St Mars of the Desert Brewery, Sheffield

Brewery tap hidden away in the industrial estates between the river and navigation downstream of the city centre. Passing the patio beer garden in the yard and the brewery to the left, you find a T-shaped taproom with the bar straight ahead, the bottle shop area to the right and a mix of different-sized tables. I counted nine different beers in a range of continental styles, opting for the D'Or Mouse (£3.00, half) and Krönungsbier (£3.25, half). A bit tricky to find, but worth the effort to sample something less usual.

Sheffield's newest brewery, the oddly named St Mars of the Desert, is located on an industrial estate. It was quite hard for me to find on a first visit, as someone had parked their car on the pavement, obscuring the (admittedly fairly small) signs which advertise the brewery's presence. Once inside the gate, there's a yard with a building at the back which has a red door and the brewery's logo in white (is it a cactus? I think it is). The brewery tap is only open twice a week - Fridays and Saturdays from 12 noon until 9pm. There was quite a decent crowd in when I arrived mid-afternoon, maybe thirty people, the vast majority of whom I would guess being between 25 and 35 years of age. Not that I was the oldest person there, but very nearly. The bar is on the right, made of a nice piece of new timber (could it be chestnut?) perched atop some distressed scaffolding planks. On the white tiled wall behind are eight keg taps, with four beers on at the time of my visit - listed on a blackboard to the left. Some dried hops are draped above the taps, with a cuckoo clock amongst them. Also to the left was a sideboard with a record player on it, while to the right was a fridge containing some cans of the brewery's produce. I had the Barbapapa imperial stout 7.9%, which went down well. The walls are decorated in old advertisements for French, Belgian and German beers, plus a couple of murals in the house style. It was a little noisy, with so many people, but I found myself a space near the solid fuel stove (be careful - it's hot, says a notice) and enjoyed my beer. There's a bit of space outside in the yard, but no seats as yet - perhaps these will materialise in warmer weather.