Four Breweries and a Festival

Weekend Trip to Yorkshire, October 2006

Each year a member of the branch organises the weekend looking over his shoulder at the success of the previous year. Last year Hull was incomparable! Bob Bell, this years organiser, was sweating from Day 1, fully aware that his reputation could be dented. Rest easy Bob - what a cracking weekend we all had... probably one of the best ever!

Our base this year was Knaresborough in North Yorkshire a couple of miles west of the sedate spa town of Harrogate. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Rewind to Thursday lunchtime when we begin the foray.

Thursday

Our lunchtime stop was at the Brewers Pride in Ossett next door to Ossett Brewery. A free house at the end of a long cul de sac next to railway sidings it’s possibly not in the most picturesque of settings but it is a superb Victorian style multi-roomed pub. Selling good value lunches and 8 real ales, it certainly proved a good choice to start to the weekend... and such perfect timing! We all arrived there just on opening time at 12 noon. Looking around at the gathered throng I felt some pity for Chris and brothers Kevin and Gordon who joined the group for the first time this year. Did they know what they were letting themselves in for?

Down to the drinking. The pub had Ossett Pale Gold, Excelsior and Silver King, Red Lion White Lion a favourite at our recent beer festival, Roosters Yankee which to Ken Jackson is just short of attaining heavenly status, Boggart Rudman Porter, Marston Moor Brewer's Pride and Archers Real Lager. All the beers were in superb condition except the Marston Moor and the real lager. The price too was an eye opener compared to Solihull. No beer was more than £2.15, Considering that we are talking here about beers with strengths from 3.8% to 5.2%. The conclusion I came to is that value for money is the order of the day here, something that was to be repeated again and again over the weekend.

Having had a bite and a good go at the beers we thought OK, off to Knaresborough. "No", said Bob. "I phoned up Ossett Brewery yesterday and asked if we could visit as we were coming to the pub next door. Not a problem, they said, We may be a little busy and not able to give a full tour, but pop in at around 1pm." So we did just that to enjoy first brewery tour of the weekend.

The brewery is not traditional in appearance, being in a very large industrial unit. As we approached we could smell that familiar smell of malt and hops in the cooking pot. It is most unusual for us to visit a brewery for a tour whilst it is working. In fact I think it must be a first. We were met by the Head Brewer Paul Spencer, a young chap in his late twenties I guess. Paul’s history is as an amateur brewer with a chemistry degree. During the tour he had to keep dashing off as he was putting a brew through the brewery whilst showing us around.

The brewery can produce some 80 to 100 barrels a week and is well known for its clean, hoppy, sometimes wheat-flavoured beers. However, Paul said that a change in demand had prompted them to try a more mellow beer called Big Red, a delicate, full bodied ruby red ale with citrus/spicy characteristics according to Paul, brewed with a new hop variety called TA200 - as yet so new as to be unnamed, but Paul felt that it would be named Sovereign.

The beers they have brewed until now have 85% malt and 15% wheat hence the lager style taste to the beers. A bottling plant will come on stream soon where they hope to bottle naturally conditioned beers and may consider bottling some of their beer in a bright format.

No brewery trip is complete without a visit to the sample room, so miraculously we arrived there to try some Turning Leaves a golden full bodied mellow beer at 4.5% which is their October seasonal beer. Paul admitted that the beer was nearing the end of its life but we all supped a pint and thanked Paul for his hospitality well aware that it was time for us to move on to Knaresborough to sign in to our digs and hit the Knaresborough pubs.

An hour's journey bought us to our accommodation, the Yorkshire Lass overlooking the bridge over the Nidd at the foot of the town. The pub looked much better on its web site than in the flesh, having a tired look about it. The beer range was not enough to keep us there long, being Daleside Bitter which was not in the best of condition and Greene King Old Speckled Hen, which suffice to say no one bothered with. The pub was serviceable and served our purpose well as a group. If I was on my own I would probably find alternative digs.

Before we began our pub crawl of Knaresborough I gave the town a quick once over, and what a cracking little town it is! Its closeness to Harrogate leaves it very much in the shadow of this well known spa town, but for me it was much more my type of town. It reminds me a little of Ironbridge, perched steeply on the side of the River Nidd with alleyways and steps climbing up from the river to the town centre and its market square. Knaresborough was the home of two characters from history. Mother Shipton was a well known witch in the area who it is said could prophesy the future. I am unsure what her connection with the Dropping Well is but the museum opposite the bridge over the Nidd associates them together. The Dropping Well is a curiosity where objects suspended over a waterfall seemingly turn to stone. In fact the objects are calcified by salts in the water. The other character is John Metcalf the road builder, of which I will reveal more a little later.

