We had been looking forward to our weekend away in Leeds
for ages. Jane and I, along with our good friends, Steve and
Dee,travelled to Yorkshire's biggest city on a Friday, staying at the
Travelodge, in Vicar Lane, for 2 nights. I had been to the City a few
times in the past, but, usually, the only pubs I would have visited
would have been the ones nearest the Football Ground. Now, it was
time for a good sniff around the many bars within the City centre. My
original foray into the Real Ale outlets available led me to a list
of over 50. Hmm. Beermonsters have their limits. Liver transplants
were not an option we were looking at. After digging through the
t'interweb, and asking my friends on Twitter and Google +, I managed
to get a short list down to 20 pubs. Of these, during our three
sessions across the weekend, we managed 17 of them, AND added 2 more!
Not bad at all. Above all, though, we had a fantastic couple of days
in a brilliant city, which caters for all, whether you are shopping,
drinking or eating. We did all three. Our return is eagerly
anticipated. I have tried to encapsulate our little trip around here
in chronological order of our pub crawl, with a little intro of the
boozers and taverns discovered, and the delicacies partaken within. I
know some will think we missed out on the best, or not agree with my
comments, but hey ho, such is the life of a beer blogger. So, if you
are ready, here we go.
Friday Afternoon and Night.
The Templar Hotel
2 Templar Street.
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1st knockings in The Templar Hotel |
Situated just off The Headrow, and opposite the
Travelodge in Vicar Lane, this was a good starting point. The
selection is pretty impressive, and there is the offer of 10% off for
card carrying CAMRA members. This is an old style boozer, and among
with the many hand-pumps, there was, probably, a similar number of
screens dotted around the pub, all showing various sports, but there
doesn't seem to be any conflicts between those dedicated to the 2-30
at Kempton and those with a thirst for good beer. Our choices in here
were Empire Brewery “Moonraker Mild” at 3.8% , a sweet, nutty and
quite chocolate flavoured example of this style, with quite a dry
finish, and one I really enjoyed. Leeds “Pale Ale” was Steve's
tipple, another a 3.8%, and a good session beer, with a light, but
noticeably, hoppy taste, leading through to floral notes. We would
all become quite familiar with this well balanced classic, with a
medium bitterness in the finish. The ladies went for Moorhouse's
“Blonde Witch”, a Golden Ale of 4.5%, with a fruity smoothness
throughout. The finish is quite bitter and zesty, but tempered well
with a hint of sweetness.
The Swan,
Swan Street
Just tucked away off Briggate, this Leeds Brewery run
pub is very modern in décor, and displays a good range of beers,
available in 1/3 pint tasters. This is more Wine Bar, in looks, than
traditional Public House, and, despite the variety on the bar, the
quality of some of the beers were not so good, with one beer, the
Leeds Pale, having to be returned. Steve and I went for the
aforementioned tasters, with Leeds “Midnight Bell”, Marble “Earl
Grey IPA” and Leeds “Pale Ale” being in his original line-up,
whilst Sonnet 43's “American Pale Ale” and “Steam Beer” sat
alongside a Marston's “Saphir Single Hop Amber Ale” on my tray.
The half pints were both Leeds “Pale Ale”, but, unfortunately,
these had to be changed, as was Steve's, for the same brewers
“Yorkshire Gold”. The “Midnight Bell” a 4.8% Mild, was heavy
on the dark malts, with a lovely chocolate notes through to the
medium dry and bitter finish, the “Earl Grey” was very full of
fruitiness, with orange and grapefruit mixing with tropical fruit
and, of course, tea. Truly American in style. The “Yorkshire Gold”
is quite light in taste, but with a good background of malt. The
finish is citrus and very satisfying. The Sonnet “APA”, 5.4% had
a vein of spiciness running through the apricot and biscuity body,
with a hint of floral. A satisfying but not too punchy American Pale,
whereas the slight fruit,toffee and citrus flavours and thin body of
the “Steam Beer”, at 3.8%, although a reasonable session beer,
just lacked that little extra. “Saphir' Single Hop”, with a
caramel sweetness, spice and tangy hop hints, was quite enjoyable.
The Ship Hotel,
Ship Yard, off Briggate.
