Beer and music radio station Ale & Radio has made the move from the airwaves to the high street. It has opened the Ale & Radio Indie Beer Shop in Chapeltown, north Sheffield.
The shop and studio on Station Road, Sheffield
The shop is trading from 12B Station Road. An official launch and ribbon-cutting will take place on Saturday (26th September).
Ale & Radio was launched by James ‘Jimbo’ Wilmshurst, along with a team of contributors, in April 2024 as a 24-hour online radio station broadcasting from a pub shed in Sheffield. The concept brings together independent beer and music, with a schedule combining music shows with beer features, interviews, and contributions from beer enthusiasts around the UK.
Since launching, Ale & Radio has passed 100,000 streams and has worked with breweries, beer festivals, and independent businesses across the UK.
“Ale & Radio started in my pub shed as an idea to combine two things I love — beer and radio,” said Wilmshurst. “I don’t think I imagined at the beginning that a couple of years later we’d have an actual Ale & Radio shop.
“We’ve now taken that idea out of the shed and onto the high street. I want the shop to be somewhere that’s fun to visit and somewhere people can discover something different, whether that’s a beer they’ve never tried before, something from a local independent brewery, or even some new music.”
James ‘Jimbo’ Wilmshurst
Alongside a selection of specialist wines and spirits, beer is at the heart of the new-look shop, with an increased emphasis on independent breweries and a regularly changing range. Customers can expect pales and IPAs, craft lagers, stouts and porters, sours, Belgian and German beers, world beers, craft cider, and a selection of chilled takeaway cans and bottles.
The premises will also become a physical home for the Ale & Radio station. A radio studio-inspired area has been incorporated into the shop, with plans to use the space for broadcasts, recordings, conversations with breweries and other content.
Wilmshurst added: “I think Chapeltown is a great location for what we’re trying to create. We’re close to the M1, we’ve got a train station just down the road, and you can get here easily from Sheffield, Barnsley, Leeds, and Huddersfield.
“There’s also a brilliant story to tell about this part of Sheffield. Arctic Monkeys came from just up the road in High Green, and I’d love us to celebrate that connection more. Chapeltown has its own identity and some great independent businesses, and hopefully Ale & Radio can play a small part in giving people another reason to come here and discover what’s happening in north Sheffield.”
