New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield

The New Barrack Tavern has a fairly unprepossessing location, nestled in between various large retail outlets on the busy Penistone Road. However, this should not distract from what is an outstanding traditional pub run by the excellent Castle Rock brewery. The current pub dates back to 1936 and replaces at least two other pubs of the same name – the Hillsborough Barracks being just a short walk away. Anyone interested in the pub’s history will be pleased to hear that the current owners have been researching its past and are collating their findings on an ‘archive wall’ which can be found in the public bar. On entering the pub, the bar is to the left of the mosaic floored room which has a couple of high stools but is otherwise used for vertical drinking. You can admire a large collection of awards the pub has won over the years before retiring to one of the three other rooms for somewhere to sit. The largest of these is a wooden floored room opposite the bar which has banquette and low stool seating as well as a stage for live music which was being promoted throughout the pub. A number of old beer adverts were displayed on the walls and a huge Castle Rock mirror hangs above the fireplace. The public bar is at the front left of the pub and was the quietest place in the pub when I visited. It’s a compact little room with access to the bar and, on my visit, a number of barrels were racked up on stilage in the middle of the room as part of what I assume was a beer festival, although there were no signs pointing to this and only one person ordered one of these beers during my whole stay. A bar billiards table had been moved out to accommodate these beers and the room also has a dartboard. The final room is towards the back of the pub and is something of a cramped affair with as much seating squeezed in as possible making it all pretty cosy. A corridor, with a number of beer related picture riddles on the walls, leads out to a very pleasant garden with lots of picnic benches, a couple of shelters and lots of old metallic beer signs. Putting the ‘festival’ beers aside, the normal line up was pretty special on its own. Ales on the bar were Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Screech Owl, Bradfield Farmers Bitter and Acorn Barnsley Bitter, all of which are regulars, plus Prescott Seasons Best Stout, Holden’s Temple of Love, Three Tuns XXX, Gates Reservoir Premium and Bristol Beer Factory Seven. Moles Black Rat Cider was also on handpull and the keg range included the likes of Sagres, Erdinger, Timmermans Strawberry Beer, Marston’s Oyster Stout, Bitburger and Stowford Press Cider. A strong bottled beer range topped things off and all of the options are detailed on a huge blackboard to the left of the main bar. The usual Castle Rock ‘One over the 8’ promotions apply. I thought it was difficult to find fault with this place and seriously considered shortening my ‘Valley of Beer’ crawl in order to enjoy a few more pints in here. This pub doesn’t seem to get the same amount of attention as a lot of its peers, but to my mind it holds its own against anything else the city has to offer. Outstanding.

A fine old pub with an attractive 'solid' frontage and an interior that has gratifyingly remained unspoilt by ‘progress’ within. Three rooms surround the servery and are well-decorated with brewery mirrors and other beer-related nik-naks. The lovely curved bar holds up to ten ales, with Castle Rock predominating (this is a Tynemill house). There are also a number of high-end keg beers as well as a good bottled selection. Westons cider and perry also available. The beers I tried here were on great form and gratifyingly cheap. A dartboard is available and there’s a tidy paved garden area to the rear. This feels like a proper pub experience and is well-worth the tram ride. In a city choc-full of great pubs, this one stands out and is in my top three.

Another 2011 Good Beer Guide pub worth visiting when doing the Sheffield crawl. It is a short walk downhill from the tram lines, and a Castle Rock house with guests, We chose Castle Rock Screech Owl a favourite at 5.5%, and a new one for us Cowslip, their spring beer. Both were excellent. They have a good food menu here too.

This pub is a Castle Rock tied house on the very busy pennistone road. This is a three roomed pub and there is a very good choice of beers on here with a couple from Castle Rock and the others are from micro brewerys i had a drink of Harvest Pale which was very good as usuall,i car'nt remember a lot more about this pub as it was the last of the day. I would definitly visit this pub again when in the hillsbourough area.

I can't believe I'm the first to review this long standing GBG regular, especially as it's part of the "Valley Of Beer" pub crawl. As you enter there's a small snug to the left with the bar facing you. There's a room to the right with a small stage where they have regular live music. Another room further along was set up for dining on Saturday afternoon with menus on all the tables. There are 11 handpumps. As this is a Tynemill pub two or three are given over to Castle Rock beers with the rest being from mainly Yorkshire micros. I had an Acorn Englands Dreaming and Ms CAMRA had a Castle Rock Harvest Pale, both were excellent, although my pint left me feeling thirsty due to the dryness of the taste. At the rear is an excellent beer patio, with old signs and creepers all around the walls. There's also a couple of bird feeders that means we were regularly visited by a selection of small birds. It's a fine pub and well worth the short detour between the Rawson Spring and the Hillborough Hotel.