Back to the pubs. Finding my feet I sussed out all the pubs in the GBG and in the guide downloaded from the local CAMRA branches web site. There was a lot of John Smiths followed by Theakston's, a smattering of Ruddles and one or two pubs with Black Sheep. Three pubs however stood out over and above the others, which formed the baseline of our evening crawl. Some had already started the crawl off at the Marquis of Granby due to its status as an architectural Victorian gem with Sam Smiths Old Brewery Bitter. They loved the pub but not the beer, which it was concluded was not well kept. We all then gravitated to the pub that we felt would be the best pub in the town, Blind Jack's. We were not disappointed. It is a superb, timeless little pub which surprisingly did not exist until the 1990’s when two shops in the Market Square were knocked into one to form this pub which feels like it has been there for eons of time. I was curious as to the name, and it is here we come back to John Metcalf. Born in 1717, he was blinded at the age of 6 with smallpox. His nickname became "Blind Jack" hence the origin of the pub’s name. Blind Jack built hundreds of miles of roads and bridges in the north of England and can claim to be Knaresborough’s most famous son. The pub does Blind Jack's memory proud, with a superb range of beers, most in beautiful condition. On tap were Village Brewer White Boar a light session beer brewed by Hambleton for the Village Brewer. Another session beer available was the ubiquitous Black Sheep Bitter. All the rest were Best Bitters and strong ales. Goose Eye Goose Lightning; Timothy Taylor Landlord; Rudgate Ruby Mild; Cottage Golden Arrow; Archers Oyster Stout and another unmarked pump which apparently always has a Roosters beer on but not tonight. Another Roosters was on tap by the name of Goldings but I am unable to find its strength. A good range with a variety of flavours was the company's opinion and it was with some reluctance that we left but food beckoned and it was food at a GBG pub, so over the road we wandered to the So Bar.

More of a bistro/café bar it has become well known for stocking real ales served through unusual handpumps which show the beer being pulled. But oh dear! The quality of the beers, Black Sheep Bitter and Wylam Gold Tankard left a lot to be desired, tasting tired and very much as though they were the end of the barrel, and the Roosters Leghorn was acceptable but unspectacular... but the food was superb. Having dispatched our dinner and finished off the beer to the melodious tunes of a female singer, some of us went in search of our final pub of the night.

It was not hard to find. Just around the corner on Briggate is the George and Dragon. Not exactly a pub full of character, it was comfortable and unassuming. It is a one roomed pub unfortunately dominated by a large screen TV. It served a good range of beers, Roosters Yankee; Elland Best Bitter; Daleside Blond; Anglo Dutch Autumn Again and John Smiths Cask which we all surprisingly decided to give a miss. I tried the Anglo Dutch which was just a little wanting. However the Elland and Daleside were spot on... a couple of perfect beers to finish the night on.

And so to bed via a 20 minute walk back to the Yorkshire Lass. Some tarried for a quick one there but I went up to bed as we had to present ourselves at the doors of the Coach and Horses, Harrogate promptly at 11am next morning

Friday

We were all down to breakfast at 9am except Kevin and Gordon who were not in the Landlady's good books, she having been got out of bed late the previous night as they had forgotten their key. Two rather sheepish brothers slinked in a little late for breakfast but all was quickly forgiven and forgotten and the team were over at the bus stop opposite the Yorkshire Lass at just turned 10am for the 10 minute trip into Harrogate, fired up for our express pub crawl of the town. We had to be back in Knaresborough by 1pm for a tour of the legendary Rooster's Brewery, not an easy brewery to get a tour of and definitely the highlight of our weekend.

Harrogate is completely different to Knaresborough, the latter clinging to the hillside above the River Nidd whilst Harrogate is a spacious spa town. The bus dropped us off at the bus station and we made our way quickly through the town centre to our first port of call: the Coach and Horses, West Park. We arrived at 10:50am, just in time for opening, only to find it had been open since 10am. It has a modern pub interior but on traditional lines with, as the GBG says "snugs and alcoves". The beer range was Rooster's Leghorn; Tetley Bitter; Timothy Taylor Landlord and Daleside's Bitter and Blonde. We tried the Leghorn, Blonde and Landlord to find them in excellent condition.

