Where to find real ale in Sheffield

OK, so you are new in town, maybe a first year student or are visiting the beer festival, and you want to find the best places to find real ale?

Well the good news is there are absolutely loads of great pubs in Sheffield, but here are just a few handpicked choices for you.

City Centre

If pub heritage is your thing, and like a pub with character, then perhaps the Bath Hotel might be for you.

The Bath features on CAMRA’s national inventory of pubs with interiors of outstanding interest, and won a pub design award for the sympathetic refurbishment carried out by the current owner.

The ever popular Tetley Bitter is available here, along with about 4 other real ales from smaller breweries, usually some of which are local.

Just a short walk away on Pitt Street you will find the Red Deer, which feels like it is a country pub in a City location, is probably one of the more traditional pubs to be found in the City Centre. The front of the pub is served by an L shaped bar, and has fires in winter. More seating can be found in the raised area at the rear. The clientele often includes academic types from the nearby University. The bar boasts 9 handpumps, dispensing a range of popular beers from breweries such as Black Sheep, Adnams, Caledonian and others.

On Trippet Lane there are two pubs with bags of character. The Grapes which is well known for it’s place in the grass roots music scene, there are many gigs played in the upstairs room. In the pub itself it is an old style multi-roomed pub with a corridor. One room is a comfy lounge, the room next to that has a pool table an d juke box.

The other pub is the Dog & Partridge, popular with the Irish ex-pat community. Often on an evening you can wander into the back room to find random people playing musical instruments and the pub has a great atmosphere.

The Three Tuns on Silver Street Head is a typical local type pub, frequented by staff from the neighbouring HSBC office block and local law firms, and is a rather unique wedge shape building.

Behind the Cathedral you will find the Wig & Pen, so named as the area houses a number of solicitors offices, plus the Sheffield Star and Telegraph newspaper offices and print works.

The Wig & Pen is a stylish, laid back place, with comfy chairs and a tapas menu available at the bar, with a more extensive food choice in the restaurant area. Three real ales are normally available, 2 of which are normally from Sheffield’s Abbeydale Brewery. Your ale is normally served in glass tankards rather than a regular pint pot.

At Castle Square is the Bankers Draft, a large two floored Lloyds No1 branded Wetherspoons. Here you can always rely on a decent choice of beers at reasonable prices.

On Orchard Street, next to the Orchard Square courtyard shopping area, is the Museum. This is a Greene King pub with a number of their beers plus guests. Inside it is a nice comfy pub, if the weather is nice you can sit outside and watch the shoppers go by.

The original, timber framed part of the Old Queen’s Head is the oldest commercial building in Sheffield. It has been extended twice since then, and is now a Thwaites pub, with three of their real ales, including Bomber and Original. The third alternates between dark mild and the Seasonal special.

There are a number of other good pubs too, however you’ll just have to discover them yourself! (Or buy a copy of our pub guide!)

Kelham Island

Just a short walk from the City Centre, is the Kelham Island area, which boasts an excellent real ale pub crawl (and an industrial museum!). If you cannot be bothered to walk, get the tram to Shalesmoor, where we start at the Cask & Cutler.

The Cask is a two roomed pub (one smoking, the other non-smoking) with some classic features dating back to the 1940s. Nothing much changes at this pub, except for the 9 real ales, all from micro-breweries. Every time you go in the beer range is different!

Over the road is the Ship Inn, which as the name suggests, is nautically themed. The beer is from Kimberley.

On Russell Street is the Kelham Island Tavern.

The current owners, Trevor Wraith and Lewis Gondola, only re-opened this pub a few years ago. It has a traditional bar room, a non-smoking conservatory style extension, and a back yard that has been converted into an excellent, atmospheric beer garden. The pub has won pub of the year awards from Sheffield CAMRA three years in a row, and has also won the Sheffield in Bloom Competition.

The bar offers a range of up to 11 real ales. Pictish Brewers Gold and Acorn Barnsley Bitter are always available, the other handpumps host an ever changing range of beers from small breweries across the UK.

