Rutland Arms, Sheffield

A Sheffield institution, a single large room in a fantastic deco building from Gilmour the former Sheffield brewer, the inside has been thoughly gutted but retains a grungy charm beloved of generations of Sheffield uni students and others. Always seems to have decent beer from Blue Bee amongst others. Good for the station, grotty but cool.

Sheffield is one of the few UK cities that I really haven't done justice to as yet. I arrived into the city on this occasion with a list of pubs over 100 long that I have yet to visit. Alas the continued rail strikes put paid to any extensive crawl on our Saturday trip. Hence with time for just one after watching a match at the nearby Bramall Lane football ground, I'd chosen the Rutland Arms and had high hopes for it. I wasn't disappointed. The exterior stands out for some distance around. It's an impressive building whereby photographs don't quite do it justice. Inside, it is quite a grungy affair. Indeed, the gents' toilets seemed to be something more suited to a crowded rock venue. Walls of the bar are lined with all sorts of interesting pumpclips, stickers and the like. There are plenty of talking points. Despite the small nature of the bar, service was really efficient and the friendly staff managed to get people served really quickly despite a fair influx of football fans. Being between the football ground and the stadium, I was expecting it to feel much more crowded and for service to be extremely difficult. But with many punters spilling out to the rear garden, it all felt fairly relaxed. Blue Bee Reet Pale was the regular beer. When one of my drinking colleague requested Reet Pale across the heads of several customers awaiting service, I thought he was asking for three Pales. So, we had a good go at that beer! Also on handpull were Blue Bee Hillfoot Best Bitter, North Riding Chocolate & Fudge Porter, Chadkirk Galaxy, Marble Pint & Coffee Rye Mild & Brew York Wayward Distraction. The cider was Saxby's Cloudy Plum Cider. In addition, there is a good selection of craft beers, many of them from overseas. These included The Kernel Pale Ale, To Ol Snuble Juice, something from Burning Sky, Cuvee Kriek, Moersleutel Coffee, Vanilla, Tonka & Maple Imperial Stout, L'Ermitage Theoreme De L'Empereur & The World of Tomorrow 2022 & DeFranke XX Bitter. Blackboard list all of the beers. Other boards listed the various spirits including rums and gins. If the other 100+ pubs I want to visit in Sheffield are this good, I'll have to book a fortnight stay for my next visit!

Official site of Rutland Arms - www.rutlandarmssheffield.co.uk

Official site of Rutland Arms - www.rutlandarmssheffield.co.uk

As below, an uncompromising pub knocked through into one room, typical slightly scruffy alehouse with a raucous atmosphere early on a Friday evening. Handy for the university and station, it seems very popular and for good reason. Fine range of ales and decent value food, entertaining jukebox and clientele.

Quite a big lump of a pub with a roomy interior to match that had a quite appealing well lived in feel about it . It was pretty busy on a thursday night adding to a great atmosphere. With six beers to choose from I enjoyed a pint of Bristol Beer Factory Delray Beach. I would certainly have a look in here again.