Knowing that time was not on our side and with two more pubs to go, we legged it off to our next venue, Wetherspoon's impressive Winter Gardens. This must be one of the largest Wetherspoons in the country with, as you can see in the photo, an impressive staircase leading to the no smoking area. The beers too matched the pubs magnificence. It was one of the Wetherspoon Beer Festivals but there were 10 plus ales on handpump, putting our own White Swan in Solihull to shame. OK, Greene King, Marston's, Courage, Young's and Everard's are nothing to write home about, but Rooster's IPA; Saltaire's Fuggles and XB; Naylor's Rocking Victoria's Blonde and Fruity; Oakleaf Piston Porter and Hanby Rainbow Chaser. Sheer heaven, and we only had a short time here. Still, enough for us all to have a good go. We were not disappointed... beautiful beer and, like all other Wetherspoons, at an excellent price. Oh for more time here! But on to our last pub in Harrogate: a flying visit to the Old Bell close by. A two roomed all non smoking pub with bare boards gives you a flavour of what this pub is like. It had Black Sheep Emmerdale; Moorhouse's Pride of Pendle; Phoenix Monkey Mild and Timothy Taylor's Landlord, all in superb condition and in a traditional atmosphere.

A whistle stop tour of Harrogate. We did not do it justice, but our next port of call was to be a tour of Rooster's Brewery, so we tore ourselves away to get the bus back to Knaresborough.

Rooster's is not an easy brewery to find. It is housed in what can only be described as a large Nissen hut on an industrial estate. You would expect to see the tell tale signs of empty barrels that a brewery is close by. But no, all is well hidden. This is, as Sean Franklin was to tell us later, due to the fact that he doesn't want to draw attention to the brewery and its valuable casks which, if exposed, would be probably be stolen and melted down.

On arriving at the brewery we met up with Jamie Compton, an ex Solihull CAMRA member who now lives in York, and we all settled down to the hospitality offered us by Sean in the form of Rooster's Special, and his wife Alison who fed us with a filling pot stew.

I have to admit a bias here as I have always enjoyed Sean's beers from the days when he first set up Franklin's Brewery many years ago, so for me this was an opportunity to meet a man whom I have great admiration for. I was surprised to find what a shy, retiring man he seemed to be, but with what I can only describe as a restrained passion for beer and a knowledge which must be unsurpassed in the brewing industry.

Sean began his sojourn with alcohol as a quality controller in the wine industry in Bordeaux. He returned from France to be a cab driver for four years when, on popping into the pub at Goose Eye, he decided that he could make beer, and so it all started.

Sean uses both Maris Otter and Golden Promise malt with whole hops such as Simcoe, Chinook, Cascade and Amarillo, hence the hoppy flavour to his beers. Supping on the Special we certainly concurred that the hoppy, floral flavour was magnificent.

Bob, with his eye on the clock, dragged us away from Rooster's reluctantly as Jamie had planned an evening in York, so we all ambled to the station and caught the train.

York is a well known tourist spot but it has some magnificent pubs, and we started at what many would say is the best, just two minutes from the railway station. The Maltings, in the shadow of the city walls, is one of York's gems, not from an historical perspective but more from it's bohemian character. Until 1992 it was known as the Railway Tavern and Lendal Bridge. I can only describe this one roomed, small, cramped pub as a bit of a mish mash, but like an old coat is exudes the comforting personality of an old friend. With Rooster's Yankee; York Guzzler; Howard Town Dinting Arches; Yorkshire Dales Gunnerside Gold; Bottlebrook Full Moon; Goose Eye KW&V and Black Sheep Best Bitter we had more than enough choice for our first pub of the night. Indeed for many it is the first and last pub of any pub crawl of York, as the Good Beer Guide points out. We tried quite a few of the beers on tap and found the quality consistently good to excellent. It also stocks traditional ciders, which at the time of our visit was Thatcher's Cheddar Valley and Saxon Ruby Tuesday. Foreign beers and country wines are also on the menu. Whilst here we were joined by Andy and Geoff from the Harrogate/Ripon CAMRA branch.

The time soon came for us to move on, as there were other delights awaiting us. York Brewery's Yorkshire Terrier was our next port of call, including a food stop organised by Jamie. Winning CAMRA's Pub Design Award in 2005 for its conversion, this pub is located right in the historic heart of York in Stonegate. It is a compact multi-roomed pub with a function room upstairs. Most welcome is the availability of sample trays consisting of four third-of-a-pint glasses costing £3.00. This gave us the opportunity to taste all the beers on tap. Strong on York Brewery beers, it still stocked an impressive range. From the York stable, IPA, Guzzler, Centurion's Ghost Ale, Stonewall and Terrier. From Castle Rock, Elsie Mo and Black Gold whilst Oldershaw provided Cascade and Harrowby Pale Ale, all in good condition.

