The Hillsborough Hotel, Sheffield

Enjoyed our visit yesterday to this popular real ale bar, Well worth a visit to check the selection on the bar. We enjoyed beers from Beatnitz, North Riding and Blue Bee breweries.

Beers from the Crown Brewery (located downstairs) were Hillsborough Pale Ale & Traditional Bitter (both £2), & Stannington Stout, also Spire Sgt Pepper Stout (5.5%abv, laced with black pepper), Empire Brewing Commerci-Ale Traveller (clip has pic of Mini-Traveller), Ossett Yorkshire Glory, Abbeydale Absolution, Great Newsome Frothingham Best, plus, ‘coming next' (but available direct from the cellar NOW), Hop Ripper IPA, Ossett Light Ale, Great Newsome Jem's Stout, Bridestones Pennine Gold, Abbeydale Belfry. The small bar to right of entrance suggests it used to be the hotel reception and the office behind is now the kitchen. Wood floor continues to lounge area on the left, where mixed seating is reminiscent of a budget hotel but the warm welcome & beer line-up puts this in a different league. Beyond the bar & lounge area is a nice conservatory with bleached pine tables & a couple of Raj style rattan chairs, as well as smaller tables & stools, there is a cobbled balcony surround with picnic sets, and a board listing belgian style bottles. Mon: pie chips peas & pint £5; Wed: curry rice & pint £5; pie of day wi chips & mushy peas £4.95; chunky chips wi cheese £2.50. Tues is big Jim's quiz night, 8pint prize. Six en-suite rooms, 3dbls, 3twins, £60 b&b, or £40 single. I'll be booking in advance when I get the chance to tour Sheff properly, and it's right by Langsett tram stop. You can see the former name ‘Wellington' in stone over the door, and this and the Wellington down the hill (Henry St) were, or are, known as the Top Wellie & Bottom Wellie. Great stuff.

This is a brick built pub/ hotel with its own on site brewery on the tram route from Sheffield City Centre going northwards to either Malin Bridge or Middlewood. It’s a former Gilmours Windsor Ales pub called The Wellington as evidence by the etched windows and signage over the door. The interior is a rather featureless opened out bare boards and chunky wooden chairs and tables affair with a rather spartan and cold feel to it. There’s one or two old photographs and brewery mirrors, but no real effort to create a characterful and interesting interior and the overall feel is a bit like sitting in an old railway station waiting room. Despite a number of organised events ( eg – Big Jim’s Quiz on Thursdays, Folk Nights on Sundays ) , there’s never been any pubby atmosphere or feeling that you’re in a community or local pub whenever I’ve been in. There’s a conservatory at the back and a few seats outside which afford a fine view of part of the Don Valley, although there’s a rather large and unsightly large Aldi supermarket ( formerly a Mecca Bingo Hall ) about the size of an aircraft hangar to contend with. A small bar counter just inside the door as you go in doubles up as the hotel reception ( there’s 6 rooms for Bed and Breakfast ) Following a change of ownership in 2012, on site brewing is now carried out in the name of Wood Street Brewery ( formerly Crown Brewery ). On my recent evening visit , 4 Wood Street Brewery beers were available supplemented by 4 guests, ( 3 from Ramsbury and 1 from Double Top ). The pub is in the 2014 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, but the WSB beers sampled by me seemed uninspiring and rather bland and I’d be inclined to go for one of the guest beers next time. These change regularly, but there’s an obvious emphasis on local micros and you’re quite likely to find something unfamiliar Finally, do note that, despite the name, the pub is not particularly close to the football ground, which is a couple of stops away on the tram. It does however provide a convenient place for an overnight B & B stay for long suffering southern based Wednesdayites, in which category, I’m afraid I must count myself,

On a recent visit the beers available on the eight hand pumps were nearly all from Wood Street brewery, with two from Black Country brewery. This is a family run hotel and I know several people who have stayed here and enjoyed themselves. It's not a favourite of mine, as it doesn't have the pub atmosphere of other pubs in the neighbourhood, such as the Firwood or Florist in Walkley, or the Masons Arms just along the road. The advantage it has over those, of course, is good real ale, and many visitors to the Valley of Beer would count this as a worthwhile stop on their pilgrimage. As a venue for a quiet drink or a chat, though, I find it uncomfortable, with its chunky wooden tables and chairs more suitable for dining, and the tinny modern pop music blaring out from the radio more suitable for younger ears than mine.