Literally around the corner from the Kelham is the grand-daddy of them all, the Fat Cat. When Dave Wickett opened this pub 25 years ago, it was a first - a free house with a large range of beers. However he must have done something right, as it is still going strong. The pub is quite and old fashioned design, with two rooms (one non-smoking) served by a central kiosk style bar. At the rear of the two drinking rooms a corridor goes past the toilets out to the beer garden, another little oasis in an industrial area. The pub is also known for it’s food - it’s simple home cooking at great value prices, and vegetarians are well catered for. The pub also acts as the brewery tap for Kelham Island Brewery, which is next door.

From time to time special events are held at the Fat Cat, such as beer festivals and the annual bonfire party.

On the other side of the river is the Riverside Bar, which has a much different style to it. It is of a modern cafe-bar design with exposed brick work and lots of wood, including reclaimed furniture. Despite this, there are still some cosy corners and friendly staff, and in the summer the terrace drinking area overlooking the river Don can be a pleasant place to be! Live music is performed here most Friday and Saturday nights, and the bar hosts a comedy club on Wednesday nights.

Finally, the Harlequin. This big old pub used to be known as the Manchester Hotel before it closed down a few months ago, it has recently re-opened under new management and is now a smart and comfortable traditional pub with keen staff and an excellent range of up to twelve beers.

Heeley

Moving out of the City Centre in the other direction now, there are a couple of pubs in Heeley worth a visit. To get to Heeley on the bus catch one of routes 20,20A,25,25A,43,44,53, 253 and get off on Chesterfield Road outside Ponsfords furniture shop. Just ahead you will see the White Lion, which was a Tetleys Heritage pub, now part of the local Just William group of pubs. This continues to feature the old fashioned design with lots of small rooms off a corridor, as well as a main room with a pool table, where bands perform once a week. A range of about 4 real ales are normally available, including Tetleys Dark Mild. A cider is also normally on tap.

The other pub to visit is the Sheaf View. To get there walk under the railway bridge then head up the hill. This boarded up old pub was bought by Canadian James Birkett and his business partner 6 years ago, and following an expensive renovation, re-opened as a fantastic pub boasting a range of 5 regularly changing real ales, plus cider and continental beers.

Chapeltown

Another must do pub is the Commercial at Chapeltown. The pub is a short walk from Chapeltown railway station, or a number of bus routes also pass through, such as 66,76,88,265.

The pub was built in 1890, it was then a Stroutts Brewery pub, now it stocks regular and special beers from Wentworth Brewery, along with a further four changing guest beers. The pub has three rooms - the lounge, the games room and the snug, which boasts a wall of pump clips!

Ranmoor & Nether Green

The other is the Ranmoor Inn. Like the White Lion at Heeley and the Three Tuns in the City Centre, it is part of the small Just William pub chain. This one however is run personally by Nigel Williams and his wife Vannessa. The pub is a pleasant, friendly and comfortable place and the beer is always on good form.

Dronfield & Apperknowle

At Dronfield Woodhouse (bus 43) the Jolly Farmer brands itself as an alehouse, and is a brick and wood building built at the same time as the surrounding estate. The pub has a range of about six real ales, and has the novelty of a glass fronted cellar behind the bar.

In the rural village of Apperknowle (bus 253), there are two pubs, both of which have a large range of real ales, many from microbreweries. The Travellers is by the bus stop and cricket club, a short walk downhill will lead you to the Barracks.  

Hillsborough & Neepsend

Get a tram towards Hillsborough and you will pass the Hillsborough Hotel. The hotel bar is like a classic pub with contemporary decor, and all of the pub is non-smoking except the conservatory. The hotel is also home to the Crown-Wellington Microbrewery, you will find their beers on the bar plus an interesting choice of guest beers.

From here you can walk down to the New Barrack Tavern, a semi-imposing roadside pub with multiple rooms. The pub is owned by the Tyne Mill chain, and has an excellent choice of beers, featuring beers from Castle Rock Brewery plus guests. Continental beers, Cider and food also features here.

Finally, on Neepsend Lane, a 10 minute walk away (or short ride on 53 bus if you are feeling lazy), is the Gardeners Rest, in the shadows of the old abandoned Stones brewery. Rescued by Pat and Eddy in the 90s, this is now a fine pub with real ales from Wentworth and Timothy Taylors breweries, and changing guest beers. The pub has a snug, lounge and conservatory, plus a patio outside overlooking the River Don.