After our buffet we took stock of time and felt it was time to move on as it is a longish walk to our next pub, The Swan in Bishopgate Street, which is on CAMRA's Inventory of heritage pubs, being an intact 1930's refurbishment. This superb pub has an unusual floor plan known as the "West Riding" layout. The bar faces out onto the corridor which is accessed direct from the street. It has tables and chairs, whilst the other rooms are served via hatches off the bar. Supporting the bar was Roosters Yankee; Oldershaw Isaac's Gold; Saltaire Goldings Ale; Deuchar's IPA; Timothy Taylor's Landlord; Harviestoun Schiehallion and Tetley Bitter. We weren't here for too long as the beer range did not match the superb building, so we were soon on our way to the Golden Ball in Cromwell Road, another on the National Inventory. A Victorian street corner local, this lovely pub was refurbished by John Smiths in 1929, giving a distinctive 1930's look. Voted York branch's Pub Of The Year in 2004, this four roomed pub has an unusual tiled bar area and a very pleasant covered garden, even in October. Down to the beer - Deuchar's IPA; Marston's Pedigree; Ruddle's Best; Wylam Bohemian and a Czech pilsner-style beer. Not the most imaginative range, granted. I tried the Deuchar's and Wylam to find them in excellent condition.

And so onto our last pub of the night: the Ackhorne in St Martin's Lane. A popular back street local, it was packed by the time we got there. Consisting of one large rambling room, we decided to sit outside on a raised patio at the back of the pub, which was adequately provided with heaters. Propping up the bar was Acorn Barnsley Bitter; Ossett Black Bull; Rooster's Yankee; Wylam Bohemia and Caledonian Deuchar's IPA. Being the end of a long day I only tried the Acorn Barnsley Bitter which got a 4 out of 5 from me. Keeping an eye on the time and our wish to get back to Knaresborough for a quick one at Blind Jack's, we were soon on our way back to the station, having thanked Jamie for a well planned evening. Whisked efficiently back by train we were soon sitting in Blind Jack's with, in my case a half of Archer's Oyster Stout, reviewing the day. All agreed we had fared well and were all fired up in a weary sort of way for our Saturday excursions.

Saturday

Saturday was to be our "day out", including two brewery visits, an unusual beer festival and a pub-crawl. Were we up to it? You bet! We were all suitably breakfasted and opposite our digs awaiting the coach which promptly turned up at 10.30 ready to take us to our first brewery, Naylor’s at Crosshills, just outside Keighley. In common with many other microbreweries Naylor’s has a pub next door which serves the brewery's beers. The pub opened its doors as we arrived at 11am, so a quick pint was called for before touring the brewery. The Old White Bear is a traditional pub with a history stretching back to 1735. It has a rambling, multi-roomed interior with much space given over to food. However, there is a comfortable lounge/bar with a games room where "Ring the Bull" can be played. Some locals showed us how this was done... we tried, but failed miserably! Whilst attempting to ring the bull we noted the bar propped up Naylor's Mother’s Best; Wilkie's Wobbler; Sparkey's Monday Night Mild and Hart Liberator, all at a very resonable price. Addlestone's Country Cider was also available on handpump. I tried the Monday Night Mild, which at 3.4% was a nice light beer to start the day off with.

Brewing at the Old White Bear began in the 1990's ,and when the old brewer moved to Keighley the Naylor family took it over, with Steve and Robert managing the brewery operation. It was Steve who showed us around the brewery, which has been in operation since 2005. Steve told us that there are plans afoot to move the brewery to a nearby industrial estate as there is no room for expansion at the Bear. At present they have an eight-barrel plant capable of brewing two and a half brews a week. We were intrigued by the names given the to the beers to which Steve responded that they were all called after ex and present pub customers, and looking at the number of customers they had in the pub they won't run short of names for their beers!

Our next port of call was luckily not to far away, being the Turkey Inn at Goose Eye. It is in a secluded valley not far from Keighley and is approached by steep, twisting lanes. Home of the Turkey Brewery, the pub is not particularly memorable inside, consisting of one long room with alcoves. At the far end is a separate room sporting a pool table. Harry Brisland the publican/brewer was behind the bar and having introduced ourselves we naturally set about charging our glasses. On handpump were Tetley Bitter; Greene King IPA and Abbott [no takers there then]; Turkey Bitter, Turkey Lost John's and Goose Eye Brewery's No Eye Deer. Naturally we all tried the Turkey brewery beers. The Bitter was OK, but alas the Lost John’s was way past its best or maybe had never even reached it. Harry offered us all a free drink, which we all thanked him for. However, on enquiring what beer we all had chosen I found that we all had ordered the Goose Eye beer, which was in excellent condition. As Harry had served us the beers I wondered what went through his mind.

