Sheffield Hopcast

It's a bit of Christmas special this week as we help judge the Penistone Homebrew Club's 2020 competition. The standard is - frankly - phenomenal. We're joined by Geoff and Jack from the homebrew club and entrants in the competition. Eight beers but which will win it?!

It's just Laura, Adam and James for this one as we rock out three cracking beers all under 4%. There's a fair bit more ranting to be done as we head into the revised tier 3 restrictions next week. Somehow this falls as our penultimate episode before Christmas but we might try to sneak in another Christmas special too. Watch this space!

We're having an American Celebration on the Hopcast this week. We're joined by Darren from Industry Tap to share some beers with a US theme and reflect on the last couple of weeks. Mental health takes centre stage for a lot of the conversation this time around. It's really hard times for everyone right now and it's OK not to be OK. We will get through this, together, and we'll all be back with our friends soon. We're after your ideas for how we can mark Christmas this year, in the absence of our usual December Podcrawl. What do you want from a ho-ho-hopcast and would you like to be involved? And Sean picks the winners for our first ever prize draw. And the third round of the FA Cup.

We get in on the Funk Fest action with our own episode of funky beers. For some reason, we all end up picking two beers rather than one, this week. Laura and Jim fill us in on how the Funk Fest At Home weekend has gone, with a variety of virtual events led by Abbeydale Brewery and friends. Plus - there's plenty for us to talk about with several changes in lockdown regulations since our last episode - and now the second full national lockdown looming. And keep an ear out for our first ever Hopcast beer giveaway!

This week we are calling our 50th episode. We've done a few specials and Half-pint episodes but this is number 50 for the main show. We've 2 great guests, Jay Kerr and Nick Davy from Walkley Beer CO. and in a time where we are uncertain what the future of pubs looks like, we take a casual look back at the last few years of the pub scene in Sheffield. We enjoy beers from Thornbridge, Vibrant Forest, Cloudwater (soda), Beavertown, Team Toxic and Solvay Society.

This week with Sean and James away Adam and Laura are joined by Laura's other half and Abbeydale brewer Jim and a guest listener Simon Dewhurst. We drink beers from Yeastie Boys, Lost and Grounded, Kirkstall Brewery and a Solvay Society and Wilderness collaboration. We discuss thoughts on the recent changes to rules for pubs during the Covid-19 pandemic and look ahead to a virtual Funk Fest.

The sun is shining and so that calls for a good old summer slurper! James, Adam and Sean are joined by Laura live from Leeds and Sean brings along a special guest too - the legendary Dave Unpronounceable! With more uncertainty about where things are heading with new Covid rules, we have a good chat about pubs and various other topics.

It's another Bank Holiday weekend and so what better way to mark it than sharing a beer with friends? James, Laura and Sean are joined by Hannah from Neepsend Brewery to chat about vegetables, former jobs, and just a little bit of beer and brewing.

Yep this coming Friday *should* be the start of Peakender 2020, the three-day beer and music festival at Bakewell Showground organised by Thornbridge Brewery. Of course, it isn't happening, so instead we have our own petit Peakender art home. Indoors of course (it was raining heavily!) We're joined by Alice Batham from the Thornbridge brewing team as we reminisce about previous years and find out how things have been at the brewery over lockdown. Not forgetting sharing a beer each as well, themed around Peakender. You can have your very own Peakender at Home with Thornbridge's rather nifty box here: https://shop.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/products/peakender-case (https://shop.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/products/peakender-case)

We celebrate Yorkshire Day in the only way we know how - with beers from Yorkshire breweries of course. And eeeh bah gum there's some reyt crackers. And we add a Yorkshire BREWER into the mix too as Josh from Blue Bee joins us. There's plenty of chat about his other venture too, at Kelham Island Tavern.

Yup we're all going vegan. It's a bit of a reduced team with just James, Adam and Sean on hand to compare notes on their vegan beer choices. Plus a good natter about what's happening with pubs now and plenty more.

We've been talking about it for ages - now we have finally gotten round to a gluten-free episode of the Hopcast. We're joined by Matt, who runs Gluten Free Pint, to talk about the range of choice available nowadays - and of course we all crack open a GF beer. Plus there's plenty to talk about it, with pubs now open again - and one of the Hopcasters actually made their way to one on the day they reopened. We reflect on the sad news that the Devonshire Cat won't be reopening, and we discuss the ill-thought-out Sheffield Council tweet warning people 'Coronavirus will be waiting for them' in pubs. Fancy joining us on a future episode? Email beer@sheffieldhopcast.co.uk

Relive the first session from this year’s Sheffield Hopfest - our first virtual beer festival. James was the host with a theme of Loud & Proud beers. This is the full raw session, which you can also watch back on YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone who took part in the first Hopfest, we had a fantastic weekend!

Relive the second session from this year’s Sheffield Hopfest - our first virtual beer festival. Laura was the host with a theme of Sours and Mixed Fermentation beers. This is the full raw session, which you can also watch back on YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone who took part in the first Hopfest, we had a fantastic weekend!

Relive the third session from this year’s Sheffield Hopfest - our first virtual beer festival. Adam was the host with a theme of 6% and up beers. This is the full raw session, which you can also watch back on YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone who took part in the first Hopfest, we had a fantastic weekend!

Relive the fourth and final session from this year’s Sheffield Hopfest - our first virtual beer festival. Sean was the host with a theme of Stout Sunday. This is the full raw session, which you can also watch back on YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone who took part in the first Hopfest, we had a fantastic weekend!

No guest this week - the four of us take the chance to catch up and share a beer ahead of next weekend's bumper Hopfest. With shops reopening we reflect on our lockdown experiences so far. Our key point of conversation is the Black Lives Matter movement, and particularly the representation of black and ethnic minority people in the beer world. We've looked at a few different ways of tackling this subject during the week before deciding the best thing to do is just to have a real honest and open chat. We welcome your feedback: email beer@sheffieldhopcast.co.uk or drop us DM via Twitter. If you haven't already be quick to reserve your place for next weekend's Hopfest: sheffieldhopcast.eventbrite.com Stay safe.

Luci from Shakespeares in Kelham Island is our guest, so we take the opportunity to celebrate women in beer on this week's episode. Sean tells the longest story ever to introduce his beer selection, but it's worth it. PLUS - we have details of the Sheffield Hopfest coming up in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! We've got the dates, the details of the sessions and most importantly the info on how you can get involved. Please come along and join for a beer as we all help each other get through these tough times. Safe safe, and stay brilliant.

It's finally here - our special Moonshine episode of the Hopcast. We all crack open a can of the classic with Abbeydale Brewery's Sales Director Dan Baxter. We chat about Moonshine's move into can format since lockdown and share our memories of a real staple beer in the Sheffield pub scene. Plus Beer of the Month makes a return and Sean has big news about Beer Cental. Aaaaand.. we reveal details of the first ever Sheffield Hopfest giving you as a regular listener first dibs on being involved. Email beer@sheffieldhopcast.co.uk or DM us through Twitter to stick your name down. Stay safe, and drink Moonshine* *responsibly

It's another bank holiday weekend and we're delighted to welcome Heather and Michael from Out and About to join us for this week's show. The four of us pick out a beer inspired by our guests, with a few fruity numbers making an appearance. Out and About is a none-profit group in Sheffield helping to find and create safe spaces for queer people and their allies. Find out more on their social media accounts, all under the username OutAndAboutShef We also talk pubs - with Heather and Michael managing the bar of The Rutland Arms and Devonshire Cat respectively. Stay safe, and try not to travel to Durham.