We started the month in Sheffield with a visit to Kapital and a mini pub crawl in Kelham Island. The following weekend, we headed to DMC for their final day of trading (very sad to lose another independent brewery). Mid-month was our in-person networking event, and the end of the month was the Piglove 10k (which Alex won) hosted by Piglove by The River. In between, we’ve had plenty of new brews at home, but which beers came out on top?
Here’s a rundown of our favourite new brews for July 2026.
Ensueño by Black Sheep Brewery X Piglove (Yorkshire)
IPA 7.3%
Piglove by the River is on our way home from the city centre, so it’s always tempting to pop in for a quick beer when the sun is shining. We’re really glad we popped in this day and got to try this delicious IPA - a collab with Black Sheep.
Brewer’s note: We're proud to introduce Black Sheep's first ever brewery collaboration, created with our friends at Piglove.
There's a synergy between the original Black Sheep, Paul Theakston, and Piglove's founder, Marcos Ramirez. Each dared to dream of opening their own brewery to create beer of the highest quality. The Spanish word, Ensueño, means 'to aspire to do something that is unlikely to happen'. The beer encapsulates the diverse essence of Piglove's origins in Venezuela and the time-honoured craftmanship of Yorkshire.
Our Senior Brewer, Alex, created the recipe for Ensueño with Marcos, which started with a hefty grist featuring Pilsner malt, wheat and two types of oats for a silky, opaque base. Each of Piglove's beers include a special ingredient, in this case the dried coffee cherry, Cascara, which joined a hefty amount of Citra hops in the whirlpool. A 8g/l dry hop of Citra, Mosaic and Sabro culminate in a luxurious, juicy beast of a Hazy IPA, boasting vibrant notes of fresh tangerine amd creamy coconut.
Brewer’s website: Blacksheep Brewery and Piglove Brewing Co
Kawauso by Tartarus (Leeds)
Stout 4.5%
Despite being brewed in Leeds, we actually found this beer on cask in Sheffield, and it was excellent. We’ve always heard great things about Tartarus and, although we haven’t had many of their beers (yet), we’ve always been impressed. This one was malty, chocolatey and thick, with a great body for a 4.5% stout.
Brewer’s note: Session stout boiled for 3 hours to produce a thick stout base recipe, conditioned on local coffee beans and chocolate.
Brewer’s website: Tartarus Beers
Cherry Cola Float by Vault City (Scotland)
Fruited Sour 4.5%
We had three Vault City sours this month - Orange Creamsicle, Lil’ Tropic, and this Cherry Cola Float. They were all lovely summer tipples, but this one edged it as our favourite. Not too sweet, not too sour, with lovely cherry flavour coming through.
Brewer’s note: We’ve taken the nostalgic taste of cherry cola and given it a Vault City twist. Juicy, refreshing cherry and zingy caramel-cola meets our mixed fermentation base beer, topped off with a big scoop of smooth vanilla ice cream.
Brewer’s website: Vault City Brewing
Kappa by Tartarus (Leeds)
IPA 4.3%
Another Tartarus beer, but this time we did find it in Leeds. Despite being a relatively low 4.3% ABV, it had an excellent body, a lovely thick mouthfeel, and bags of hop flavour.
Brewer’s note: Session IPA dry hopped with Enigma, Ella, El Dorado Cryo & Maui Nelson Hop Kief. A pillowy soft beer with flavours of pineapple, mango & guava.
Brewer’s website: Tartarus Beers
BEER OF THE MONTH
Oude Geuze Golden Blend (season 20|21) Blend No. 31 by 3 Fonteinen (Belgium)
Lambic 7.2%
It has been a while since we had a lambic, and we tried this one as part of a selection of four mixed-ferm ales for one of our New Brew Thursday sessions. It was lovely and tart, our beer of the night, and worthy of our beer of the month for July.
Brewer’s note: 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend is a blend of one- to at least 25% four-year old lambics. Spontaneously fermented. Matured in oak barrels. Extended bottle ageing. Unfiltered. Unpasteurised.
For this specific Oude Geuze Golden Blend, we blended lambikken from three different barrels and five different brews. The brew consists of more than one third of 50-month old lambik.
We also added one sherry barrel of 34-month old lambik. This way, the weighted average age of the blend upon bottling is 28 months. About one third of the 3 Fonteinen lambik was brewed with Pajot grown cereals. This is the same blend as the 32nd, but with a different sherry barrel.
Brewer’s website: 3 Fonteinen
Honourable mention
These new brews didn’t quite make it into our top five, but we still feel they are worth a mention.
Bersalis Kadet Oak Aged (2021) by Oud Beersel (Belgium)
Sour 5.5%
Another of the beers from our mixed ferm session was this lovely light, zippy and refreshing oak-aged sour from Oud Beersel. It only just missed out on one of our top five places but definitely deserves an honourable mention.
Brewer’s note: For this special production of Bersalis Kadet the beer continues to age in wooden barrels after the main fermentation.
For this purpose barrels were selected in which Oud Beersel’s Lambic beer has previously matured. As the Pediococcus and Brettanomyces are present in both the barrel and the ambient air, the beer undergoes a second fermentation in the wooden barrels. This is how the Brett character develops and how fresh sourness is created in this light and bitter beer.
After 12 months of ripening in wooden barrels this unique beer undergoes a third fermentation in the bottle resulting in an optimal taste experience.
Brewer’s website: Oud Beersel
Revisited
Not a new brew but a beer we’ve revisited recently because it’s one of our favourites.
Sussex Best by Harvey’s (Sussex)
Bitter 4%
The only place we’ve ever seen Harvey’s outside of Sussex is the Victoria and Commercial in Leeds. And since we were there for our in-person networking event, we couldn’t resist grabbing ourselves a pint.
Brewer’s note: A superbly balanced bitter with prominent hop character. Using a blend of four local hops, water filtered through the Sussex Downs over 30 years, and Harvey's unique 60 year old yeast strain, Harvey's Best Bitter is the embodiment of Sussex.
Brewer’s website: Harvey's Brewery
