Sheffield Beer Week is back, to celebrate the city’s beer scene, and for 2021 it will be a virtual event, running from 8th to 14th March.

Sheffield Beer Week

The event will take a look back at its first six years on various social media platforms, asking participants to also share their favourite memories using the hashtag #SheffBeerWeek.

Sheffield Beer Week shines the spotlight on the unison of beer and food, community and heritage, with a continued celebration of women working in the beer industry (International Women’s Day falls in the week).

In previous years there has been everything from women in beer networking events to brewsters’ tap takeover collaborations, with organisers such as Fem.Ale and Ladies That Beer.

Last year, when Sheffield Beer Week was the last UK nationwide beer week event to occur, Sheffield based LGBTQ+ beer group Out and About, Lost Industry Brewing, and Sheffield Beer Week collaborated on a beer to celebrate the pioneering life and work of Edward Carpenter. The collaboration shared a unified sentiment which championed welcoming everyone from across the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures.

Carpenter (1844-1929) was a significant cultural and political activist around Sheffield. He advocated the simplification of life through his market garden and grow-your-own approach to campaigning for many issues of social concern. These ranged from women’s suffrage to the protection of the environment, from sexual emancipation to the formation of trade unions.

Indie Beer Feast

Sheffield Beer Week’s live launch will take place on its Instagram on Monday, 8th March, at 6pm, with guests from the local beer scene, such as breweries Neepsend Brew Co and Saint Mars of the Desert.

Shared across socials have been resources compiled by the Sheffield CAMRA branch which highlight pubs, bars, breweries, and beer shops where people can source Sheffield-brewed beer, aiming to increase support and boost the local economy.

To kick-off the week, Sheffield’s craft beer festival, Indie Beer Feast, usually goes ahead at the iconic Abbeydale Picture House, with more than 20 brewery bars and street food. On Saturday, 6th March, the festival will host a virtual launch on its Instagram feed with a surprise beer bundle supplied by associated Sheffield beer shop Hop Hideout. Due to demand, boxes have sold out two weeks ahead of the event.

To see a flavour of previous Sheffield Beer Weeks, you can view via the website’s Events Database and the 2019 printed guide online. It features contributions from British Guild of Beer Writers’ members Emma Inch, Jane Peyton and beer historian Ron Pattinson.