The Beer Archive Abbeydale Brewery was born in August 1996, so we’ve rustled up a fair few beers in our time. Cast your eye over our recently sold out releases alongside some old favourites below.

The artwork for this is in a fireproof vault deep beneath the ruins of an old Abbey somewhere near here, awaiting more forgiving times and a more liberal attitude to censorship.

Pat Morton, Brewmaster and a great lover of cricket, commissioned The Temperamental Artist to knock up a new label.

"Think Village Green, and church bells.." he instructed. "A nice rural theme," he continued, absently stepping forward to an imaginary crease to fend an imaginary ball way over to the imaginary onside boundary in the brewery typing pool...

The Temperamental Artist fidgeted as the Famous Cricketer before him explained, in outline, exactly what he wanted.

"What do you think?"

"What? Umm..? Oh.. er.. yes.. er... I've got it, me."

He picked up a crayon from out of his bag, grabbed the open diary and began sketching all over the first weekend in July.

"OK.. Look at this. Didn't you say something about balls bouncing off a crease? I've got this great idea - it's like this.. and this.. "

"GOOD GRIEF! - NO!" shouted the brewer, ripping the page from the diary and shredding it into thousands of unrecoverable pieces. "You'll get us all busted!"

The artist stood uncomprehending as even more words whistled over his head.

"I want ... think 'playing the game.' Give me flannel. I want a load of balls, but most of all, something typically reminiscent of the Old Country. Put the whole emphasis on... bats.. B_a_t_s - not that," he gestured, shuddering. towards the flames licking the waste basket. "Bats. Can you handle it?"

The Temperamental Artist nodded blankly, scratching the side of his neck with the spanner he'd just been using there.

"Bats? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I can picture it now... the lush green, the leathery sound.. soaring through the air... "

The Temperamental Artist shuffled off, baffled but.. confidentused.

Non Stick - Really, it isn't!

And neither a stone, nor balloon full of air not flesh, fish nor fowl - not anything there and surely not metal, absolutely no doubt that it's not in this list, 'cos I left it out. Its shape is determined by what it is in so it might be quite short, or tall, thick or thin.

But if you ask nicely, and money you pass you'll find it conforms to the shape of a glass. Not much of a riddle, you'll have to agree for the answer is simple and easy to see. Not solid nor gaseous, it's the other it's clear Doctor Morton's Non Stick - a very liquidy beer.

Last brewed in 2011, it proved so popular we just had to bring it back!

A beer name that always raises a smile ....

... and always makes our Dan giggle. It is great fun listening to the reaction from publican's who havenpt come across the beer before - "Duck what???!!!" and even better hearing the reaction of those who remember the beer - "Fantastic beer, I'll take some of that." As we say - it flies out.

Brewed only with pale malts and American hops, this is a pale, fantastically strong barley wine with tons of flavour. It is dangerously more-ish and some people have drunk far more than was good for them.

High A.B.V. beers have been described as "gimmick" beers, to be enjoyed only in small quantities for their hideous potency. They are also often dark - to hide the murkiness. This is not the case at all with Last Rites. Patrick set out to create a high gravity beer which was as pale as it could be, and truly drinkable.

Last Rites really IS a premium brew, unusually pale in colour and full of rich malty flavour to tease and satisfy the palate. At 11% alcohol by volume, Last Rites is more of a wine than a beer and its drinking should therefore be treated with the respect becoming such a solemn undertaking.

It is brewed only two or three times a year. Whenever we can it is lagered for 100 days to give time for the flavours to mature and develop. This gives an unusually smooth beer with strong tones of smooth subtle toffee and a hint of roasted sugar which doesn't overpower the full malt flavour base. The bitterness from the hops keeps the sweetness in check and allows the fuller spectrum of flavours to reach the palate without the cloying burning honey and acid effect of many high alcohol recipes.

In short, in spite of its fearsome alcohol content, Last Rites is a thoroughly delicious drink which has been brewed with every care for it flavour and potability.

Enjoy it quietly!!!!!

Last Rites - Pale and fantastically strong

Upon conducting a "Meet the Brewer" event at a pub in Rugby, Abbeydale owners Sue and Pat were introduced to a fan of their beer,

who just so happened to become the UKs sales rep for Founders Brewing Co. This serendipitous meeting lead to Jon bringing over president of Founders, John Green to the UK and visiting Abbeydale Brewery in person and where the idea of a collaboration was born.

Founders Brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki together with Director of productions Alec Mull and our own brewers got together to create a beer representitive of both sides of the Atlantic. The result is "Thirty-Seven Twelve" - a 7 % beast of an IPA which will leave your tastebuds wondering which side of the Atlantic they are on.

A plan that changed.

In original talks with the Tramlines festival organisers, the general consensus was "What you brewed last year, do that again!". Both Tramlines Ale's #1 & #2 were indeed a huge success. So we did intend to set out to make the winner from last year again. However, remaining in our cumfort zone is not our style. We also thought it would be slighly confusing calling it Tramlines Ale #2.2. No, for us it needed to be a new beer. Let us know what you think.

PRESS RELEASE FROM TRAMLINES

Real ale is an integral part of the Tramlines Festival identity and its Sheffield heritage.

Tramlines ale is developed in partnership with the local ale community & Abbeydale Brewery, as a means of supporting the blues and ale aspect of the festival.

In the tradition of 'pass the hat' your donation of £5 per cask (from publicans) is received by the festival to add to the funding of the Blues and Ale stage, keeping it an exciting and ever growing aspect of the festival.

The cost of the donation can be represented as an addition of 10p retailing price on the price of the ale, however you (the publican) are free to choose if you wish to pass on the cost or not.

