Author: abbeydale.admin

We’re delighted to be working with the fantastic Friends of the Porter Valley as our charity partners for 2026-27, and it’s time for our exclusive cask only fundraising beer to be released! Go quackers for Golden Duck!

Golden Duck is a 4.1% pale ale, where Chinook and Mosaic hops combine for a flavoursome citrussy character with notes of grapefruit, lemon and dare we say even… mandarin?! (It’s a duck joke). 10p from every pint sold will be donated straight to Friends of the Porter Valley. We’ll be officially launching the beer on Thursday 16th July, simultaneously at our two venues, The Rising Sun and Abbeydale Beerworks Taproom. Handily, part of the Porter Valley itself falls within the two, so if you fancy doing the double you can walk the very ground you’re helping to support in between your pints!

Friends of the Porter Valley work to conserve, protect and restore the ecology, landscape and cultural heritage of the Porter and Mayfield Valleys, for the enjoyment of all and the benefit of future generations. As mentioned above, many of these beautiful green spaces connect the brewery and taproom to our pub, The Rising Sun, so the parks, woodlands and wildlife the Friends of the Porter Valley help to look after are especially meaningful to our team. 

As well as the beer, we will also be working with the Friends of the Porter Valley on other projects and fundraising campaigns throughout the year, including of course the famous Duck Race, which takes part in Endcliffe Park every Easter Monday – so we’ll be able to bookend the year by being involved with both the 2026 and 2027 races!

Long time followers of the brewery may recall that we have worked with FoPV twice in the past, including raising funds for the restoration of Shepherd’s Wheel in 2009, and Forge Dam in 2013. We felt that as part of our 30^th anniversary celebrations, working again with a charity we have supported previously and building on that relationship would be a really nice way to feed into celebrating our history and the community that surrounds us. This year, the funds we raise will go towards the repair of and upgrades to the Forge Dam Playground, which is in need of a little bit of TLC. We hope to contribute towards a replacement for a broken seesaw, and a new climbing frame, as the current one is reaching the end of its life.  This small playground is hugely popular and very heavily used, including by many of our Rising Sun regulars’ families, so it’s in need of continual investment.

Head here to visit the Friends of the Porter Valley website, to find out more about the work they do and how you can support them, including how to make a donation. You can also find them on Facebook here.

Thank you so much, as always, for your continued support of not just our employee owned business but our wider community too – it really does mean the world to us!

Team Abbeydale

Abbeydale Brewery is a successful, employee owned Sheffield based brewery which this year celebrates their 30^th anniversary. We are looking to recruit a part-time (25 hours per week) thorough and conscientious Finance & Admin Assistant, to join our friendly and growing team. The role will be based in our offices just off Abbeydale Road, and will involve working with our experienced finance and management team to help with the running of the brewery and our two venues.

Salary £28-£30k/annum FTE (pro-rata for part time), dependent on experience. We also offer full healthcare after probationary period completed, staff discount across the business (including at our venues), profit share after a qualifying period, and the opportunity to join a growing and progressive company which holds community, quality and above all its people at heart.

What we’re looking for:

• Someone who takes a meticulous, detailed approach to their work – the kind of person who is naturally precise and cares about doing a job well, with superb attention to detail
• A reliable and responsible person who approaches challenges in a positive manner, is self-motivated to learn new skills and has excellent time management skills
• A good general level of education, preferably to at least A-level (or equivalent). Maths or related disciplines would be an advantage as the successful candidate will need to be comfortable handling and interpreting data
• Experience of working in a busy and multi-functional office would be helpful
• Comfortable working to high professional standards and with understanding of the values of an independent business
• Computer literate, Excel in particular. Experience with Xero, Sage or similar would be advantageous
• As the role will require some visits to our venues (all in Sheffield), a current driving license is required, although company vehicles can be available.

