IN SEARCH OF ABBOT

August 2023. Sheffield.

September brings the new Good Beer Guide (Londoners on Privilege Club probably have theirs already, mind); August brings (after a 4 year break) news of the cutting-edge flavoured ales awarded “Beers of the Year” by CAMRA at the big beer festival (GBBF) in London.

Obviously the only category we’re interested in are Premium Bitters, the ones unadvisedly drunk at the end of a session (see : ESB at the Parcel Yard).

Oooh, I’ve heard of all of those. And if you wanted a good example of how a good beer is ruined by slow turnover or enhanced in a busy pub then Jemima’s Pitchfork and XXXB would be prime exhibits.

But Abbot ? A safe bet, and I’ll assume you’re drinking it in a Spoons with a CAMRA voucher so good value, too.

CAMRA Discourse has been full of conspiracy theories about a “special version” of Abbot being used to dupe the blindfolded GBBF judges, so I was keen to find out if our award winner was “drinking well” in Sheffield.

The Museum is pretty much Greene King’s local flagship, almost the first pub that pops up if you type “Sheffield” into What Pub, and used to be in the GBG when it was one of those Hogshead type places 20 years ago.

Seemingly always full of groups of friends slightly younger than me on a night out, you enter to a soundtrack rather older than the South Yorks norm. Bowie, Blondie, Lou Reed…

The décor is just weird.

It’s mainly high tables, upstairs and down,

but I do find a pleasant enough seat by the door with the butterflies, scorpions and dodos. What are they trying to tell me ?

My pint is £4.40, which seems at the high end of Sheffield prices to me, and sadly it’s a bit dull and “milky” (NBSS 2.5).

2.5 is the level at which you don’t take a beer back, you just decide NEVER to try cask again. Lack of turnover, even though the cask range at the Museum is as tight as I’ve seen it.

I can only assume that the folk on Madri or Carling have yet to hear about the Greene King flagship’s success at Olympia, but will shortly be rushing to try it in their droves, just as they did with (checks Wiki) Hobson’s Mild and Bingham’s Vanilla Stout.

Perhaps.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

12 thoughts on “IN SEARCH OF ABBOT”

  2. Beer Twitter still don’t get it. The CBOB competition has never been and will never be run for them. It’s for the millions of mostly middle-aged (male?) drinkers who visit their local day in day out, choosing old-fangled malty bitters in village locals, drinking in quantities greater than a third pint, and actually keeping cask beer alive. A champion beer of Britain should reflect what most of us actually drink I’d have thought, not what beer enthusiasts want us to drink.

    Having said that I don’t like Abbot, and don’t for one minute believe Sheps’ new Citra will taste of Citra…

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      1. It’s more about what branches nominate for the competition.

        Meanwhile, I notice Theakstons have launched a new Session Pale with ‘continental hops’, I predict it will have very little ‘continental’ hop flavour, nor be particularly pale. Watching national and older regional brewers attempt to jump on the already sailed craft bandwagon is one of the great, hilarious pleasures of pubgoing right now. Seems every time I visit an Everards pub there’s a new ltd ed special from the brewery that tastes exactly like Tiger or Sunchaser…

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