Nice enough pub with a rear patio which I enjoyed in the sunshine.Un-impressed with the Wood St beers.Friendly banter with a couple of locals helped make it a good visit.

We were in the Hillsborough last month and had no issues with the Wood Street beers. Both the Gold and the Loblolly beers were fine. We were back in Shefield for a wander round on Friday and had Derby Copper Rocker and Magpie Zigger Zagger, and they were fine too. It is still worthy of inclusion of any crawl round the city pubs.

The new owners of the Hillsborough have renamed the brewery Wood Street Brewery (after the street which runs along the side of the pub). I had a half of the 4.0% bitter when I called in tonight, and I have to say I was not impressed. The former Crown Brewery had some good ales, and I don't know what has been done about recipes and equipment when the pub and brewery changed hands, but this is not the quality I was used to under the previous ownership. Added to which, there was a strong smell of fried food, probably fishcakes, when I was there tonight. I went and sat out on the patio but the extractor fan from the kitchen must be pumping the fumes out there, as I could not escape the smell. I hope things improve, because this has been a fine pub in recent years and had a deserved place in the Valley of Beer crawl.

Located a fair way out of the city centre, but still easily reached by taking a tram to the Langsett Road/Primrose Hill stop, this is a cracking little pub which also houses the Crown brewery. The entrance takes you into the compact main bar with a mosaic floor and a few tables with comfy chairs. The short bar counter is on the right hand wall and also acts as the hotel reception, with access to the hotel through a door next to the servery. The room extends to the rear where there is a pleasant conservatory and small raised outdoor area with a few benches. The conservatory and patio afford decent views over the valley as far as the ski slope on the other side. There is one other room on the left hand side of the pub, which has wooden flooring and a couple of sofas but is mainly arranged for dining and doubles up as the breakfast room for the hotel’s residents. There’s a TV screen on one wall, although I didn’t notice it switched on during my visit. A few football fans were enjoying a drink when I arrived prior to the afternoon’s game at Hillsborough, but the pub was a lot quieter than those closer to the ground. I actually stayed in the hotel for one night and thought the room was good value and found the staff very friendly and helpful. There were four beers from the house brewery available during my stay – Crown HPA, Loxley Gold, Traditional Bitter and Samuel Berry – as well as four guests which included Milton Minotaur and Gundog Red Setter. I thought the HPA was a cracking pint and would be keen to sample some more of the house brews the next time I visit. The keg range included Erdinger, Lindiboom and Pheasant Plucker Cider. It’s a very simple pub but it does everything very well and I enjoyed my time here both at the bar and as a resident of the hotel. There are plenty of pubs in Sheffield that I would be keen to revisit and this place would be up near the top of the list.

Home of the Crown Brewery (based in the cellar) and their brews are available here in great condition at prices that would barely trouble your wallet if you are from the south of Birmingham; usually five or six of theirs plus a couple of well-chosen guests as well as some decent bottled beers. The main bar and two rooms as you enter can be fairly glum and a bit dull on the décor side. Better seating is to be had at the rear, where a conservatory affords some nice views of the Don Valley (the boarded-up Mecca bingo hall excepted) and there’s a balcony for sunny days. Mrs Quinno was rather taken by her pint of monkey nuts. This is also a functioning hotel, so is a great choice for a stop-over if you're doing Sheffield. I hear that you can have beer with your breakfast! A couple of minutes from the tram stop makes this one another destination on the ever-burgeoning ale circuit in Sheffield. With a little more ‘pubbiness’ it’d be right up there with the nearby(ish!) New Barrack Tavern.