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Brewery Bits Rooster’s Brewery in Knaresborough is hosting an evening called Explore Outlaw on Friday 16th May from 7–10pm; it will be the first of their open evenings with a twist! There will be a brewery tour led by one of the brewers, a fun tutored tasting of beers from around the world and an outlaw themed three course meal. Tickets, costing £45 per head, are limited to 25 places; call the brewery on 01423 865959 for more information and to secure your ticket. Leeds Brewery have a monthly programme of special beers planned for 2008. In March, look out for Ascension (3.9%), which they describe as a floral Easter ale, brewed with aromatic hop varieties and rye malts to give a delicate and satisfying bouquet to this pale golden beer. In April, it’s Leeds Special (3.5%), a chestnut session bitter. Sweet malts and English hops give this easy-drinking ale more flavour than you might expect for its strength. In May the special is Yorkshire Gold (4.2%), a well-balanced golden ale, which uses English Northdown hops for a rich and satisfying finish. They have also launched a special beer in association with Leeds United Football Club. Radebeer (4.0%), has been named in honour of Lucas Radebe, a former club captain; the name was chosen by a fan in a competition run by the club. It’s a straw-coloured, lightly hopped session ale, which will be of particular interest to Leeds fans. Permanent outlets in York are Brigantes and the Punch Bowl on Stonegate, while it is also available regularly in the Swan on Clementhorpe. They have just started to supply the Rook & Gaskill, and Ko Ko Bar has had both Winter Spark and Midnight Bell. Craig Lee of Rudgate says: “the initial start to 2008 is looking good, apart from the massive increase in raw materials which we are all having to absorb. We keep debating whether or not the smoking ban has affected trade, but as yet we’ve not made a firm decision!” The brewery continues to produce monthly specials: in March it’s Iron Blade (4.3%), a robust darker beer, brewed using chocolate malts, which has a bitter finish. This is followed in April by War Hammer (3.9%), a mid-coloured beer which is initially sweet, with a complex fruit finish and in May by Leg-Biter (4.3%), in which mid/pale hints of crystal malt lead to a pleasant bitter aftertaste. They also produce the Brewers Choice range of paler, hoppier beers, which is going from strength to strength; there are two of these each month as well. As if that’s not enough, Rudgate brew the Marston Moor range; their full programme for 2008, plus more on all the brewery’s beers, can be found at www.rudgate-beers.co.uk. Hambleton Ales is also producing monthly specials. March’s offering is Eggcellent (4%), an amber bitter which uses New World hops to give a delightful, resinous hop character. In April you’ll find April Foal (4%), which is pale and fruity, with dominant orange notes leading to a pronounced bitter finish. The special in May is Giddy Up (4%), a brown ale brewed from an interesting blend of cereals, exhibiting an unusual fullness leading to plenty of hop-derived fruit. The Direct Delivery Scheme, based in Ripon and operated by SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, has been recognised as the best national retail initiative in BBC Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards 2007. The scheme, brainchild of Hambleton founder Nick Stafford, beat supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Tesco to take the award. Known as DDS, it allows over 400 local brewers around the country to sell their distinctive beers to pubs, supermarkets and off-licences belonging to national and regional chains. The non-profit making business is centrally administered from Melmerby, just outside Ripon, where all orders are taken and invoices dispatched, with the breweries delivering their beers directly, cutting down on food miles. This also ensures that the beer is fresh when it reaches its destination, instead of having been stored in a wholesaler’s warehouse or pub chain depot for weeks. The scheme, launched four years ago, has done wonders in allowing small brewers, who previously found it difficult to sell their ales individually to pubs owned by chains, to get their beers into these outlets. March sees the first of three appearances this year by Decade from York Brewery. This light, hoppy beer, with grapefruit undertones, was originally brewed as a special for the brewery’s tenth anniversary celebrations, but has been revived several times since due to popular demand. In April it’s Birds ‘n’ Bees (4.3%), described as a fairly dry, smooth bitter with a hint of fruitiness, while in May you’ll find Bramling Cross, one of the 4% single hop brews. [back to top] Ear to the Bar Apologies to the Swan on Clementhorpe; in the last issue we did our best to kill trade by telling you that the pub opens at 9pm in the evening during the week, when it actually opens at 4pm. The core beer range of Tetley’s Cask Bitter, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Timothy Taylor Landlord is supplemented by interesting guest ales, as well as a traditional cider. This issue contains a regular feature, our mini guide to the pubs in York which sell independent brewers’ beers. There are nine new entries this year, making a total of 67 pubs, the most we’ve ever had on the map. We’ve had to work very hard to fit them all in, so the descriptions are in some cases very brief and don’t necessarily do the pubs justice: all the more reason for you to use the guide and find out more! In fact there’s one missing; we found out that the bar at the Theatre Royal is selling a York Brewery beer, badged as Grey Lady (she’s the resident ghost), too late to alter the map. The 3.6% beer is pale with a refreshing grapefruit taste; I leave you to draw your own conclusions. It’s a pleasant, airy spot to enjoy a beer; opening times coincide with performances. A new outlet for cask ale in York is the Hotel du Vin on the Mount. Part of a small, upmarket chain, this is an impressive conversion of former Shepherds offices in a Grade II listed building, which had stood empty for some time. They were selling York Yorkshire Terrier from an unmarked handpump on our visit; this came with table service and complimentary olives and pistachios at £3.40 for two halves! At the other end of the price scale is another interesting outlet, St. Clements WMC on Count de Burgh Terrace; here you can get two pints for not much more than £3.40! The club has recently replaced John Smith’s Cask with Jennings Bitter and a guest beer at £1.77 a pint; Black Sheep Best Bitter has already done well and Copper Dragon Best Bitter is expected soon. It’s a busy, friendly club, which welcomes non-members. They have darts, snooker and football teams, wide screen TV, regular bingo sessions and an artiste on Saturday night. It’s nearly 100 years old, although it started in premises across the road before moving to its current location. With over 500 members, it’s one of York’s most successful clubs, and it’s well worth a visit. Opening times are: 1pm–5pm, 7pm–11pm Monday and Tuesday; 7pm–11pm Wednesday; 7pm–11.30pm Thursday; 1pm–11pm Friday; 12pm–12am Saturday; 12pm–5.30pm, 7pm–11pm Sunday. Good news from Knaresborough; the Mitre by the station, fondly remembered for its excellent beer festivals, is open again after a lengthy period of closure. Even better news is that it is now owned by Ian Fozard, the man behind the Market Town Taverns chain. It’s not part of the group, but it is being run along similar lines, with good quality food and drink, including a selection of real ales. There are eight handpumps, with permanent representatives from Copper Dragon, Thwaites, Black Sheep, Rooster’s and Theakston, leaving room for three guests. There’s a range of imported draught beers and bottles and the pub is open from 12 every day. A member of Doncaster CAMRA is a regular visitor to the Boot & Shoe at Ellerton, and tells us that landlord Kev Young has three real ales on the bar; Old Mill Bitter, Timothy Taylor Golden Best and Camerons Castle Eden Ale, all in excellent condition. We’ve had two separate positive reports about the Drovers Arms, Skipwith, where new tenants Pete and Donna Williams have recently moved in; this is excellent news as the pub has been closed intermittently over the last few months. They are selling Black Sheep Best Bitter and a guest ale, both of which are well-kept. They are getting the outside tidied up and there’ll be a new beer garden and children’s area ready for late spring. The kitchen has been given a quick revamp and food is back on and selling very well. It’s open both lunch and evening during the week and all day from 11.30am on Saturday and Sunday. Why not try a walk on Skipwith Common, followed by a pint and some home-cooked food in front of their log fires? The Bumper Castle on Wigginton Road is becoming a good outlet on the edge of town. It has four real ales and the landlord intends to change one of them regularly, as his younger customers are prepared to try something different. Timothy Taylor Golden Best, Black Sheep Best Bitter and John Smith’s Cask are all selling fairly well, while Leeds Best and Copper Dragon beers have also been on. Thornbridge Jaipur was chosen as the favourite real ale of 2007 by drinkers in Castle Rock pubs, including the Rook & Gaskill, where it appears regularly and sells out quickly every time. The company’s brewer of the year was Batemans of Wainfleet; again, their beers are often to be found at the Rook. Batemans has bought the Waggon & Horses opposite and although currently closed it is undergoing refurbishment and is scheduled to re-open in late Spring. The brewery is in negotiations with local planners and conservation officers to ensure that the renovation of this attractive Georgian property is sympathetic to the era. Features will include solid wood floors, timber panelled walls and a real fire; there will also be six en suite letting bedrooms and a new catering kitchen, so bar snacks will be available throughout the day. They are looking for an experienced real ale licensee and there’s the promise of an extended range of cask ales, including Batemans own beers such as XXXB. Jaclyn Bateman, Marketing Director, says: “We are thrilled to have acquired this attractive pub, not least of all as we already have a strong free-trade presence in York. The pub is in such a great location that it will further support recognition of our cask ale range, which will in turn help our free trade customers. ”Having these two pubs cheek by jowl makes Lawrence Street a very enticing prospect indeed. The freehold of the nearby Tam o’Shanter is up for sale as well, so if another small brewer moves in things could get even better. A pleasant surprise when we were out surveying for the mini guide was to find that John Smith’s Cask had gone from the Slip Inn to be replaced by Jennings Cumberland Ale. The pub is one of those that were briefly owned by Burtonwood before passing into the hands of Marston’s; they allowed the pubs to carry on selling John’s for a while, but finally delisted it late last year. This is a very traditional, cosy little pub, with two rooms, which has survived all the building that has gone on around it over the years. At the Oak Tree in Helperby Lee and Kate Dawson have just got Cask Marque accreditation which they are justifiably very proud of. They keep three handpulled beers; one pump swaps between Young’s Bitter, Adnams Bitter and Timothy Taylor Landlord, number two features Black Sheep Best Bitter, Jennings Cumberland Ale, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and two new ones to the pub, Wells Bombardier and Shepherd Neame Spitfire, while the third is devoted to Punch Taverns Finest Cask range. Doug and Louise from the Jug & Bottle in Bubwith were at the Dorchester in London for the National Drinks Retailers Awards ceremony in February; they made it to the final three (out of 155) for Best Community Off Licence. The Phoenix on George Street reopened in January after another temporary closure. It’s in the care of Millie, a relief landlady, who has Marston’s Pedigree and Jennings Cumberland Ale on. It’s open from 4pm during the week, then all day at the weekend. Closing time may vary: as she says, if the pub is empty at 10pm it’s not worth staying open. The pub has great character, but seems to miss out on passing trade. It’s going to be a hard battle to win back customers, especially given the competition in the immediate area, but if ever a pub was worth your support it’s this little gem. (It has closed again since I wrote this! Ed) Also open again, after eleven months closed, is the Half Moon at Acklam. It appears to be in good hands, taken on by licensees with experience both in Pocklington and at the Dunnington Sports & Social Club. The real ales are John Smith’s Cask, Black Sheep Best Bitter and Timothy Taylor Landlord. [back to top] |
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