Ladies and
gentlemen, boys and girls, Leavers and Remainers, please put your
hands together for our latest guest blogger: Barend.
Of Dutch extraction,
he’s trying to get as many pubs under his belt as possible (before
the free movement of people ends and he’s hauled off to his
parents' windmill in the back of a Home Office van.)
Please, enjoy.
***
By
Barend
It’s about a year ago now that the hosts of Pubquest, Rob and Andy, graciously invited me to tag along on one of their adventures. Despite having moved to Sheffield from Belgium – a veritable pub and beer heaven – I was merely a student in the trappings of the taproom. So naturally, I could not pass up the opportunity to watch two experts hone their craft.
But the student becomes
the master, and when Rob recently reminded me that I still had not
finished last year’s review – practically begging me for my
input – it must have been in recognition of the great strides I
had made. After a year in and out of Sheffield’s finest pubs,
drinking the best and the worst, the connoisseurs are dying to
showcase my opinion alongside their own.
This brings us back to
The Beer Engine, a laidback pub in the London Road area. Veterans of
the Sheffield pub scene will know that The Beer Engine has been
around for several decades (operating under various names), although
not much of the old pub remains since Tom Harrington bought it in
2015. An alumnus of Thornbridge Brewery, Tom knows his beers – and
it shows in the great selection of craft beers on tap. Indeed, it’s
not without reason that The Beer Engine was recently listed among the top beer pubs in Sheffield.
The beer that caught
our eye was Mannenliefde, an award-winning saison by the
Oedipus brewery based in Amsterdam. “Mannenliefde” literally
means “love between men,” and I think Rob and Andy will agree
that its refreshing hints of lemongrass drew the three of us closer
together. Not appealing was its price, because ordering three pints
set Andy back a whopping 24 pounds. (Would he have offered to buy
this round had he looked at the price list first? We’ll never
know.)
Still, Mannenliefde
was an excellent drink for a sunny afternoon, made even better by the
fact that we could enjoy it in The Beer Engine’s spacious beer
garden. With a canopy offering shade and plenty of greenery, the beer
garden is an oasis of peace drawing in locals, students, and
intoxicated pub reviewers alike. It’s easy to forget that both
Sheffield’s busy ring road and London Road are right around the
corner.
While its beer garden
is a hidden gem, The Beer Engine’s interior is not my style. Eager
to rebrand itself as a modern craft beer pub and shed its previous
image, The Beer Engine has embraced a slick, clean look that is a
little too clinical to my liking. Shades of white alternate with
shades of grey, and even its hardwood floor and furniture is too light for that classic pub look and feel – perhaps a sign that
the neighbourhood is gentrifying, or (more likely) that I’m getting
old.
All things considered,
The Beer Engine is one of the better pubs I have come across in
Sheffield, and easily one of my favourites. Between its
stellar roster of beers on the rotating tap and its top-notch outside
seating area, there’s plenty here to enjoy. I’m only sad that we
didn’t get to try the pub’s renowned tapas menu. But Rob and Andy
are unrelenting – the quest is calling, our taxi has been ordered,
and we must be on our way to Woodseats for the last two pubs of the
day.
Pub: The Beer Engine (17 Cemetery Road, S11 8FJ)
Rating: 8/10
Pint: Mannenliefde
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