s the return of Holy Water! A much-requested favourite, and now brewed again to the original recipe, which dates back over 20 years. Packing a punch at 6.0% ABV but still wonderfully smooth and well-balanced, made using Willamette, Citra and Centennial hops. Notes of zesty citrus and juicy nectarine are backed up by delicately sweet orchard fruits, followed up with a gentle yet lingering bitterness. It’s an Abbeydale classic!

We know of many of our early regulars who have fond memories of this beer, so we hope to bring back a little nostalgia as well as welcome Holy Water to a new audience too. Holy Water could be thought of as a precursor of the IPAs we make today – stronger than our pale ale specials, and more heavily hopped too, it was originally created to be a more potent version of Moonshine (but not quite to the same extent as Last Rites, of course!). Typically, Holy Water would find an annual spot in the brew plan (including one brew on Valentines Day 2007 which we’ve hunted out in our archives – very fitting for this much loved beer!), but this release marks its first appearance since 2014.

Holy Water was also one of the first beers in which we trialled dry hopping – a small number of casks would be set aside from each brew, and different hops added directly to each. Back in 2008, Pat said of this exercise “I intend to continue these experiments but I think they will always be outside the mainstream of our work.” How things change!

The artwork has been reimagined by our designer James Murphy, and is intended to pay homage to – and sit beautifully alongside – our classic core range. It marks the first of a small series of legacy beers that have meant a lot to us throughout our history, which will be released as limited edition batches in the run up to our milestone 30^th birthday next year. Brimstone and Matins are also in the pipeline to join this historical line up, and we’d love to hear if there are any other beers from our back catalogue which stir up a strong sense of reminiscence for you!

Holy Water is available in cask (of course) right now, and for the first time ever you will soon be able to enjoy it in keg and can (including from our online shop) too – we’re currently taking pre-orders, and expect these to ship during the week commencing 14th April.

If you’re a trade customer who’s interested in becoming a stockist, please give us a call on 0114 2812712 if you’d like a cask or keg for your venue. 

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

We are absolutely delighted, humbled and proud to share the fantastic news that we have been named the Employer of the Year! This accolade celebrates our pioneering transition to becoming 100% employee owned in 2024, recognising the commitment made by founders and selling owners Pat and Sue Morton to ensure a true legacy of independence and cement our people right at the very heart of the business.  

Earlier this week some of the team, including our Employee Reps Christie and Fin, headed over to Liverpool for Beer X, the UK’s largest beer and brewing trade event, where the SIBA Business Awards were held. These Awards aim to highlight the UK’s very best brewing businesses, pubs and retailers of independent beer, in an annual celebration known as the “Oscars of the beer industry” and judged by a panel of industry experts. We were thrilled to have made the shortlist and National Finals amongst some incredible company (more on that here), and to come home with a win was really the cherry on top.

The awards were hosted by Sunday Times Beer Columnist and acclaimed author and broadcaster Pete Brown, who said of our award “the judging panel were unanimous in their praise for Abbeydale who this year were trailblazers in the UK as the first employee-owned brewery, building a future for this much-loved brewery whilst giving back to the team who built it.”

Brewery Rep Christie took the opportunity whilst collecting our beautiful shiny new trophy to say thank you to Pat and Sue for their leadership and their trust in the team which has got us to where we are today – he speaks for us all in saying this award is for them.

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

We’re thrilled to share the news that we have been shortlisted as finalists for three awards across two nationwide competitions, with the results due to be announced next week.

Firstly, we’re incredibly proud to announce that in our first year of being 100% employee owned, we’ve been named as finalists in the Employer of the Year category in the SIBA Business Awards. As the first brewery in the UK to move to becoming an Employee Ownership Trust, this demonstrates a genuine commitment towards ensuring a true legacy of independence and puts our wonderful team right at the very heart of the business.  

Also in the Business Awards, our beautiful Travel Poster series is up for Best Concept Design. Congratulations to our designer James for creating such a stand-out series – there’s so much hard work and research that goes into each and every design, and it’s great to see that recognised. You can read more about this range here.

