A trip to the Leeds Brewery pub, the Brewery Tap, on the road up to Leeds Station is always going to be exciting for a newbie beerhead like myself. I have had a couple of pints in the Midnight Bell, another of the Leeds Brewery pubs, in the past but only when I had the car so limited chance to sample what was on offer.
Saturday there was no car and a pocketful of notes, always a recipe for a good time.
Yorkshire Gold from Leeds Brewery
Started off with a couple of pints of Yorkshire Gold which went down very well and, with a little bit of cunning and overtly rude hovering we managed to secure a table and seats; quite an achievement as the place was filling up nicely. On the technical side it is made with chinook hops that according to the beer advocate, has:
A high alpha acid hop with a wonderful herbal, almost smoky character when used as an aromatic during the last few minutes of the boil when dry hoping. Excellent for hopping American-style Pale Ales, especially those brewed to higher gravities. (alpha acid: 12.0-14.0% / beta acid: 3.0-4.0%)
I am not really up to speed with alpha acid but it does make for a damm fine pint.
By way of variance and purely for research purposes I tried a Leodis Wheat beer and, must say, not really my cup of tea or pint of beer. This is, it seems, the stuff they brew on site and it didn’t seem to sit well. The Leeds Brewery website describes it as ‘very drinkable’ maybe, but not by me. So it was back onto the Gold.
As far as city centre pubs go it was pleasant enough, a bit noisy and there was a group of lads who had all just finished the ale trail who seemed to come dressed as Mumford and Sons posher brother for some reason known only to themselves. Maybe I am getting old but I prefer to talk rather than shout when I go out for the night.
That said it was a lot better than a lot of the Leeds City Centre pubs; there was no-one you had to avoid eye contact with or tattoos that had been done by a dyslexic monkey and there was a noticeable lack of women weeing in the grid outside which is always a plus.
Fishfinger butty – great with beer
Overall you could do a lot worse. Then home for fish-finger sandwiches which has recently become my post session supper of choice.
Cheers
Mike's Beer Stuff 