What is your brewery capacity?
We are in a state of transition at the moment. We have a brew length of around 16 barrels moving to 25 and we brew at least 5 days a week, sometimes 7 and occasionally twice in one day!

What is different about your brewery?

Over time, we have developed a good reputation for brewing outstanding pale hoppy beers across the ABV range from Matins at 3.6% to Last Rites at 11%.  A significant feature of the brewery has always been our pump clip artwork, designed by Ivan Bradley, which is striking, witty, very collectable and usually anticipated (especially our Dr. Morton’s Amazing Remedies beers).

Dan from Abbeydale Brewery

How long have you been brewing for?
2 years now.

How did you get into brewing?
Initially hired by Abbeydale as a sales man : which is still a major part of my job. I picked up the brewing process simply by watching & learning. Then, standing in whilst staff were away. Now I get to formulate my own recipes : Demon Drink was my first solo recipe and recently I devised the recipe for Dr Morton’s Headshrinker.
Working in the past in kitchens, I always got a great sense of satisfaction cooking food for a customer. However, the pressure is far too intense and therefore falling into the brewery trade has allowed me to still produce something for consumption but in a relatively stress free environment.

What beers do you brew regularly?
Moonshine 4.3%, Absolution 5.3%, Brimstone 3.9%, Daily Bread 3.8%, Black Mass 6.66% and Last Rites 11%. A new addition to our regular beers is Deception 4.1, replacing Matins 3.6%.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
At any one time we usually have two Abbeydale specials, the list is vast. We occasionally bring back old favorites; Belfry 4.5%, Alchemy 4.2%, Chocolate Stout 4.5%, Smoked Porter 4.8% to name a few. For Christmas we usually feature Advent 4.6% or White Christmas 5.2%. We also brew under the Beer Works name and create our Dr. Morton’s amazing remedies beers; Snake Oil 4.3%, Brainwash 4.8%, Mental Polish 4.2% and Clown Poison 4.4%. The list is endless. Let’s also not forget the festival charity beer we brew for our own beer festival : Sunfest 8th to 11th July 2010.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Cask real ale remains a consistently growing market. For me the exciting thing is trying out new hops and then watching the reaction of consumers. If the cask ale market grows then it will be worth more people planting hops, who knows in a few years we might be  trying out hops from South America or China! That would be exciting.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
When our Black Mass won beer of the festival at Oakwood last year, 2009. Now, we have won a number of awards in the past, however the gyle of Black Mass was one that I had made. My first beer fest award. Yay!

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Oddly enough one of my worst days in brewing was the time when I brewed the gyle of Black Mass which won Oakwood. Everything went wrong and brewing that day was not stress free. I managed to boil over the copper, covering the brewhouse in dark, sticky wort. A helpful colleague managed to put my aroma hops into the copper rather than the hop-back and an oil delivery in the middle of the boil meant that the boiler was turned off, no-one told me so it was 45 minutes before I realized the boil had stopped!  The boss christened the brew Dan’s Black Mess

What was last beer you drank?

Dan enjoying a beer

Dr. Morton’s Headshrinker 4.4%, pale/golden, summer fruits and well balanced.

What is your favorite hop?
2008 season of Simcoe.

What is your brewing ambition?
To become a Master Brewer with my own brewery.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
My inspiration comes from my father’s side of my family. My grandfather was a head brewer at the old William Stones Cannon Brewery at Rutland road in Sheffield. I did not know that brewing was in my blood when I started in the trade.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. My favorite national beer from a well respected brewery.

Thanks to Dan for filling this in, you can visit his website here, you can also find their beers on in the Rising Sun in Sheffield!

You will no doubt read many reports of what did and didn’t happen between 11:00 on Saturday 23rd and 17:30 on Sunday 24th January 2010, these will more than likely differ from blogger to blogger, but one thing I think know they will all have in common is that everyone had a fantastic time (well, apart from Mark at Real-Real-Ale-Reviews – who was maybe feeling a little guilty over “keygate” – you can read his version of events here).

What a bunch of twissers

The epic began just after 11:00 when I arrived, after a rather crappy train journey, at The Sheffield Tap, a rather fancy new pub based at Sheffield station, which over the weekend was to almost become our second home.  While I waited for other bloggers to turn up I quietly sat in the corner of the bar, slowly supping a rather delicious glass of Thornbridge Kipling, this was the start of  what, will one day surely become a pub crawl that is etched into blogging legends or as someone mentioned on twitter, become the face of a new alcohol awareness campaign.

Just as I supped the last fruity and hoppy mouthful of my Kipling, Steve  aka Aletalk wandered across and asked if I was Chilli Up North, perfect timing – it was now his round.

Before either of us had finished our beers (I had a Thornbridge White Swan and I think Steve went for their Lord Marples) Dave and Ann appeared, they’d been in Sheffield since Friday as they had a long way to come from the Woolpack, as the beers went down, more and more bloggers were appearing as their trains pulled into the station, before we knew it the place was packed, people had really pulled out all the stops, coming from far and wide to meet their fellow twissheads!

