Tap & Tankard, Sheffield

Official site of Tap & Tankard - www.tapandtankard.co.uk

Friendly little pub if a little tatty around the edges , all 8 pulls on during my Saturday lunchtime visit , with 4 from Kelham Island and 4 guests from Acorn , Ilkley and Marstons . i had Acorn Barnsley Gold and Kelham Island Shindig , both in good nick . A large selection of board games is available to play and the rowdiest ever game of scrabble was going on in one corner giving everyone a good laugh . A decent enough pub .

A nice enough little boozer next door to a Wethers and much more better to visit. 4 Kelham beers on plus 2 more on the other side of the pillar on the bar. The interior is better described below. Its a decent enough place for a drink if you can't be arsed taking the hike from the station to the main Kelham Island pub.

Now owned by Kelham Island Brewery who have given it a bit of a spruce up inside, but for some reason the entrance door is still a mess. A full description is below from PSM, so I won't bother. 3 Kelham Island beers and 2 guests on our Monday, early evening visit, including the almost ubiquitous (at this time of year) Hobgoblin. I had a pint of Stancill No 7 which was in decent nick. It's worth calling in now, but it's got a way to go to become one of Sheffields destination pubs.

Formerly the Sportsman (or indeed 'Sportsman Rock Bar'), this place was closed for a while before its acquisition by the Kelham Island Brewery, who reopened the pub in December 2014, losing any gimmicks in the process and creating a classic traditional pub focussed on quality beer. The pub has a very simple layout, essentially comprising a single room with two distinct sections. The front half of the pub is a fairly bright seating area with banquettes, standard tables and chairs and a few low stools. The servery runs down the left hand wall, broken in two by a large pillar, with handpulls on either side, so make sure you peer round to view the whole range. The bar is seemingly a new instillation, with a modern tongue and groove counter and somewhat bland mirrored bar back, although that's not to say that it doesn't fit in with the traditional look they've gone for. A second seating area can be found to the rear in a space that was lit by muted lighting, creating a nice cosy feel on a Saturday evening. Pews, banquettes and chairs serve five tables centred around a nice fireplace and what appeared to be some sort of former serving hatch. Décor comes in the form of various pictures of the city, a few bits of breweriana here and there and a high shelf displaying toby jugs, tankards and other such items. The handpulls are split between Kelham Island brews (to the left of the pillar) and guest ales (to the right). Options on this visit were Kelham Island Pale Rider, Easy Rider, Kelham Best and Blonde Beer, Great Heck Treasure IPA, Marstons Pedigree New World, Bradfield Yorkshire Farmer and Atom Dark Matter. I was clearly dithering far too long, so the helpful barman kindly talked me through all of the ale options without prompting, allowing me to eventually settle on the Treasure IPA which was absolutely superb and an early beer of the year contender. I've always felt that Sheffield had just about everything it could possibly need in terms of its pub scene, but I'm inclined to think that this place has found a nice little niche, providing a cosy, friendly, unpretentious drinkers pub in the heart of the city (there are two Wetherspoons and a Yates's within spitting distance), stocked with great beers from a local brewer. I really enjoyed my visit here and fully expect the pub to further improve as it continues to bed in.