Main responsibilities will include:

• Processing financial information and analysing data to produce accurate weekly reports
• Tracking and solving problems in a thorough, detailed manner
• Stock control for our two venues and brewery shop, including checking counts, till programming and error checking
• Purchase management, setting up accounts, acting in good time to secure continuity of supply and achieving the best prices.
• Arranging MOT’s, services and fuel cards for our 7 vans
• Assisting the Finance Controller with general admin and duties – handling queries, responding to emails, maintaining filing systems etc.
• Payroll experience would be helpful
• We’re a small team, so a willingness to pitch in with different areas to support the business where needed is absolutely essential

We’re looking for someone who’s available for 25 hours per week – this must include Mondays. The remaining hours will be agreed with the successful candidate. We can offer flexibility in return and are advocates of promoting a healthy work life balance. We are happy to look to work around school hours or any carer commitments you may have. The successful candidate will receive full training on our systems and processes.

We are an employee owned company, so working with us means you will have a real say in how the business is run and play a meaningful part in its future. We are accommodating and supportive employers who take great pride in training and developing our team. We were named Employer of the Year at the 2025 SIBA Business Awards too!

If it sounds like you could be who we are looking for, please send a CV and covering letter to marketing@abbeydalebrewery.co.uk by the closing date of Sunday 12^th July. We hope to hold interviews on Tuesday 21^st July.

You are welcome to email us or call 0114 2812712 if you have any queries.

Team Abbeydale

On the second Wednesday of every month at 6.30pm, join our Funk Dungeon brewer (and qualified Run Leader) Jim for a fun and inclusive 5 mile (8km) jaunt from our new taproom, Abbeydale Beerworks! Completely free to attend and open to all abilities, ending in the perfect place to enjoy a pint. Sign up to our next run club meet here!

We will run to the pace of the group and nobody will be left behind, but we expect to be back with a pint within an hour. The aim of the run is to be friendly and sociable with no pressure of time – speedier people are welcome to give it some beans should they wish, we just ask that you loop back round to scoop up the rest of the group in keeping with the supportive vibes of the group. So it’s great for beginners to running who are maybe stepping up from a parkrun to a slightly longer distance, and more experienced runners looking for a relaxed community run alike.

There’s space to leave a small bag/ jacket in the taproom (we’ll of course do our best to keep an eye on them but please don’t leave any valuables behind) and all runners will get a discount off their first drink upon our return. We’ll be out come rain or shine, so please come dressed for the weather (this will include hi-viz clothing in the darker months) and with access to some emergency contact details on your person, but other than that all you need to bring along is yourself!

After a super duper response to our inaugural run in May, we’ve decided to implement a sign up system moving forwards, so we can ensure a manageable group size and be able to keep in touch with you all for bonus runs, away days and possible future merchandise info too (featuring our snazzy new logo, hand drawn by our in house designer James!), Please head here to pop your name down for our next event.

You should be able to find them at the link above, and it’s always the second Wednesday of every month, but for ease – here are the dates for our upcoming Abbeydale Brewery Run Club runs for your diary! All runs start at 6.30pm.

Wednesday 8^th July

Wednesday 12^th August

Wednesday 9^th September

Wednesday 14^th October (hi-viz required from here please!)

Wednesday 11^th November

Wednesday 9^th December *Christmas Lights Run Special*

New from the Funk Dungeon and released in celebration of Sheffield Wine Week, Keeping Pomaces is a fusion of grain and grape, barrel and brett, teamwork and time. 

This beer began life as a heritage saison, brewed using historic Plumage Archer barley and UK grown Olicana hops, aged in our Funk Dungeon in ex-wine French Oak barrels. We then blended this base onto the pomace of beautiful English Pinot Noir grapes, grown organically by Matt Gregory on his vineyard in in the Leicestershire Wolds, handpicked and gently pressed by nomadic winemaker and storyteller Paris Barghchi, and collected immediately after pressing by our Funk Dungeon brewer Jim, on the maiden voyage of our Kangoo minivan! 