Tramlines festival and our ale partners greatly appreciate all the support it has received over the years and we look forward to another fantastic weekend, both for the festival and the city.

Many thanks,

Tramlines.

Matins came about as a consequence of 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). The inventive grist has long since given way to pure Maris Otter pale malt.

Matins was a regular beer and Patrick was very proud of the body and flavour he achieved in a low gravity, pale beer. But sadly in 2007 it had to be dropped as a regular beer and it only appears rarely as a special. So make the most of it.

Matins is easily digestible it also makes a light refreshing drink at ANY hour. Devotees of "Father Ted" will understand how, incidentally, that Matins (a good Yorkshire word,) is pronounced "Mattins" and not "ma-tan". as it would be in the song line "Sonnez les matins" when telling t'French brother Jack to get up and ring t'bells for t'mornin'ding-dang-dong. We have no record of any reply from the rudely-awakened brother Jack, who is not to be confused with the well-known breakfast drink connoisseur Father Jack, whose comments upon stirring are legendary but may be edited down by taking away all the naughty expletives, leaving only, "DRINK!!" Therefore, "Buvez les Matins, ding dang dongggg!" as they say all over Yorkshire.

Flushed with success after suggesting a breakfast beer made from muesli, our designer needed forcibly restraining after insisting we go ahead with a beer brewed to be drunk in cinemas. Look out for The Beer Works' "X certificate," brewed from popcorn... appearing at your local hostelry if he ever gets out of the cellar.

Design note: Matins was the first pumpclip to feature the ruined abbey motif.

Black Lurcher was brewed specifically to meet the demand for a strong dark and heavy warmer from our very first customer.

In the wilds of Derbyshire, England, on a long and bleak road travelled by ramblers, hikers and climbers resting between steep bits is Wardlow Myers which would be a one-horse town if anyone could find a horse. What it DOES have is The Three Stags Heads, a public house (and pottery) with stone floors, a roaring fire and resident sleepy dogs.

Sleepiest, biggest and most fire-hogging of all (sadly now deceased) is a black lurcher called Sam whose A.B.V. varies with the generosity of customers.

The beer was brewed specifically with this outlet in mind, and it is a great favourite with anyone who has crossed the mountains from far distant Lancashire, as well as the locals.

Although the black lurcher is no more, he is remembered with great fondness. The current dogs at the pub are three whippets - Fanny, Skittles and Hussy.

Occasionally we sell this out into the trade, as a special favour, but then it goes under the name of "Firedog". The eagle-eyed among you will note that the artwork here has the wrong abv.

A complex grist of Maris Otter Pale Ale malt and wheat malt with roasted barley and chocolate malt. Fuggles Hops give just the right amount of bitterness. Liquoricey yet dark and fruity. Molasses and bitter chocolate with a bitter coffee, warm, alcoholic finish.

We had tried a Best Bitter but people seemed to think that was too ordinary for our brewery. So we sat down and had a big think. We came up with a new recipe and a new name.

The brewers who invented the name had visions of the ruined abbey on a sea of fire or something suitably brimstoney. So the artist comes up with a horned devil in a pentacle. Disappointed brewers, but a great beer and one which is building up quite a following. And not a single customer has queried the image on the pumpclip.

The first time we brewed this it was a mistake!

Our maltster delivered the wrong malt. Whilst brewing we noted the colour was wrong so a quick conference led to us keeping the beer strong, using the same hops and Dark Side of the Moonshine was born. As it is the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's seminal album, we thought this time we would do it deliberately.

Working in a brewery is a pretty fun thing to do it has to be said and not just in the obvious ways that most people imagine.

One of the really nice things about working a in a small business is getting to meet other small business owners who are passionate and committed about what they do.  Some people we have had the good fortune to meet and work with are the folk who produce the wonderfully arty and idiosyncratic Now Then magazine that you will find all over town.  

We have developed a great relationship with Ben and James who regularly drop into the Brewery office to have a chat about the worlds of small independent magazines and beer, pubs and bars.  Our worlds are very compatible and the relationship has shown benefits on both sides. We admire their independent stance and commitment to their ideals and they like our beer! 

So, when they proposed that we could brew them a special beer for their fourth birthday in April this year, we said yes. Normally we'd only ever do this for our annual charity beer, but for these guys, it was a no-brainer.

From the 2^nd April 2012 (until it runs out) a 4.1% pale and hoppy Abbeydale brew will be going out with a special Now Then pumpclip and accompanied by some free copies of the magazine! 

The team have made a film of the beer being brewed which will be shared on their website and YouTube soon. 

Congratulations to Now Then on their fourth birthday! Let's all raise a glass of 'Now Then' beer and wish them a long and successful future.

Now Then Magazine, 5 years old in April 2013.

If you don't know, Now Then is a Sheffield-based arts focussed magazine produced by a not-for-profit oranisation. The magazine has high production values, great content and they have just launched a Manchester version.

We love Now Then and we love the enthusiasts who produce it so we were delighted when they asked us to do another beer for them, but what to call it? They call it Now Then 5, since that's the birthday they are celebrating, and created the hashtag nowthen5. In the brewery we called it Now Then 2 'cos its the second one we made. 

So we thought about it, decided it was their beer and we should go with them. Upside, we are all in harmony. Downside, there will never be a Now Then 2, 3 or 4 beer. 

You Heard.

We brewed two ales for Tramlines, both pale but different in chararcter. Tweet #Tramlinesale1 or #Tramlinesale2 to vote for your favourite. the winner will be one we brew to serve at the Tramlines Festival itself.

We brewed 2 Tramlines beers. Vote for the one you want to be drinking at the festival this year.