Another pub, sited just off the main street by an
alleyway. A great Olde Worlde atmosphere oozes through this pub, from
the nautical based wooded décor, through to the cosiness of the
outside drinking area. The beer selection is, I was told, usually
around half a dozen, and Cask Marque accredited. The clientele is an
easy mix of locals, shoppers and beer hunters, and there is a genuine
friendliness in the air. In here we all chose the Leeds Brewery “Pale
Ale”, to get over the disappointment of the previous tavern. It was
excellently dispensed and tasted fresh, light and extremely
satisfying, as it should. This is a pub worth looking out for.
The New Conservatory,
Albion Place
The
bar here is in the cellar, or should I say Basement, but when you are
in here, it is no dark dingy and airless place. The decorations are
Art Deco, and quite pleasing on the eye. Not a vast beer selection,
but the beer we sampled was very well kept. Another pub worth digging
out, with the street furniture and facade giving the looks more akin
to a cafe. Our beer selection was the 4.3% Leeds “Best Bitter”, a
Yorkshire Bitter to savour, with rich a malt taste perfectly
balancing the hoppiness, and leading to a refreshing bitterness.
There ain't many better.
The Pack Horse,
Pack Horse Lane, Briggate.
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A good selection in the Pack Horse |
This pub vies for the title of Leeds' Oldest, and is
very popular, with a number of local ales on tap, and real cider too.
It is the sort of place to happily take a breather from retail
therapy, or to use as a man crèche if the shops are too much of a
distraction. The selection in here is also good, and we counted 7
cask Ales and Orchard pig Cider on the crowded bar. There is quite a
bit of room inside, as well as an outside/smokers area in the
adjoining alleyway. In here, our order was a pint each of Purity
Brewing's “ Pure Ubu”, a Premium Amber Ale of 4.5%, and
Castlesford's Revolutions Brewery's “Clash London Porter”, also
4.5%, along with halves of Copper Dragon's “Golden Pippin”, for
T'other 'Arf and the 4.2% Golden Ale, Purity “Mad Goose” for Dee.
Steve's “Pure Ubu” was full on with maltiness and fruits, sweet,
but dry in the finish. A beer that is deceptively smooth. My “Clash
London Porter” had a wonderful aroma of coffee, bread and a touch
of chocolate, which carried on into the taste of this medium bodied
Ale. It is well balanced and has a vein of bitter sweetness
throughout. A good beer of this style. After what we believe was a
touch of “slight of hand” magic, or just downright cheek by
T'other 'Arf, it appears that the other two drinks got swapped on
their arrival at our table ! The “Mad Goose” was a refreshing,
zesty Golden Ale, with smooth and dry finish. The “Golden Pippin”,
with it's sweeter fruitiness and slight bitter finish, also carried
noticeable floral hints. All in all, 4 excellently brewed beers.
Whitelocks ,
Turks Head Yard, Briggate.
Another goldmine of an Alehouse. We arrived to find a
beer festival taking place. Their were more beers than you could
shake a stick at, and plenty of punters tasting the wares.
Unfortunately, we waited far too long for service, and, on enquiring
when it would be our turn, received a very short and rudely delivered
retort from one of the bar staff. Another member of staff eventually
served us, with politeness, but first impressions ? Not what we
expected. This was a real shame from, what otherwise was, a superb
boozer. The beers chosen were Ridgeside “Black Night”, another
good solid Porter, of 5%, which had a more fruity taste than some,
with rich liquorice and chocolate notes giving way to burnt caramel,
but bitter dry finish, and Timothy Taylor “Landlord”, 4.3%, which
tasted, well, just like “Landlord” should do. Slight fruit gives
way to a real nice hoppiness, and citrus notes delicately cut
through, making it a really good, and award winning beer. We had
hoped to sample Kirkstall “Pale Ale”, but it had gone off, which
was a pity.
The Griffin, Boar
Lane.
This was not on my original list of pubs to visit, but
one look inside persuaded us otherwise. This street corner pub, part
of the Taylor Walker estate, has a strange, but interesting, layout,
and can become rather crowded. The designers have gone for part
traditional, part tube-station and a touch of canteen, but, somehow,
it works ! With two permanent and, up to, 4 guest beers, this is
quite a good show on the pumps. The beers we chose in here were the
“Taylor Walker 1730 Special Pale Ale”, brewed for the company by
Westerham Brewery, and “Chinook Blonde”, 4.2%, from Keighley
Goose Eye Brewery. “Chinook” is a very light tasting Ale, with
hints of malt, citrus and slight grassy tones, but the finish is a
big dry and bitter punch. It is a good Summer beer, and the finish,
very refreshing. The 4% “1730” had a rather fruity hint to the
main malt body, which slowly leads you a medium dry and zesty finish.