The result is a true expression of English terroir, with each ingredient given space to flourish by the varied producers involved in bringing this to your glass, all sharing an ethos of low intervention, natural yeast and the utmost care and respect. Expect an elegant acidity with flavours of tart, crunchy apple and sharp raspberry sherbet, combined with jammy redcurrant and plum. Earthy undertones of rich oaky tannins and subtle herbal notes from the hops bring balance, before a lick of sweet vanilla ensures a clean and rounded overall finish. 

Simultaneously complex and delicate, Keeping Pomaces is an adventurous beer that feels comfortable in the liminal space where wild fermentation and wine become friends. Unfined and unfiltered with a natural haze, 5.9%, vegan friendly and as with all of our beers, gluten free. Available now in keg and 750ml bottle (including from our online shop). Delicious to sip on its own, or pair with a creamy cheese, a summery salad or a berry coulis topped panna cotta.

Cheers!

Continuing our series where we get to know a little more about the people who make up Team Abbeydale, say hello to our Retail Manager, Lucienne! Lucienne joined the team in November 2025, but it feels like she’s been part of the family for much longer, as a familiar face within our local beer scene and one of the key people involved in making Deception a Sheffield household name in her past role as GM at Shakespeare’s. After 15 years working in pubs, a leap into breweries naturally occurred and we feel very lucky that her path has led directly to our roller shutter doors. Over to Luce!

First up, the basics! What’s your name and where do you come from?

My name is Lucienne, weirdly I still say I’m from Belper, even though I’ve lived in Sheffield on and off for 15 years.

What is your role at Abbeydale Brewery?

I’m the retail manager – it’s a multi-layered role, which means I can get involved in many different areas of the business, but my main responsibilities are looking after our on site shop and brewery website, sending beer to our lovely customers around the country!

What’s your favourite beer/beer style and why?

Right, I’ve got a few answers here. My “desert island” beers are Abbeydale Deception and Redwillow Weightless, so easy-drinking session pales are something I look out for.

The beer that most sticks in my mind is from Nevel – Pine Cones and Cemeteries, a barrel aged wild ale. I put it on the bar at Shakespeare’s and my whole life changed.

I really, really love Mild.

And finally a special shout out to surprise pints of Saison Dupont on holiday. I love walking into a bar that looks rubbish from the outside and finding treasure. 

What’s your favourite thing about working at Abbeydale Brewery?

Honestly, I like everything! But particularly the crew and the really lovely work environment.

Favourite pub to enjoy a pint?

Oooh. Let me think! I’m going to be predictable actually and say my two favourite pubs are two that I’ve worked in – Shakespeare’s, and the Exeter Arms in Derby. I’m generally a big fan of pubs with character and these have that in abundance.

Shout out my local The Notty House as well, and in Derby I also love the Alex and the Smithfield.

Where did you have your first (legal!) pint?

It was the Queen’s Head in Belper, and it was a pint of Bass!

Favourite snack to enjoy alongside a beer?

It’s got to be Scampi Fries really, hasn’t it. I don’t even have a “ooo maybe this” option, it’s just Scampi Fries.

When you’re not being of charge of our shop, what do you like to do?

Walking in Derbyshire, exploring other cities, and travelling around Europe as much as I can. It’s apparently no secret that I’m also quite partial to gawping at trains, cranes and other such heavy industry!

Who’s your hero?

My mum and dad. I couldn’t have had better role models.

And finally… If you were a cartoon character, who would it be?

OK I’ve been thinking about this one and I really wanted to be a big kickass kinda cartoon character, but I think I’m a little Moomin.

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If you would like to come and say hello to Lucienne in person, you can usually find her in our on site shop, every weekday 9am-5pm!

Cheers!

There’s a new big DIPA in town! Introducing JUGGERNAUT, the latest addition to our Brewers’ Emporium range. 8.0% and boldly hop forward, using Citra, Centennial and Mosaic Lupocore. The hops are layered over a clean flavour profile which allows all those gorgeously vivid tropical notes to shine. Full bodied and showcasing true to style flavours and aromas, with a hefty, juicy character, rounded notes of sweet peach and a bitterness in the finish that invites you straight back for another sip. 

