Down on Sidney Street, home to creative businesses like Jawing and HR Media plus the ever-impressive Birdhouse Tea Company, local brewery Lost Industry Brewing has taken up a unit in the Niche building, where the infamous nightclub of the same name used to stand.

The brewery’s taproom will have more than 20 lines of ale, all dedicated to the huge range that Lost Industry brew in Wadsley Bridge alongside some picks from local and independent breweries. We grabbed owner Lesley Seaton to get the skinny…

The new place will have 21 lines of beer when you open, what can we expect on the list?
We will be selling a wide range of beers – a whole bunch of our own beers from Lost Industry, although this will depend on what we have at the time because we’re only a small brewery. There will be a range of stouts, pale ales, IPAs – every type of beer really! We produce so many different beers and we’ll be stocking all of them. We’ll also have a lager line, which will only be craft lager. None of the big boys!

Will you alternate the beers?
The lines will be changing all the time. There won’t be any fixed ones on, apart from the lager. Everything else will be continuously changing. For those who know us, you’ll know that we don’t have a call range on the beer that we brew. However we do brew seasonal beers that are repeated, such as the mojito and strawberry daiquiri which we like to bring back every year. But mostly they will be experimental beers that are one-offs.

Will all of the beers you sell be brewed by Lost Industry?
It will be a 50/50 split. The other proportion will be from small and independent breweries, we won’t be selling any beer from mainstream corporations. We support proper craft beer!

There are three of us involved in developing and running the bar, myself (Lesley Seaton), Mike Seaton and our new partner Darren Silsell. He is heavily involved in the bar and has a wealth of craft beer experience in bars, so he will be managing the bar and working closely with us to hopefully make it a big success.

For those who don’t know, what is Lost Industry?
We are a young company, only four years old. We are based at Wadsley Bridge and are only a small five barrel brewery. The team at the brewery is made up of me (Lesley), Jim Seaton, Helen Seaton and Nat Seaton, who handles a lot of the social media side of the business. We are proud to say that we sell beer all over the UK and even in Europe – We regularly do business with a bar in Madrid! Our mobile bar, selling a range of our beers, can also be found at festivals throughout the year. We very much enjoy going out and meeting people, it is great to spread the word and collab with different people!

Word on the grapevine is that you will be serving pizzas freshly made on the site?
We haven’t finalised the menus yet, but there will definitely be a range of pizzas. We are considering the possibility of doing customised pizzas, so there will be different toppings available and plenty of options for vegans/vegetarians. Nothing is set in stone yet. But we are certain that there will be pizzas, paninis, pasties and platters on the menu.

How did you come to acquire the building?
We had been looking for a bar space with our partner Darren for a while before we came across this place. Once we went into business together we began looking seriously for a venue. We wanted to be based in Sheffield, because this is Lost Industry’s hometown. We looked at several places but they never really worked out. We then found this space in the city centre and loved it – a lot of this is to do with the shape of the building and the area that it’s in. The building itself is so individual. The area is very up-and-coming, and it isn’t far from the Rutland Arms which is one of our favourite pubs. We think it will become part of a really nice circuit alongside all the other bars that are around.

What sort of vibe are you going for?
We are aiming to have an industrial atmosphere. We have left everything fairly bare in the building, and will then include things like scaffolding boards, window shelves and high seats. We also have a local artist doing some wonderful artwork that will be on display. The look we are trying to achieve is quite eclectic, with random décor instead of lots of matching chairs. We are also going to create a nice outdoor space, but because of the central location it will mean that we have to move it all inside at night. But we are hoping to have a couple of tables at the side of the building and some bistro-esque tables at the front. The building was a completely empty shell, so we have had a big job on our hands building everything from scratch. We are really excited to open in September!

---

Lost Industry Brewing’s taproom opens next month. Keep up to date on their Facebook and Twitter pages.