The Fat Cat, Sheffield

Posted on 26. Jun, 2012 by Robert Gale in Pubs

The Fat Cat, Sheffield

The Fat Cat is a very popular Grade-II listed pub located in the Kelham Island area of Sheffield.

History and Interior

Once a former hotel, the 3 storey pub dates back to the mid 19th century and the interior certainly has an historic feeling to it.

Entering the small entrance lobby with its mosaic tiled floor there is a room on the right featuring a small bar and seating in the room on the left. The bar is also accessible from a serving hatch in the lobby. Based on the diminutive size of the bar area, this serving hatch is handy for those in the left room.

According to the British Listed Buildings website, the 3-sided bar which features a canopy with coloured glass and a clock was said to have been a payment settling kiosk brought from a Co-op butchers in Rotherham in around 1981.

The pub was once owned by William Stones Ltd who were the brewers of Cannon Ales. They purchased the pub in 1912. In 1981 the name changed from the Alma to the Fat Cat and its owner, the late Dave Wickett, turned the pub into a haven for real ale and started somewhat of a real ale revolution in the area.

Dave added a brewery called the Kelham Island Brewery to the pub in 1990. It quickly became a success and expanded twice in 1999 and 2007. It’s now still located within the yards of the pub and includes a museum and visitor centre.

The Beer

A dozen hand pumps serve a range of 10 ales and 2 ciders. Kelham Island beers are always available along with a wide variety of guests from breweries around Yorkshire and the rest of the UK. When I visited in June 2012 beers from Haworth, Revolution, Townhouse, the tiny Abraham Thompson brewery in south Cumbria, Holdens, Timothy Taylor, Dorset Piddle and three from Kelham Island.

Also available on keg are Schneider and Erdinger wheat beers and La Trappe blonde Belgian beer.

More Photos of the Fat Cat

Venue Location

The Fat Cat

23 Alma Street

Sheffield

S3 8SA

Tel: 0114 249 4801

www.thefatcat.co.uk

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.