The SIBA Business Awards will be held next Wednesday at Beer X, the UK’s largest beer and brewing trade event. Referred to as “the Oscars of the beer industry”, Neil Walker, SIBA Head of Comms & Marketing, said of the awards; “I can speak on behalf of the entire judging panel to honestly say this was the hardest judging year yet, with a really incredibly high level of entries across the board.” So it is a huge honour to have made the shortlist in two very strong categories – we’re up against some absolutely fantastic fellow breweries and are looking forward to celebrating with them, whatever the outcome. The awards will be hosted by Sunday Times Beer Columnist and acclaimed author and broadcaster, Pete Brown.

And in the Independent Beer Awards, taking place next Thursday, our Black IPA Black Mass has made the national finals, having come out on top in the Speciality IPA round of the North East regional bottle & can awards for the third year in a row!  These awards see beers marked against internationally recognised style guides, looking at appearance, aroma, flavour, aftertaste and saleability. The judging panel is made up of fellow brewers and some of the country’s best beer experts, who blind taste every entry. Black Mass is a beer which has been with us for our entire history as a brewery, so it’s one that’s pretty special to us. We can’t wait to find out how it gets on next week.

Wish us luck!

Cheers,

Team Abbeydale

Our much acclaimed Dark Mild is back… and it only took us 11 months this time, rather than the DECADE we waited previously! So we thought it was worth sharing the history of this deliciously humble beer again. From the archives, here’s the story of this particular Restoration. Alternative titles suggested by the team for bringing it back for a sequel included “Mamma Mild, Here We Go Again”, “2 Mild 2 Furious”, “The Mild Strikes Back”, “Mild Reloaded” and “Breath of the Mild: Beers of the Kingdom”.

This post was originally published on 1st April 2024.

We’ve been having a mild disagreement. You’ll have to excuse the puns – we’ve been working on them for some time.

We last had a mild available in early summer 2014. Dr Morton’s The Wrong Stuff, as it was cruelly named, was a bit of an experiment for us at the time – a somewhat controversial style with a fusty reputation, and a hard sell. But the times they are a’changing after all, and mild is finally having its day – a revival, a resurgence, a renaissance. We’ve formed two distinct “camps” amongst Team Abbeydale, one side hankering after that smooth, sweet nectar served in a dimpled glass, donning our flat caps and kicking up a grass roots movement for mild, evoking charming pubs of yore with a roaring fire and horse brass galore… and on the other side, the sales team, still traumatised by their past memories of a beer that outstayed its welcome.

The pro-mild side of the fence has finally got their way. And almost a full decade later, or 3,577 days to be precise, a Mild is back on our availability list.

Introducing Dark Mild, from our Restoration series, brewed using entirely UK grown ingredients. Characterised by a smooth, malt-driven sweetness, balanced by a touch of roast character and hints of coffee. The ultimate British hop, the unsung hero that is Fuggles, were added to our beloved hopback. These delicate hops provide a grassy character and a gentle bitterness in keeping with the traditions of this historic style, with a finish that invites you straight back for more. It’s classic, comforting, rounded and mellow. 4.0% ABV, vegan and gluten free. Anyone else thirsty?!

Mild at heart or mildly perturbed – which side are you on?! We’d love you to let us know. Dark Mild launches TODAY, April 1^st (and no, it isn’t an April Fools), – cans are available from independent retailers, including from our online shop, or give us a call on 0114 2812712 if you’d like a cask for your venue. Our sales team are still mildly unconvinced (I’m nearly done, I promise), and I’d love you to help me prove them wrong! [*Edited to add on 01/04/24 at 12.37 – cask all gone, thank you Mild Things!]

Cheers!

Laura – A Mildly Delighted Marketing Manager

PS – Such has been my yearning for a mild that I first started writing notes for this blog post in February 2021. Once it was (a little reluctantly) agreed that this beer could be added to the plan, we came to officially give it a place it on our recipe database. A list of beer styles is pre-populated for us to choose from… and out of 43 in total ranging from imperial stout to gruit, there was no option for mild! Consider this heinous oversight officially rectified. The mild comeback is well and truly on.