Both beers were well worth our diversion from “The List”
The Atlas King
Street.
This pub is a 5 minute amble away from the main drinking
area, but worth the trip. It has a good range of World Craft beers,
Wines and Spirits, along with a selection of local Cask beers. The
feel is slightly wine bar, as is the look, but, it is certainly not
pretentious. We found it a very comfortable and friendly bar, and the
staff are very knowledgeable and courteous. We chose two Atlas beers
in here,brewed by Halifax Brewers Stod Fold and Saltaire. These were,
respectively, “Gold” 3.8%, a straw coloured light coloured Ale
which is very smooth to drink, with zesty hints and medium
bitterness, and “Blonde” 4.8%. This was a touch drier, but
equally nice, with a more noted and rounded maltiness. “Barnsley
Bitter”, from the Stancil brewery, 3.8% of lovely malt sweetness
making it have a creamy feel in the mouth. The bitterness is good
and well balanced, a great session beer, and Ilkley “Summer” were
also sampled. “Summer” is a Golden Ale of 4%, which is full of
fruit flavours. Mango,Pineapple and orange were detected by us, with
hints of vanilla too. A touch complex, but, nonetheless, very
quaffable indeed.
Mr Foley's Cask Ale House.
The Headrow
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A great line-up of York Brewery beers. |
The
first York Brewery owned house outside of York, with an excellent
selection of the brewery's beers on show, along with several guest
ales. It is named after the founder of Pearl Assurance, Patrick James
Foley, who started his business on this site, in 1864. The building
itself, has a magnificent facade, which gave me visions of the start
of Monty Python's “The Meaning of Life”, as the Crimson Permanent
Assurance Co building, Edwardian in style, and turned, magically,
into a sailing ship, slips anchor, and heads off , after it's
oppressed staff rebel against their new owners, and set sail to
London city, to wage war against the Very Big Corporation of
America........This was my ninth pint I would be necking !! The pub
does offer 1/3 pint tasters, but we waded in with our 2, plus 2
halves all the same. Steve, and the two half pinters chose York
“Terrier”, the 4.2% Premium Golden Ale, which was refreshing,
clean and quite sharp tasting, with a good bitterness, and fruit and
citrus tones cutting through. I opted for York “Otherside IPA”.
This was a very fruity Ale, with tropical fruit on the nose and
taste. This leads to a quite bitter and dry finish, accompanied by
wonderful pine hints. Not a lot of sweetness in this 5.4% brew, but
very nice, all the same.
As
we left here, food seemed top of the agenda for my companions. “I'm
having a Subway, Don't try and stop me” stated Steve. Through
supressed laughter, his T'other 'arf, Dee, said “What ever, have
what you want”. “No, I'm having a Sub, don't try and talk me out
of it” So, it was agreed. Steve was having a Subway meal. Dee,
eventually, decided on McDonald's, to which my T'other Arf took a
liking to. “What you having ?” was the main question to me by our
little group. “Me ?” I responded, “Another pint. I'm off to
find another pub !”. So, bravely, I ventured forth, with no
provisions, just a crumpled beer map in hand, to find the last pub on
tonight's list.
The Veritas Ale & Wine Bar Great
George Street.
The
name says it all, really. On the outside, this looks more like a
shopfront than a drinking house. Inside, four seperate areas,
interlinked, greet you. It is a nice, relaxing place, with a
reasonable beer selection, friendly staff and comfortable ambience.
The beer I chose was Two Roses “Heron Porter”, a Barnsley brewed
beer. At 4.2%, and having a lovely chocolate aroma, reflected in the
taste, along with burnt caramel, I found it a very smooth beer, and
very satisfying. I could have had another in the peaceful
surroundings of this tavern, but I was summoned to regroup, back at
The Templar, and, who am I to argue.
Although
my memories of my last pint, back at the start of our crawl, may be
sketchy, I am assured I enjoyed it,whatever was thrust into my sweaty
paw, along with the kebab which followed. So came an end to our first
night in this great drinking paradise ( I am reliably informed that
Steve ventureds out of the hotel a little later that evening for
another Subway !) What of tomorrow? Read on.