After a few more beers were sank, travel stories shared and gifts exchanged (beers/chilli seeds/some rather lovely glasses from Alex at All Beer) we were shepherded outside for a quick photo, before heading off to the next stop on the Twissup Map.

In truth a certain person who shall remain nameless took us on a slightly longer route that detoured by the Harlequin pub, after a couple of swift halves in there we moved on to the Kelham Island Brewery where we had the rather delicious Marble Brew 14 and a whistle stop tour of the brewery before heading to the Kelham Island Tavern for some Thornbridge Samhain, Milton Marcus Aurelius and one of my beers of the day Brew Co Pete‘s Ginger Stout.

Ruination in the Devonshire Cat

Next on the agenda was a tour of the Sheffield Brewery, a couple of beers in there and a chat with them guys before onto the Hillsborough Hotel, where we were subjected, sorry treated to a brewery tour by Crown Brewer Stu, here we supped more beer, had a hastily arranged beer swap and I got to watch Ring of Fire 2009 being tapped, this is the beer I helped Stu brew and used my home grown chillis in. It seemed to go down really well, Mark Dredge has even given it his beer of the day (WHOOP).

The atmosphere in the Hillsborough was possibly the best of the day, great banter, great beers (including Thornbridge Equinox and Crown Samuel Berry’s Pale Ale)

From here we split into two groups, some went to watch 22 fellas kicking a ball around a pitch and the rest of us headed via various modes of public transport to The Rising sun for a couple of beers and some much needed sarnies, Kelly from Thornbridge‘s competitive side came out here when he scoffed the majority of the tray of sarnies that myself and Pete B found on our table.

Our stomach’s thinly lined with sarnies we headed down the the Devonshire Cat, here we found the awesome Stone Ruination IPA on, it wasn’t cheap at £2.80 for half a pint but it really was worth the money, here I also tried my first non beer drink since breakfast, a rather tasty rum that was packed full of vanilla and nougat flavours (thanks to Brew Co Pete for letting me try that)

It was now getting to the time were some unfortunate people had to get the train home so we headed back to the The Sheffield Tap where yet more ale was consumed from both cask and bottle, This included Hop-it, Tokyo*, Jaipur and various other beers and beer styles.

Twissup on the tram

Once we had waved those unlucky few off we went in search of food, somehow we ended up in a kebab shop that resembled a fancy dress shop, which sold a strange array of battered products which were mainly thrown in the bin.

Those of us that were staying at the Hillsborough headed back there, where a certain person broke someone else’s key in the door, leading to a few room changes and a lot of ribbing for Mark at Real-Real-Ale-Reviews and a rather funny (if inconvenient) end to day one.

Day two started with most of us feeling a little worse for wear, this being helped by the brilliant breakfast served up at the Hillsborough before packing our bags and heading off to see Zak Avery in Leeds.

Zak had very kindly arranged for a pin of experimental beer from local brewer Roosters to be waiting for us at his shop, It was delicious and just what we needed to get the day’s drinking started, although I think it may have sent Pete B over the edge. I think everyone bought a few beers from Zak which is almost impossible not to do.

Next off we headed off in the Wooliemobile to North Bar in Leeds, for yet more ale and some great cheese made by the bloke from blur who used to drink rather a lot of booze in his wilder years…quite fitting and bloody delicious, this was quickly followed by a couple more rounds of cheese and bread and meat and bread, all pubs should do this, it’s a fantastic way to soak up the booze.

Up next was some Sam Smith’s OBB in a rather unfriendly pub hidden down a back alley, promptly followed by an Ilkley Brewery Mary Jane before myself, Pete B and Mark D headed for our train back to Sheffield, luckily on arrival back in Sheffield we had time for one last pint in the The Sheffield Tap, I went for Kipling again, It seemed fitting that the beer I had first should also be my last.

Picking up my rather heavy bag and my rather horrible burger I headed for the most depressing and disgusting train I have ever been on and headed home…

Thanks to all that turned up, chatted, drank, swapped beer, gave gifts and organised treats and tours along the way, I will be sure to raise my next glass of beer to you, although that might not be for some time..

Thanks to steelrazor for taking some awesome pics, You can view my photos of the event here and some other pics in the Twissup flickr group

Ps for those of you interested the beers that I remembered to log as I drank were: Thornbridge Kipling, Thornbridge White Swan, Thornbridge Lord Marples, Brewdog Black Dog, Tiger Tops Ginger, Abbeydale Genesis, Marble Brew 14,Thornbridge Samhain, Milton Marcus Aurelius, Brew Co Ginger Stout, Kelham Island Pale Rider, Sheffield Five Rivers, Sheffield Paradise Pale, Thornbridge Equinox, Crown Ring of Fire 2009, Crown Samuel Berry’s Pale Ale, Burton Tweetie Pie, Thornbridge Jaipur, Brewdog Tokyo*, Brewdog Punk IPA, Brewdog 5Am Saint, Brewdog Equity For Punks, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Anniversary, Stone Ruination IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale ale, Urthel Hop It, Roosters Experimental, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Ilkley Mary Jane, Sam Smith’s OBB and various sips of other peoples beers of all sorts of styles.