Two Thirds Beer Company, 434 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
The Bear, 89 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Abbeydale Tap and Snap, 367 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
In the final waning days of 2022, specifically two days before New Year’s Eve, my friend Mike and I decided to venture out of our Crookes/Walkley side of Sheffield and go on a trek over to the Other Side, specifically the Abbeydale Road area, to explore some newer pubs that have sprung up. It was a cold but glorious day, and we thoroughly enjoyed our 3.5-mile walk through the City Centre, down through London Road and on to Abbeydale Road. Sadly the two pubs we had planned to visit were both closed, even though Mike had checked their opening times online. We figured it must have been because so many things close during that week, and the businesses can't be bothered updating their online hours. By this time, of course, we were very thirsty, so I suggested we check out another pub that neither of us had tried yet, the Two Thirds Beer Company. And happily it was open.
The place was fairly busy, but we were able to seat ourselves at a tall table not far from a large group who had obviously been there for a while, as the empty glasses appeared to be piling up. The idea of Two Thirds is that one isn’t forced to order either a whole or a half pint, because they also offer third pints as well as the two-third pints suggested by the name. As they normally have up to 16 rotating taps, one can easily make up their own tasting flight this way, or simply have a smaller glass of one of the stronger beers.
Because I was able to order more than a half pint but less than a whole pint, I decided to start with something strong. So to be contrary, I made a definite decision to have two-thirds of a pint of Indecision Time (5.6% ABV, Burning Sky Beer, Firle, East Sussex). An American Pale brewed with Yakima Chief and Mosaic hops, this was a most interesting brew that produced a “Wowie!” on my pallet, as there was something really different going on there. Mike went for a whole pint of House Party (4.0% ABV, Lervig, Stavanger, Norway). This session IPA has a slightly unusual but zesty fizz, making it taste light and summery for the cold winter day.
When we finished our beers we left and headed over to the nearby Broadfield, because neither of us had been here for years. But as it was late afternoon by then, the place was completely jammed with people eating meals, and not only was there no comfortable place to stand, there wasn’t really a beer that grabbed either of us enough to want to sip it while watching everybody else eat meals. So we decided to go back to Two Thirds for another round.
This time Mike went for a pint of India Pacific Pale (6.5% ABV, Stone and Wood Brewery, Byron Bay, Australia, collaboration with Thornbridge, Bakewell, Derbyshire). Ooh, this was a luscious IPA, I must admit, but as I felt like having a full pint this time and didn’t want to fall on my face, I wanted something lower in ABV. There weren’t too many options, though, and our server apologised, explaining that their limited choice was due to the fact that the pub was closing for a couple of weeks in January. So by necessity I went for one of the two lagers: Victoria Malaga (4.8% ABV, Cervezas Victoria 1928, Malaga, Spain). This was a bit, well, lagerish, but definitely more exciting than, say, Corona.
After 2023 finally showed its face, Mike and I decided to once again venture out to Abbeydale Road. This time it was a sunny but bitter cold January day; but by some stroke of luck, just when we thought we’d succumb to the harsh Arctic frost, we happened to pass by a familiar pub where we could pop in to warm up--and have a quick half, of course, which helped. After our second of these restorative stops, we ended up taking a wrong turn, which increased our desperation to find somewhere warm and refreshing before we'd had much more to drink. And just in the nick of time, we stumbled upon one of our intended goals, the Bear.
And what a gem it turned out to be! As we entered this refuge from the cold, we found ourselves in an inviting square room with plenty of cans and bottles in the side fridge available to drink in or take away, and also a small bar in the corner dispensing a selection of Pomona Island Brewery beers on tap. I probably should have gone for the best of all possible worlds--sorry, The Best of All Possible Worlds Small Pale (3.3% ABV), a safe choice which was brewed with Idaho 7, Azacca, and Strata hops. But I decided to risk a half of the much stronger and equally intriguingly-named Ken Lee Pale (5.6% ABV). Containing Citra and Simcoe hops, this was quite satisfyingly hoppy. Naturally, I couldn't help wondering who Ken Lee was. When I researched online, I learned that Ken Lee can refer to a particular businessman, an artist and West End writer, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, a soundman, and many other references. But that left me with the realisation that I have no idea who this beer was named after. Perhaps it was the brewer, or the brewer's dog or maybe even hamster. I suppose I'll have to live with this Enigma and the fact that I'll just never know for sure. There are so many mysteries in life, and Ken Lee will undoubtedly remain one of them.
Moving on in our exploration, we reached our original goal, the Abbeydale Tap and Snap. I had been expecting this to be perhaps a second tap for my favourite Sheffield brewery, Abbeydale. But surprisingly they had nothing from the brewery on, because this was obviously named for the road and not the brewery. It’s a very small place which felt very cosy on this night. As this was our last stop of the evening, and this time, as we felt like Antarctic explorers who deserved a reward for our endurance, we went for full pints. So both of us chose Saucery (3.9% ABV, Magic Rock Brewery, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire). A gluten-free session IPA with Citra and Ekuanot hops, this was just what we needed for a job well done. We sat at a table next to a group who were just being served some tasty looking snacks and pizzas, hence the “snap” part.
The Abbeydale Tap also features live music nights, and the food menu changes often, so we’ll have to come back at another time. Besides, there are a few more fine hostelries in this area for us to discover -- and Abbeydale Road is quite long, so it’s worthy of more exploration by those of us on the other side of town.
Related Links
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