The beer overall was dreamed up by our Production Director John, inspired by his trip to the Yakima hop harvest last summer and the DIPAs he tried on his travels, which you can read more about here.

This is the first time we’ve used Lupocore, which is a hop product newly released in the UK. It’s all natural, scientifically engineered, enhanced hop flavour, intended to provide a bold sensory boost! Lupocore is similar in appearance to a T90 hop pellet, but softer and crumblier. This means it can disperse more quickly, thus providing a greater surface area, increasing flavour transfer and getting more out of the hops. It also has better sedimentation qualities, leading to an improved yield and efficiency – maybe not the sexiest way to promote a hop product to the end drinker, but here at the brewery it’s really important for us to get the most from our kit and do so as sustainably as we can, minimising waste and having greater control over our output.

We’ve also used Carapils from traditional maltsters Weyermann to add a little body whilst keeping the malt base clean. This allows the hop profile to shine most brightly, maximising the potential of the Lupocore. It’s our first time using Carapils too, which has been added in place of wheat for body and head retention, so it’s fair to say Juggernaut really is an innovative beer for us! 

Vegan friendly and as with all our beers gluten free, Juggernaut is available now in cask, keg and can – including from our online and onsite shop. Head to Abbeydale Beerworks, our gorgeous new taproom, for the first pour on cask this weekend!

Cheers!

It all began in 2014. We’ve always been (and remain to this day) a cask focused brewery, but our ethos is to ensure we never stand still, and the times they were a’changing, with fizzy beer becoming something we couldn’t – and didn’t want to – ignore.

Keen to crack on, we invested in our first pressurised vessels and a new washer/filler and set about creating a series of one-off beers designed for keg – imaginatively named ‘Pale Ale #1’, ‘Pale Ale #2, and so on.  Our favourite recipe was ‘Pale Ale #6’, which was later renamed Mosaic, after the hop it was brewed with. The initial artwork for Mosaic was originally intended to be a stop gap and the long-term plan had always been to rebrand and rename the beer to bring it into our range of permanently available brews. So, we set about the task of coming up with a new name for this wonderful beer. We wanted something that was worthy of shouting about – something that recognised our past and fitted in with our existing core beers, but that could also help to drive the image of the brewery forward in this excitingly fast paced and ever-changing industry. 

And so it was that back in 2016, we enlisted the talents of an artist called James Murphy, who was asked to create a contemporary design for this new release. One of three ideas he came up with was the now well-known ‘praying hands’ design we have come to love, with the name coming with it… the crossed fingers were felt to be very befitting of a beer named Heathen! Here, too, the ubiquitous rays were introduced – with a bright red alongside a complementary amber to represent the beer colour. On 23^rd May 2016, the first kegs of Heathen went on sale… and would you believe that the very first place in Sheffield to have it on tap was none other than Turners – valued customers for many years, and as of this month the venue which has become our very own brewery taproom! Serendipity or what?!

Ten years down the line, Heathen is now our third biggest seller, behind only Moonshine and (rather more closely) Deception. It was effectively the kickstarter for our now very popular Brewers Emporium range, from which new beers emerge almost weekly, and James now works for us full time as our in house designer, creating all of the artistic output across our many varied series’ of beers. We’ve seen a number of fresh interpretations on our American Pale Ale – Cryo Heathen, Fresh Hop Heathen, and UK Hop Heathen to name just three – and it is a beer we’re as proud of today as we were a decade ago.

Happy birthday, Heathen! We hope you will join us in enjoying a pint, or can, this Bank Holiday weekend.

Cheers!

In celebration of 30 years of Abbeydale Brewery, we’ve brought back – for a limited time only – one of the absolute OGs of our range. Say a fond hello again to Matins!

Matins originally came about as a consequence of brewery founder Pat Morton deciding to “brew a beer from muesli”, deeming it suitable for the sort of liquid breakfast that ought to find its way onto the set of Red Dwarf or Men Behaving Badly (this was the 90s after all – 27^th August 1996 to be precise, only the 8^th brew to ever be put through the original Abbeydale Brewery kit). The inventive grist, which originally comprised flaked oats, flaked rice and something recorded only as “cereal base” long since gave way to pure Maris Otter pale malt, but the aim of a low ABV, deliciously sessionable and easily quaffable beer remained the same.

