Like a Gallon of Magnet

After putting his tastebuds to the test with some Greasy Chip Butties, Joel Beighton scrutinises a gallon, or at least a few pints, of Magnet.

Joel Beighton

Following on from last season’s review of chip butties around Bramall Lane, I felt duty-bound to try and find an establishment that was still serving Magnet. Did such a place exist? I wasn’t sure.

Thanks to the invention of Google, my pondering of the matter was short-lived. In fact, it took not longer than a couple of minutes before the algorithmic overlord ‘reliably’ informed that several venues in Sheffield still sold it.

Now, despite singing our anthem every game, I was pretty sure that I’d never actually tried Magnet and had certainly not sampled a gallon of it. It was mysterious to me; heard of, but never seen. Sort of the beer equivalent of Jack Rodwell, or Tom Davies. Wanting to test if I’d be a hypocrite by singing a song about a beer I potentially did not like, I felt it was only right to see if I would enjoy the stuff.

The metric-Millennial in me then started to question how much a gallon is… Again, Google came to my assistance and informed me it’d be just over 4.5 litres, so, 8 pints; a struggle for me to drink, even on a good day.

I had planned to sample my first pint of Magnet at Farm Road Sports & Social Club, a short distance from the Lane. However, a bit of digging on my initial research left me uncertain if they still sold it (can anyone confirm?).

However, the stars then aligned when visiting the Wentworth House Hotel, before a Steelers game, at the arena. A beautiful red brick, tiled pub, tucked on the corner beside Forgemasters with the neon Wards Ales sign, still going strong in the top corner. A ‘proper’ boozer and one we sadly don’t have enough of now. 

Handing over my £4.60 (cheap, by today’s standards), I wondered if Magnet would attract, or repel my tastebuds…