Sheffield Hopcast

This month we visit one of Sheffield's newest ventures, The Social on Snig Hill. Tune in to find out what makes them a little bit different. Expect some great beery (and often non-beery chat) as the team catches up on the last month's events.

James, Adam, Laura and Sean pay a visit to The Bear on Abbeydale Road - one of the newest venues in Sheffield. And it's October so that means Halloween. Each of the crew have to decide whether they want a 'Treat' - a beer they'll definitely like - or a 'Trick' - something a bit out of their usual comfort zone. We're joined by Matt, who runs The Bear, who tells us how his fledgling venue is already...

September takes us back to Sheffield and to a new venue - Industry Hophouse on Leadmill Road. It's owned by our good pal Darren, of Industry Tap fame, who also joined us on one of our lockdown episodes. James, Laura and Sean set Darren the task of picking them each a perfect beer from his full to overflowing fridges. So where does the cock ale come in? Well have a listen and find out. Industry Hop...

With restrictions lifted we finally got the chance to have our Summer away day this year and after a lot of love shown for York in a recent episode, we decided we should pay it a visit. In amongst all the beer chat we found time to check out Sean's best animal impressions and have a little chat about the recent Olympics... as you do!

James and Adam bring you a special podcast recorded live at this year's Tramlines festival at Hillsborough Park in Sheffield, including some highlights of the Everly Pregnant Brothers' set on Saturday afternoon and a chat with their lead singer, Big Shaun. It was amazing to see so many people back together having fun. Lots of smiling, and lots of laughing. Tramlines went ahead as a Government test...

The first in-person episode with the full team since Feb 2020. We visit new kids on the block, The Pangolin in Hillsborough. A fantastic little micropub and bottle shop and a much-needed addition to the area. Many of you will know owner Nick Davy from his time at Walkley Beer Co and his appearances on the show in the past. We look back at what was happening last time we all at together and in a ch...

It's a return to the virtual Hopcast and a return to a theme we've done before: Beer Cocktails. Each of the crew come up with own variation on the theme. Our guest is regular listener Paul who quizzes the team on their real Sheffield beer credentials (spoiler alert: it doesn't go well). If you don't want to ruin the surprise of just how amazing Paul's beer cocktail creations are, stop reading now....

For the first time in 14 months, three quarters of the team got together for beer at an actual pub! So that was the perfect opportunity to record a little bonus episode. We chat a bit about what we've been up to since the pubs have reopened in April.

We're joined by Luke from the awesome Rhythm & Brews podcasts for a bit of a music special. Except, there's no actual music. But we talk about it a lot.

It's a few days afterwards but this episode is a bit of a St Patrick's Day special. We all pick a beer roughly along those lines and stake our claims for Irish heritage. Our guest Declan definitely wins that one!

As the reopening of pubs and bars moves closer, we focus on our favourite Brewery Taps. Adam, Laura, Sean and James are joined by guest Frank, who came up with the idea for the theme. We each pick out a beer from a brewery with a taproom that we love. Well... apart from Sean who has to be a bit different, of course!

The panel are joined by Robin Baker from Abbeydale Brewery as they each pick a beer that represents somewhere they'd reeeeeaaaally like to be right now. There's a real mix of locations and Sean's completely catches James out!

It's our valentines special 2021. This year we all simply pick a beer we think represents that theme - be it a beer we love or some other meaning. And Sean might just have met his beer for life! Have a lovely Valentines however you're spending it and remember - we love you. We really do.

Our guest is Tom Scott who started a digital agency called Little Mesters. Long story short, we use that as the inspiration for our theme this time: Sheffield Heritage. As ever, Sean's connection is quite tenuous! There's plenty of beer talk and a nod to a couple of new places opening in Sheffield too.

It's Dry January! It's Tryanuary! Well, for us, it's both. We give the panel the choice of 'Dry' - an alcohol free beer - or 'Try' - something they wouldn't normally pick off the shelf. We're joined by Robin who set up an alcohol free beer delivery club in the first lockdown which has gone from strength to strength (OK no pun intended) Of course, we're back in lockdown again so we talk about that...

In 2015 when the beery podcast world was much more sparse, The Beer O'Clock Show rounded up a few other podcasters to discuss the Beer industry as it was in 2015. Five years later with over 50 UK beer podcasts, Steve (Beer O'Clock Show) rounded up a new selection of Beer Podcasters to take a fresh look at the beer world 5 years on to see what has changed. Here is part one. Big thanks to Steve for...

In 2015 when the beery podcast world was much more sparse, The Beer O'Clock Show rounded up a few other podcasters to discuss the Beer industry as it was in 2015. Five years later with over 50 UK beer podcasts, Steve (Beer O'Clock Show) rounded up a new selection of Beer Podcasters to take a fresh look at the beer world 5 years on to see what has changed. Here is part two. Big thanks to Steve for...

It's a bit of Christmas special this week as we help judge the Penistone Homebrew Club's 2020 competition. The standard is - frankly - phenomenal. We're joined by Geoff and Jack from the homebrew club and entrants in the competition. Eight beers but which will win it?!

It's just Laura, Adam and James for this one as we rock out three cracking beers all under 4%. There's a fair bit more ranting to be done as we head into the revised tier 3 restrictions next week. Somehow this falls as our penultimate episode before Christmas but we might try to sneak in another Christmas special too. Watch this space!

We're having an American Celebration on the Hopcast this week. We're joined by Darren from Industry Tap to share some beers with a US theme and reflect on the last couple of weeks. Mental health takes centre stage for a lot of the conversation this time around. It's really hard times for everyone right now and it's OK not to be OK. We will get through this, together, and we'll all be back with our...

We get in on the Funk Fest action with our own episode of funky beers. For some reason, we all end up picking two beers rather than one, this week. Laura and Jim fill us in on how the Funk Fest At Home weekend has gone, with a variety of virtual events led by Abbeydale Brewery and friends. Plus - there's plenty for us to talk about with several changes in lockdown regulations since our last episod...

This week we are calling our 50th episode. We've done a few specials and Half-pint episodes but this is number 50 for the main show. We've 2 great guests, Jay Kerr and Nick Davy from Walkley Beer CO. and in a time where we are uncertain what the future of pubs looks like, we take a casual look back at the last few years of the pub scene in Sheffield. We enjoy beers from Thornbridge, Vibrant Forest...

This week with Sean and James away Adam and Laura are joined by Laura's other half and Abbeydale brewer Jim and a guest listener Simon Dewhurst. We drink beers from Yeastie Boys, Lost and Grounded, Kirkstall Brewery and a Solvay Society and Wilderness collaboration. We discuss thoughts on the recent changes to rules for pubs during the Covid-19 pandemic and look ahead to a virtual Funk Fest.

The sun is shining and so that calls for a good old summer slurper! James, Adam and Sean are joined by Laura live from Leeds and Sean brings along a special guest too - the legendary Dave Unpronounceable! With more uncertainty about where things are heading with new Covid rules, we have a good chat about pubs and various other topics.

It's another Bank Holiday weekend and so what better way to mark it than sharing a beer with friends? James, Laura and Sean are joined by Hannah from Neepsend Brewery to chat about vegetables, former jobs, and just a little bit of beer and brewing.