Blue Bee’s nectar ales are the buzz-iness in Sheffield!
By: JimOldfield
March 28th, 2012
Blue Bee Brewery has been creating a quite a buzz since it opened last May. It already has a champion beer of festival medal to its name – and it is establishing itself as a hallmark of quality ale in its native Sheffield. Hand-Pumped spent a day in the blue beehive with king bee Richard Hough, as he brewed the “nectar” that is sending Sheffield’s ale-lovers swarming to the pumps…
You could say Richard Hough is living the ultimate real ale-lover’s dream. From editing the Sheffield CAMRA magazine Beer Matters and working as a van driver for a drinks chain, to becoming head-brewer at Abbeydale, he is now master brewer in a 10 BBL brewery he co-owns with a local landlord.
Ensconced in a quiet corner of an industrial estate in the Kelham Island quarter, the newest player in a city which already has nine breweries within its boundaries and a dozen more just outside, is already proving to be pretty successful.
Just over a year on from handing over the cheque for Blue Monkey’s old plant – who outgrew it – Richard has started to create a brand name – and beers that ale-savvy landlords can’t stock fast enough.
He admits that his reputation from his Abbeydale and Acorn days – he talked his way into brewing for Abbeydale after a chance meeting with the boss, and was head-hunted seven years later by Acorn – has helped promote his brand to Sheffield’s pub trade and ale aficionados.
But now his beers are holding their own on merit, at the hand-pumps.
Nectar Pale – a 4.0 per cent golden hopped ale – accounts for half the sales, while Lustin For Stout – a rich dark 4.8 per center – took Bronze in Sheffield CAMRA’s latest Champion Beer of Sheffield contest.
And the secret to his success?
Richard firmly believes that quality comes before everything. But he is not adverse to a few marketing tactics to make sure his beers stand-out.
He said: “I want my beers to have quality, consistency, and a slight addiction factor. I am very picky about who I sell to, because I only want Blue Bee beers to be sold and served in premises where the beer is properly kept. A bad pint could ruin your reputation.
“By the same token, I only want my beers sold in Sheffield, because long-distance travel doesn’t do them any good. Sheffield is synonymous with quality manufacturing, the world-over. That’s why every pump-clip says ‘Made in Sheffield’ on it. It tells you it’s a quality drink.
“I called it ‘Blue Bee’ because anything blue really stands out on a glass against any type of beer colour, and there’s a lot of scope for fun beer names with bees. And it makes a nice image.”
The beers are constantly available at the nearby Rutland Arms – whose owner Andy Stephens is a co-director of the brewery – and are regularly on at most of the city’s real-ale free houses.
But you won’t find Blue Bee in any pub-co tied houses.
Richard said: “We’re not on the approved lists, but even if we were, we wouldn’t trade with them, because they force their tenants to pay them literally twice the price for a firkin that I sell it for”.
Next up for Blue Bee is Amber’s Nectar – a variation on Nectar Pale brewed in collaboration with the Sheffield Steel Rollergirls roller-derby team, and then a series of specially-hopped versions of his usual 
ales on a snooker theme to mark the World Snooker Championships which are famously held every April in the city.
Richard added: “When I paid Blue Monkey for their brewery, I asked them if they had any advice. The reply was ‘don’t buy a brewery, but now you have, stay within your capabilities and don’t under-sell yourself’.
“I’ve stuck to that. I don’t want a 20 BBL plant and I don’t want to take over the world. I just want to make a quid or two and some decent beer.”
