There’s always something new to try at Turner’s Craft Beer Bottle Shop and it’s a pleasure to while away some time having a good look at all the beery goodness they have on offer. We stopped by for a chat with Turner’s resident bottled beer aficionado, David Turner.
Hello David. So, when did you embark on your bottled-beer-based-odyssey as captain of the good ship Turner’s?
Late 2011 the now well-known Beavertown Brewery opened its BBQ & Beer restaurant around the corner from my flat in London. I got totally hooked on their beers. I then went to the so’called ‘World’s Best Beer City’ Portland Oregon with a notebook and pen, I visited tons of exciting establishments and decided right then that I wanted to open a bottle shop.
And how was it that you first got involved in Sheffield’s flourishing real ale trade?
Originally hailing from the area I recognised the love for great beer in Sheffield so it made complete sense to open a shop here. I wanted to add to all the great establishments by creating a modern, somewhat interactive bottle shop where people could taste some of the beers and chat about the product. We added the concept of refillable ‘growlers’, which was new to Sheffield, a glass or stainless steel bottle which is used to transport draft beer home in bigger quantities.
I’ve noticed that we’ve started to see a much wider range of ales available in bottles and, more recently, cans. Do you think this is indicative of a trend away from pub drinking?
The trend for drinking at home has certainly grown and is possibly due to people having less disposable income. There are also many people with young families that cannot get out but still want a good beer in the evening. That’s where the bottle shop comes in to play. But people love pubs and they’ll always be a great social meeting place.
I see that you also stock a selection of wines. Is wine merchantry an area that you’re planning on expanding into?
We have recently extended our selection of wines due to demand really, as they have sold well. Our supplier is very serious about the quality of their wines so we feel it’s a strong range. We started stocking wines after customers told us that there was nowhere to buy good wine in the area and it’s brought more customers in to us.
You seem to have all the local regional breweries covered, but also some wonderfully obscure beers from far further afield. Could you recommend a couple of stand-outs for the uninitiated to broaden our horizons?
Time and Tide Brewery do a beer called ‘Brynhildr’ which is a fantastic Session IPA which has many admirers in our shop, it’s a top beer. We stock a number of beers from an Oslo-based brewery called Amundsen, they have amazing artwork on the cans and their beers are epic.
Website: www.turners-craft-beer.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Turners-Craft-Beer-Bottle-Shop
Twitter: @TurnersBeer
Instagram: @turnersbottleshop
Interview by Ben Jackson
Images courtesy of Turner’s Craft Beer Bottle Shop
