The Beer Engine, Sheffield

The Beer Engine has been well described in the previous review. It is undoubtedly popular, but my impression is that it is a fairly young crowd that frequents it (compared with the likes of the Wellington on the other side of town, which is very much a pub for older people). This is largely because of the types of beer that are available: mostly modern styles, with new world hops, or darker beers with lactose in them. All the types of beer I usually eschew, in other words. I have occasionally turned up here (it is on my way home from work), had a look at the hand pumps and then walked out again. A recent visit was prolonged to the extent of one half pint, as a beer from Blackjack Brewery of Manchester was on, whose beers I applaud for being well made even though some of the flavours are not exactly my cup of tea. There's quite a range of keg beers too, with predictably excessive mark ups, but the occasional third wouldn't break the bank. I'll probably make a point of calling in more often, but the chances are that I won't always stop for a beer! This pub featured in a list of top craft beer pubs in Sheffield published by The Guardian earlier this year and probably deserves its place there.

This is a fairly compact, modernised pub on the fringes of the city centre, standing just outside the ring road. The pub clearly used to have a drinking corridor and multiple room layout, but much of that has now sadly been knocked through, with the servery positioned over on the far left hand side of the pub in what is now the largest space. Here you will find exposed floorboards, sanded tables and basic chairs, all of which has a rather plain, characterless feel about it. However, the bar has an attractive curved, panelled counter and plain mirror bar back, whilst to the front left there is a fine tiled fireplace with a dark wood mantle, both of which help to offset things and restore a bit of a traditional feel and sense of what the pub might once have looked like. To the right, there are two side rooms, typical of corridor pubs in this part of the world. Both were nicely carpeted, with fixed bench seating around the perimeter of the front room and plainer tables and chairs in the less interesting rear one. Both rooms have some wood panelling and a selection of photographs on show and seemed like pretty reasonable spots to settle down over a couple of pints. Out the rear of the building, you will find a small beer garden with a row of picnic benches and plenty of standing room. A jazzy soundtrack played in the background, mostly lost over the hubbub of a sizable midweek evening crowd, even moreso when a couple of dogs started going mental when they encountered each other under adjacent tables! The pub, as its name might suggests, offers a good selection of handpulled beers, with options on my visit comprising Neepsend Blonde, Jarvis Blonde Pale, Gun Extra Pale, Oakham JHB, Anarchy Crime Scene and Pomona Island Stout. I opted for the latter and found myself with a very pleasant, well kept pint, served to me by a friendly barman who won extra brownie points for complimenting my t-shirt! This is another pub which, in most towns or cities would be a dead cert to include on any pub crawl, but in Sheffield is just another mid-range contender amid a flood of outstanding boozers. The refitting of the pub means this place lacks the character of many of Sheffield’s iconic alehouses, but the good beer and service would mean I’d be happy to come back again some time.

Official site of The Beer Engine - www.beerenginesheffield.com

Official site of The Beer Engine - www.beerenginesheffield.com

We popped in here just for a quick half on the way home - there had been live music but it had finished by the time we got here. Also just finishing was a beer that was on sale at £2 a pint, but ours was too naff to drink, so we were offered Camerons Gold Bullion instead (the other beer was Bradfield Farmers Blonde), which was in good condition. There's a small snug just to the right of the entrance, but the rest of the pub is less pub-like, with the loud music being played making conversation difficult, so not somewhere I would be in a hurry to return to. It was lively and the landlord was very friendly, so I wouldn't want to put anyone off.