Gathering us all together we followed Harry into the small brewery at the back of the pub, where he explained his brewing technique. Set up in 2000 he uses Styrian Golding and Goldings as his main hops but uses Challenger hops in the Lost John. I had the impression that he was very much an amateur brewer. The brewery was not as clean as I had seen others, with flies around the copper. Could this lack of cleanliness account for the poor quality beer in the bar, we all wondered? Probably very aware that we had all chosen the guest beer in preference to his own, Harry was keen to tap one of the casks in the brewery for us to try. In contrast to those in the pub it tasted really good, so Turkey's challenge would appear to be consistency. We were all keen to get back to the bar and to have our pre-booked lunch. After finishing our meal we felt a strategic withdrawal was called for so we all piled into the coach and were on our way to another star attraction of the weekend, The Worth Valley Railway and their annual beer festival.

We arrived at the railway station in Keighley just in time to board the steam train to take us to Oxenholme, where the festival was taking place. A very reasonable £4 was charged for the rail fare and entrance fee to the festival and to top it all we didn’t have to wait for a drink as the train served real ale. Disappointingly what met our eyes was Adnams Broadside, Everards Tiger and a more acceptable Hop Back Crop Circle. I investigated further whilst the others got in their Crop Circle. Tucked away at the other end of the train was a carriage with Old Spot Golden Wonder; Bank Top Volunteer Bitter and Timothy Taylor Havercake Ale. I quickly imparted this news to those who had not yet ordered a beer and an orderly scramble was made in that direction!

We all sat back relaxed enjoying the Yorkshire countryside with a beer in our hand and in no time at all were alighting at Oxenholme ready and relatively fit to tackle the beer festival.

The festival takes place in the Engine Shed of the Worth Valley Railway. Whilst drinking your beer you can take a look at some of the locomotives and rolling stock housed therein. Meanwhile on stage there was live entertainment, which was admirably supported by over one hundred beers, ciders, perrys and foreign beers. Which to try? We came to the conclusion that sharing beers might be a good idea, so amongst those I tried were Downton Quad Hop; Copper Dragon Black Gold; Mitchell Eastwood Eden Bitter and Watermill, Ings Collie Wobbles all in superb condition. With the onset of the evening we had to take stock of the time to ensure we fulfilled our schedule for the night. We boarded the bus and made our way up onto the moors to visit the Waggon and Horses, reputed to be the highest pub in West Yorkshire. The pub was heaving due to the festival and it was with difficulty that we found a seat. Turning to the beers on tap, there were five ales: Holden’s Black Country Bitter; Millstone Autumn Leaves; Timothy Taylor Havercake Ale and the two I tried, Hawkshead Lakeland Gold and Newby Wyke Kingston Topaz, both in top form. Real cider was also available for those so inclined. The pub itself has nothing noteworthy about it but both the staff and other drinkers were very friendly and conversation came easy. In fact it was with some reluctance that we gathered ourselves together to finish off the evening with a pub-crawl of Skipton.

Skipton is a pleasant market town made more so by its castle and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal which flows through it. It has a fair number of pubs of which three were on our list of must do's. Our first port of call was the Narrowboat. It has a small bar over which is a balconied area, and since my last visit it had extended into the premises next door. Here we took the chance of a bite to eat and downed beers from an impressive list that included Copper Dragon Golden Pippin; Goose Eye K&WVS; Black Sheep Bitter; Abbeydale Matins; Thwaites Dark Mild; Caledonian Deuchar’s IPA and Timothy Taylor Landlord. I tried the Copper Dragon and Abbeydale to find them in great form.

We then tootled off to the Woolly Sheep, hoping to give the Timmy Taylor range a good going over, only to find it heaving with young folk on the circuit and behind the bar only Golden Best, Best Bitter and Landlord. Some of the party had a beer but I went on to the grand finale. The Royal Shepherd is the brewery tap of Copper Dragon Brewery based on the outskirts of Skipton. The pub was quite quiet after the noise in the Woolly Sheep, indeed it appealed to those wishing to imbibe their beers sedately. It is a multi-roomed pub and serves a range of Copper Dragon beers. On sale whilst we were there were Scotts 1816, Best Bitter, Black Gold and Golden Pippin all in good form.

And so our weekend came to an end. Discussion on next years trip was rife in the coach on the way back to Knaresborough, so much so that Kevin and Gordon offered to organise one in the Exeter area. A roar of approval was quickly followed by gentle snoring and in no time at all we were back in Knaresborough where some dropped off at Blind Jacks to finish off the night whilst others thought it best to hit the hay, for Sunday was to see us head our separate ways home and no doubt, as in my case slip into one or two pubs on the way home.

Steve Dyson. Photos: Gordon Clarke