Pat recalls visiting Lembas, a specialist vegetarian and vegan wholefoods wholesaler located just around the corner from the brewery (which is also like ourselves 100% employee owned), to purchase the 20kg sacks of muesli base. They were quite bemused that someone was ordering such large quantities, especially when they heard its intended purpose was to go in a beer! Pat once started to explain the canonical hours which inspired the name of Matins to Matt from Lembas, who quickly silenced his explanation – his father was a vicar!

Matins was a regular beer for just over a decade, and Pat was very proud of the body and flavour he achieved in a low gravity, pale beer. But sadly in 2008 it had to be dropped as a regular beer and since then has only appeared rarely as a special. “So make the most of it!”, says Pat.

With all this history dating back to our very beginnings as a brewery, we felt it was only fitting that Matins made a reappearance as part of our “Legacy Series”, helping us to celebrate our 30^th anniversary. The original design for Matins was the first pumpclip which featured the ruined abbey motif that became synonymous with our brand and ultimately so much so that it formed our logo! For the 30^th birthday comeback, the artwork has been reimagined in keeping with our traditional core range, reflecting the importance this beer has held in our history.

Matins is a 3.6% pale ale hopped with Mount Hood – an American variety that’s originally bred from the noble German variety Hallertau Mittelfrüher, so its delicate spicy notes and mild, clean character make it perfect for the easy drinking yet flavourful style we were aiming for. It’s also the sister hop to Liberty, which is unfortunately no longer available but was the hop we used in the first batches of this beer in the 90s. The resulting beer is crisp, fresh and well-balanced with a pleasantly herbal, grassy aroma. Like all our beers, it’s gluten free.

Matins is available now while stocks last in cask to trade customers, and is coming soon to can – watch this space!

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

We’re excited to announce that we will officially be opening the doors of Abbeydale Beerworks, the new taproom from Abbeydale Brewery, from 4pm on Thursday 7th May!

Find us at 298 Abbeydale Road – just 200 steps from the brewery itself. Abbeydale Beerworks is a welcoming, inclusive destination for beer lovers to find our latest brews and small batch specials, as well as a venue for hosting exclusive tasting events. 

We’ve got 12 draught lines, 10 of which are dedicated to pouring an eclectic selection of our extensive range – 6 keg and 4 cask, with Moonshine, our flagship pale ale, always having a place on the bar (we don’t think we could have opened a taproom without it!). You will also find our freshest new releases, with a regular Funk Dungeon line showcasing our small batch mixed fermentation programme, plus cans of our alcohol free Sparkling Hop Water and Reverence 0.5% Pale Ale. All our beers are gluten free and you can find a fridge full of all our cans to take away too. We’ve also got one dedicated guest keg line – the “Friends of Abbeydale Brewery” tap.

And whilst Beerworks is our showcase venue for our beers (including for takeaway – we have a large fridge full of all our cans which can be taken home to enjoy at your leisure), we know that you might have friends that like your company more than they like a pint – so we’ve got a carefully sourced rotating draught cider, plus a small but delicious selection of spirits (including from some amazing local suppliers), wines and soft drinks too – as well as of course the all important crisps! In keeping with the ethos of our beer selection, we’ll have a core range of snacks that’s always available, supplemented with an exciting ever changing “snack of the moment”, curated by your friendly local crisp enthusiasts.

We’re dog friendly and families are welcome too (with the proviso to please make sure you, your dog and your little people are all respectful to others and remain with a responsible adult at all times!).

Our opening hours will be:

Monday – CLOSED

Tuesday-Thursday – 4-11pm

Friday – 2-11pm

Saturday – Midday-11pm

Sunday – Midday-7pm

We can’t wait for you to meet our new taproom manager Danny and the team, and to welcome you for a pint!

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale