Monthly Archives: July 2016

Bradford Brewery Tap

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Bradford sign

Bradford Brewery Tap, is one of the newer venues in the city, apparently. Only a short walk from North Parade, it’s housed in quite a sombre, almost severe looking building that is totally the opposite of some of Bradford’s finer structures.

Inside it wasn’t sombre at all, owing to a very lively Spanish Fiesta going on, the presence of which begets a further visit to ascertain the normal feel of the place. I will however continue to describe the shenanigans going on, both inside and outside the venue.

The very friendly bar staff explained that a good few of the regulars are Spanish people living in BD, who had just returned from the Pamplona festival and were now having a Pamplona after party in Bradford Brewery Tap. Hence, nearly 90% of the over 100 customers were dressed in white shirt and kecks, resplendent with red neckerchief and sash. It took little more than five minutes before all six of us were also similarly decked out. If anyone was unsure of the exact location of Pamplona, then the numerous berets and moustaches were a big giveaway regarding the Basque roots of this fantastic celebration.

I was fairly sure that the ‘Bull run’ from the pub down onto North Parade and a pub crawl thereafter, didn’t include a real bull, especially after seeing the poor bullfighter gored last week on TV. Thankfully, following the firing of a maroon, it transpired the bulls were really four guys with a novelty horns and red paint plastered all over their hands to mark any kills. It really did put a different perspective on the old enemy, aka Bradford’s Championship Rugby League team. I sincerely hope they get back to the Super League next season, a place they genuinely deserve to be (I hope we will stay in it too!).

Bradford bulls

Inside the pub there are two rooms, one with the bar in and another where you can actually see the brewery through a glass screen. Toilets were up some very steep, almost dauntingly steep, stairs, but were of good quality. There was some striking and humorous art work going on but I didn’t see much evidence of The Pieminister connection the website mentions, probably because of the fiesta going on and much Spanish food and BBQ preparations on the go. Surprisingly, there seems to be little evidence of Bradford Brewery Tap on The Pieminister web site neither, so I am a little perplexed here.

Bradford toilets
Bradford steps
Bradford logo

I hadn’t tried any Bradford Brewery ale before and three of the eight hand pumps had their brews on. Rock against Racism (4%) was a nice dark amber colour but disappointingly the head started to split and cake on me. I’m going to put this down to glass contamination or something because the beer tasted nice and was otherwise on top form. Hockney Pale (3.6%) was an entirely different drink and got top marks in all categories. If I’m honest, I preferred the similarly styled Great Heck Brewery Mercy (4%), entirely on taste and flavour. The star of the show turned out to be Bradford Brewery Wit Rose (5%), billed as a hazy summer wheat beer that was tasty without being too intense and I could have gladly supped it all day, even at 5%.

Bradford lady bulls

To be fair, our expedition of Bradford stalled a bit here, owing mainly to the Basque thing going on and everyone just enjoying themselves in the sunshine. I would like to come back to Bradford Brewery Tap another time to gauge the atmosphere on a non Spanish day and have a chat with the staff about their raison d’être, when it’s quieter.

Verdict – Looking behind the excellent fiesta atmosphere, I think this is a really good ale house that requires further evaluation. Sadly as the posters said – the fiesta is for one day only!

Braford brewery poster

Left Bank Beer Festival, in Manchester?

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If I’m honest, Manchester is a place I’ve never really got to grips with. I’ve been through it more times than I care to remember. I’ve spent plenty time at The Crown Court and visited loads of GMP Police Stations over the years. There’s some vague, 30+ years ago, recollections of the Hacienda and a party one Saturday night in a nurses home somewhere out near Wythenshawe, remember that one Micky Ryan? I even went out with a very attractive young lady called Susan Walsh from Chorlton for a while, but she dropped me for some guy out of a quite well known (mainstream) Manchester band. Very much a case of Mrs Merton’s brilliant one liner “… and tell me, what first attracted you to the Millionaire …” Or so I thought at the time.

Anyway, The Peoples History Museum was very easy to find and turned out to be a fantastic venue for a beer festival, as well as an interesting museum; river side terrace, café restaurant, exhibition galleries and the stunning Edwardian Engine Hall. I like industrial spaces and this tall, almost cuboid space, was the central focus for The Left Bank Beer Festival.

LBBF hall

Now Central Manchester CAMRA has only been going for about four months and to set up a beer festival in that time is no mean feat, especially to pull it off as successfully as they did. Apparently ‘central Manchester’ was previously covered by three separate CAMRA branches until someone noticed that all the large cities had their own branch. So, after a little heated debate, the logical progression into Central Manchester CAMRA happened.

I probably got there a little early, owing to travelling on the cheapest train (prompt for Yorkshire war cry!) but I was made very welcome and put to good use by bar manager Heather, assisting with Quality Control checks and washing drip drays and the like. I was surprised how many of the beers were still a little hazy and green, maybe half a dozen? Heather said she would have liked to have seen the beer racked a little earlier than Tuesday. Barring those that just weren’t quite right, I did my very best to make inroads into the rest of the eighty odd beers. Overall, I was impressed with the quality and standard of the, predominantly North Western brewed, ales on offer. Many of those on the bar were telling me that the Cloudwater Brew Co. Pale was better than the Bitter. Personal choice, I thought otherwise, but both were still very good. Stockport Brewing Company Cascade Bitter hit the spot for a good quaffing ale that would suit most tastes. Five Oh Brew Co. Simcoe IPA was superb but it’s very tropical fruity, hoppy without any real bitter bite and soft malt that left an almost sweet taste wouldn’t suit everyone. The one I had to go back for as ‘the last half’ was Thirst Class Ale Penny Black IPA. Please note, the last three are all small micro breweries or brew pubs.

Festival glasses were stemmed ones, lined at one third and one half pint and prices were very excellent value at effectively £3 a pint for standard strength, going up comparatively to £10 a pint for the 10% ABV, Ramsbottom Craft Brewery aka Rammy Craft Imperial Mancunian Stout which would have been hellish on a cold winters night sat by a roaring fire as an after dinner treat!

LBBF KK
LBBF Cider

Cider drinkers had a good choice at a separate bar and there was a separate post modernist key keg bar serving local and european ales which changed as they went off. Alex, the bearded Key Keg bar manager showed me the set up and I was impressed with the dispense system which had the facility to vent the beer in a small chamber between keg and post, neat. I picked up quite a few tips throughout the day on the cellar management side of things from Heather, deputy bar manager Laurent and Alex and I thank them for that.

LBBF Alex

A few beer festival points came out for me. I know the security and cash management benefits of a token style system, but as a punter I prefer straight cash and as a barman I can process cash much faster than I can tick lines off a card or take tokens/tickets plus 10p, 20p, etc. The other one was tasters, at a beer festival? I know it happens, but isn’t the point of going to a beer festival to experiment, try out, contrast and compare; not to find out which one you like and then stick to it. I guess it’s personal preference, but surely a third of a pint is a taster? I am firmly of the opinion – no tasters at a beer festival.

Overall, I had a very good day, at a really good beer festival which had an almost intimate atmosphere, that is often lacking. It was obvious that this atmosphere came from the people involved who were warm, friendly and accommodating. Okay, the charming Charmione, did say that she would be glad to see the back of me after less than half an hour of working with me. She didn’t mean it though, did she?

LBBF Charmione

I (tallish, bald bloke with glasses and Yorkshire accent) will apologise now to those who asked me about the local beers and the brewers, of whom I did not have a scooby do!  I also apologise to those drinking the  Wilson Potter Rum in The Black to whom I related the story about two lady brewers who were related to Beatrix Potter. I did discuss with fellow bar person Peter, that I could take the story further by explaining the ale was dry hopped with fragments of Beatrix Potters drawings, the crumbled late Victorian, early Edwardian ink adding that special Je ne sais quoi? He thought this was a bit too implausible, but did suggest a possible Brian Potter link which I had failed to make. I will however, apologise to the two retired lady teachers who brew this very popular beer, which seemed to go down very well.

LBBF Peter

To end, I will again thank Central Manchester CAMRA, particularly Heather, Laurent, Alex, Anne, Gail, Peter, Charming Charmione and Len, along with others whose names I forgot to enter into the memory banks.

Verdict – Top beer fest, wonderful friendly people. Thank you for putting up with me. Thanks for the t-shirt and thanks for the excellent beer.

Gloss. Yorkshire War Cry – HOW MUCH!

The Record Café, Bradford.

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Record cafe logo

Next up on our Saturday afternoon tour of Bradford was The Record Café and If I’m honest, I was a bit sceptical, a record shop, with beer? Doesn’t just sound right does it? One thing I was certain about, there was no way we’d find anywhere as good as The Sparrow was there?

Like, yeah, The Record Café. Summing it up in Leeds terms, it’s a sort of North bar that’s collided with Crash Records  and rolled into Friends of Ham. A sort of café beer bar, esoteric vinyl shop and Jamonarium, all in one. Guess what, it works and it’s brilliant.

REcord cafe records

If you like vinyl then go upstairs into the separate mezzanine floor where there is an esoteric selection of vinyl. Not cheap mind £24.99 for Rumours, one of the best selling albums of all time, but where else could you find an almost mint uncirculated copy these days?

If you like cured meat then there’s salamis and Jamon dangling behind the bar and a full leg of cured Spanish pork that you can’t see behind the counter, mounted on one of those special turny Jamon holder thingys that you see in Spain.

REcord jamon

If you like beer, then wow! Six Keg, four cask, loads of bottles, Gins, Whiskeys, everything closely linked to the Q word – Quality.

Keith Wildman opened The Record Café in November 2014. His sort of blueprint was to open a bar with good cask ales but he started to think that if he’s going to have cask ales then why not get some quality keg beers in as well. He sort of thought that he liked records too, oh and Charcuterie, so there had best be a bit of that too

Chatting to Keith, it was clear that he thinks the same as I do. Although the pub was CAMRA pub of the season in Autumn 2015, Keith isn’t over precious about what constitutes good beer, so long as it is good beer and doesn’t get hung up on the real ale or nothing notion.

Keith told me that he’s not here to please everyone. All he’s done is curated a selection of things he knows about. Things he is interested in and understands and can explain to you. If people don’t like what he’s done then that’s fine with Keith.

It’s obvious that people do like what Keith has done because it’s nicely busy on a quiet Saturday afternoon. There’s a real good feel to the place, with a real cross section of people. There were even some die hard real ale types sampling the cask ales at the bar and it’s clear that Keith’s heretic views haven’t put anyone off.

Record cafe Keith

Mr Keith Wildman pulling a pint of his fine cask ale

Keith thanked us for coming when we left. Two hours later we came back for another because, for my money, this is as good as it gets. When we returned Keith was sat at one of the tables outside chatting with a group of people which summed up the chillaxed atmosphere of the place.

The ale got top marks. I could have permed any 8 from 10, but settled on a Vocation Bread and Butter. Our resident Lager expert settled on a Berliner Pilsner and there was plenty to suit our little group. On the second visit I went with one of Mrs C’s favourites, NMBCo Eternal in key-keg.

The diversity of customers in The Record Café was second to none and the total quality ethos probably explained why it was much busier than a nearby larger, more traditional style pub converted from an ex-bank type place.

Verdict – A Record shop with a bar that does food (Keith’s words, not mine) that is totally out of sight. If there is better in Bradford, or indeed anywhere, then someone please tell me. It has gone straight into my current top ten.

Record cafe outside

Bratfut innit! and a visit to The Sparrow.

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Sparrow logoI don’t know what it is about Bradford? There’s just something about it, and no, it’s not the multi cultural aspect, which, to someone who was regularly dragged around Huddersfield Monday market as a nipper, feels frankly normal. Why is it always at the butt end of jokes? Often undeserved ones as well, referring to it’s diversity. It wasn’t the fault of the good burghers of the city that left the centre resembling a concrete version of a polo mint for several years, it was the bankers who were responsible for the last financial crash that did that.

Whatever it is, Loiners are often accused of looking down on our smaller neighbour, indeed, the uneducated could be forgiven for thinking that the two neighbours are in fact one seamless city of over 1.5 million people. Even the great Don McCullin got mixed up with his photo ‘Houses in Bradford’ which are well and truly in Pudsey, Leeds. If you’re familiar with the photograph, just have a look on the left going up Stanningley by-pass, on the opposite side to Owlcoates shopping centre, I think it’s Standale Avenue. Having said all that, Leeds hasn’t got a world heritage site and Bradford has an equally impressive historical legacy and architectural evidence of much prosperity.

Over the last eighteen months or so, I’ve been hearing really good things about Bradford, a bit of an uplift around the centre and rumours of a bit of a beer revolution thing going on, so armed with a Metro Family Day Rover ticket I set off with Mrs C and a few friends to go see.

Now those of you familiar with the West Yorkshire transport system will know that the £11.70 ticket gives you unlimited travel across the Metropolitan area for a whole day and there is no obligation to take three kids and a dog with you, it works equally well for two adults on their own and no one checks whether you are from the same family or not. On Weekends or off peak, that means lots of cool trips out involving the railway, like into Leeds and then on the train to do the ale trail, Cas vegas and Wakey, Wakey, Huddersfield or Bradford on this occasion. Sort of West Yorkshire is your Oyster card.

En route, I was fortunate enough to bump into the brewing legend that is Dave Sanders, in Leeds station Wetherspoons. The conversation went something like, ‘Where you off today?’, ‘Bradford.’ ‘Where you planning to go?’ So I showed him my list and he approved, recommending some over others and demoting a couple to maybes. Guess what? He was bang on as well. Our choices were also confirmed when I later picked up the latest Tyke Taverner  which detailed a recent CAMRA social evening around the pubs I had picked out.

Now the beery highlights of Bradford seem to be centred on North Parade and the first stop was The Sparrow , which has been open for five years now. I think was one of, if not  ‘the’ first of the post modernist bars in Bradford. I will say now that this visit focusses on bars, rather than pubs, of which Bradford has many, some of them rather good too. They’ll have to be covered on another day, in another article!

Sprrow bottle list
Sparrow tap list

First thoughts? My sort of place, a sort of cross over between a bar and a café. Seven keg lines, four cask ales, four ciders and a host of bottles, there was a decent wine selection too. The main focus here was definitely quality, quality, quality. A first for me here as well, I’d never seen Mordue (X2) brewery ales on keg before, which was a surprise and maybe an indication of where keg beer is going or where respected brewers are going. I had a detailed discussion on this later that afternoon. Personally I’m non too fussed how the beer comes, so long as it is good beer. There’s a theme building here, quality, quality, quality. You can’t have eleven cask ales on in a bar that can only comfortably accommodate probably one hundred folk at once and key keg is a valid option for a lot of places. Long live cask ales.

Sparrow Latte

The Sparrow looks and feels like a café. There’s some red formica retro tables and matching chairs in a selection of different coloured vinyl covers and light coloured wood. I’ve seen plenty like this in WMC’s and I remember them from the club room in my Dad’s pub, think early 1960’s in terms of era. Every table had a nice posy on too. I couldn’t fault the service, the lady behind the bar was exceptionally friendly and polite. As soon as she saw us going to sit outside she realised there weren’t enough chairs and followed us out with supplementary stools before we even realised. Another nice touch was the cosy blanket on each chair on the pavement, just in case it came cooler.

Sparrow poseurs

In terms of beer, we were offered tasters of several cask ales, all of them actually, before three of us went for the First Chop Citra which was faultless, the brewery’s web page is also interesting solely featuring a calming panorama of cool woodland? Other selections were the Bernard Pilsner (Dark, unfiltered and cooking), Cider and a Latte. I thought the prices were reasonable to pretty cheap. The Latte came beautifully presented on a rather nice retro china platter. The local CAMRA branch seems pleased with The Sparrow and there were several accolades adorning the walls, something that evidences to me that CAMRA members aren’t stuck in the mud and know what quality is when they see or taste it.

Sparrow inside

Overall I was very impressed. There was just a really good feel to the place. I didn’t visit the toilet facilities but if they followed the theme then they will have been fine.

Verdict – Café bar meets quality selection of cask, keg and bottled beers from UK and Europe, with an emphasis on quality with a big Q.  I will definitely be back.

From Cynic to Supporter – The Leeds Digital Ale Trail Challenge.

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I think my last post evidenced my cynicism about The Leeds Digital Ale Trail . Hey, but I’m open minded and a little more investigation was definitely required. Assisted by a clever tweet by Boak and Bailey, to whom I am grateful, I managed to flush the designer of this innovation out into the open.

To be fair Philip Bennison didn’t need much coaxing, he’d already committed to come out on a Leeds CAMRA branch social last Tuesday night when we had a few pints, a good old natter, a full explanation and demonstration and a right good trial run of the App by CAMRA members.

Philip has been in Leeds for about four years now and he really loves the place. He also loves his beer too. He earns his daily bread working in digital technology and is a director in a company called fablr who are behind The Leeds Digital Ale Trail. Quite simply, Philip wanted to showcase Leeds and it’s beer scene, whilst at the same time showing what he could do and making something that people will like. He says he likes making things that people like. At the minute there is no financial yield from The Leeds Digital Ale Trail and it’s purely a project being undertaken in Philips spare time. Although he was clear that if the opportunity arose to monetarise the project then he would do it. I guess we all would, given the chance and I have no issue with this.

The acid test for me is the pubs on the trail? At the minute there are 23 Leeds city centre pubs, which are all walkable. I’ve been shown them. No, I’m not telling you what they are. Yes, they all pass my ‘pub test’ and are bone fide drinking houses of the highest calibre. If you are drinking in and around Leeds, the giveaway is the presence of the The Leeds Digital Ale Trail beer mats.

Philip assures me that no money has changed hands between him and any of the premises on the trail, there are no financial incentives of any kind. He just chose the pubs and bars he likes going into. I’ve since spoken to some of the managers of premises on the trail and they wholeheartedly confirm this.

Phil, Keith & Paul

Phil demonstrating the App to Leeds CAMRA members Keith and Paul.

So, where did the trail take us when we tried it? Well, starting in Baht’ap, we split into small groups and went on our separate ways. Our first pub was Wapentake, subject of a recent post by myself. Mein host, Anton instantly recognised Philip and asked him how the App was going. Shortly after getting our drinks we got our first question, which we got wrong, even though the explanation of a Wapentake was written on the wall above us. Hey ho. Once you’ve started, you seem to get a question every ten minutes and every time you answer correctly you get points towards your team score. We got the next one correct. To maximise your points you need to stay in the premises for 30 minutes before clicking to get the next venue, which was The Lamb and Flag, also subject of a post by yours truly. Now there’s a theme building here, and No! I’m not involved in this project at all. There are some sponsors involved though and Philip would like to say thank you for the generous support from; Northern Monk Brew Co. Leeds Food and Drink LTD and Flash Talking.

When we entered the Lamb and Flag the girl behind the bar was quite excited by the fact we were doing the The Leeds Digital Ale Trail and was asking where we had been taken. Throughout, Phil was really keen to get feedback about how the App was going and she told us there had been quite a few people using it.

Phil

I think we got that question wrong!

Now this feedback thing is important because when Philip says it is a trial then it is a trial. There were a few glitches that had to be ironed out. Now, I’m okay with the basics but I’m definitely not an IT expert and I had no idea how to tweak and develop an App. I do now though, you just get your lap top out of your satchel and start typing away. With his computer on the bar top Philip had soon remedied the fact the App hadn’t given us our bonus score in the last pub. Secretly, we were hoping that he was promoting our team score, but he didn’t, even after quite a few subtle hints. The App shows the leader board for all the teams who have participated.

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Now is it easy to play? Dead easy, apart from Philip the rest of our party were all over fifty and the interface was easy to interact with, in fact there’s not much to mess about with once you’re logged on, just ‘press and play’ as they say. They probably don’t say that anymore, but hey, what do I know?

All the questions are related in some way to Leeds, with a historical focus. I won’t give any away because it might spoil it; the bank of questions is still not huge. Some were quite hard and I don’t think many would know which Egyptian God the Temple at  Temple Works was styled on? I actually did get this one right! If you’ve never seen it, it’s near to NMBCo Refectory, both fascinating places.

The App then took us on a logical tour of the pubs and bars just South of the centre, visiting Calls Landing and then the classic Victorian splendour of The Adelphi, both good boozers, one post modern, one very traditional. In the Adelphi we got a 20% discount for being on The Leeds Digital Ale Trail , which is similar to the CAMRA discount the establishment offers. Eventually we all met up again in Tapped for a debrief. Clearly all the pubs that were visited that evening, by different groups, got the CAMRA seal of approval. None were part of the overtly commercial night time economy vertical drinking type establishments, nearly all were independent or small chains (there are two more Calls Landing/Stew & Oyster venues in the suburbs). All of them were places that I would have chosen to go to. So full marks there Mr Bennison.

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I was surprised that some venues  were unenthusiastic about joining the project. Maybe they will come on board as it takes off. I hope so because I think it’s a really good idea, definitely if you are unfamiliar with our city. It’s clear the opportunities here are almost limitless. Philip recognises this and we chatted about a Headingley (suburb of Leeds) Digital Ale Trail, different cities and towns. You could even have themed routes, a Whiskey or Gin trail hunting down specialist bars.

As I said, one thing that is vital is  feedback, so if you’ve had any problems, or got any ideas then let Phil know through the Facebook site or tweeting with the #leedsaletrail hashtag. One thing that is important is to keep updating your App because they are continually modifying it, as I saw.

Overall, I was really impressed. A really nice guy who was enthusiastic beyond belief about what I think is a really good App. Okay, it won’t suit everyone, but those who like this sort of thing will think it’s pretty cool. Perhaps it will come to your town or city in due course?

Now the Pokemon thingy hadn’t really hit the news last Tuesday, but think what you could do, if you combined them both? Or even an App that tracked down virtual mythical and legendary brews? A decent pint of (original) Tetley’s or a proper pint of Draught Bass. Can you do ‘back to the future’ Phil? Maybe not.

The App is available on iPhone and Android devices, and can be downloaded for free from Google Play  and the App Store .

 

Digital Ale Trail Challenge

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Will it work? Is it just a gimmick? I’m not entirely sure and I’m not going to be able to try it on my Windows phone, because like with many other apps, it is only available for Apple and Android OS phones.

Of course I can always tag along with some others, which is what I might do on Tuesday evening when Leeds CAMRA branch are testing the new mobile phone app that takes you on a pub trail exploring some of the most historical and culturally significant public houses in the city.

I haven’t found out exactly who is behind all this, but the providers of the free mobile app The Leeds Digital Ale Trail have a bona fide LS2 address.

Now I can’t personally verify this, which I’ve picked up  from their web site, but basically, once you’ve downloaded the app you get a code which you can share with friends and create your own little team. When you press start, Hey presto! You are given your first destination and can even book a taxi, through the app, to get there ?

Is this the beer writing version of Uber? Destined to put the creative writers out of opportunities for books and articles on pub crawls and pub walks forever?

Probably not, because there is a definite commercial edge to this, and why not, everyone has got to earn a crust. When you check in at the first venue the app tells you what ‘exclusive’ drinks are on offer, indicating there has been some advance negotiation of which pubs are included, based presumably, on financial gain? I’m speculating now, but a pub tour celebrating the history and culture of Leeds on has got to have at least two or three Nicholson’s pubs on. I wonder whether they will be on it and if so, how many other Pubcos or independents are on the list? Will it end up just being a tour of a limited number of company outlets? I reckon it’s a fair bet that Head of Steam are involved because when I searched for the above image, for which I acknowledge The Leeds Digital Ale Trail, I saw that HoS had been tweeting it. I also saw that there were quite a few diverse pubs with promotional beermats kicking around yesterday afternoon, so that bodes well, they wouldn’t have the beer mats if they weren’t participating, surely.

While you are in the pub the app fires local general knowledge questions at you to keep you occupied and it won’t let you move on until a certain period of time has elapsed. As a group your quiz question score, if high enough, can get you into a prize draw. Now it doesn’t say how you change teams? Like, what if you fall out with someone and want to join another team? Maybe that becomes obvious once you’ve got your download. It’s probably questions like this which means it’s only being launched in Leeds, as a trial run, from the 1st of July.

Although the website says you get two new pubs for every new log on, it doesn’t say how many pubs you will get in total each time and how much churn there is? Again time will tell and I’ll let you know.

So what do I think? Sounds a laugh, depends which pubs are signed up to. I couldn’t see me walking past North Bar, if it’s not on the app, or the given trail. If I’m honest it will probably suit the student to thirty somethings and the ever growing stag and hen trade. If it promotes pubs and bars and beer and responsible drinking, then I’m all for it. I’m not sure about the responsible drinking aspect, as there are people equally as clever as the developers who will probably adapt it into Otley Run style pub golf or something equally stupid.

One of the big questions has to be, is it real ale centric? Is there a destination between bars and pubs, one or t’other, or both?

Anyway, we will have some idea how good it is at the end of Tuesday evening, although my attempt at a joke about the potential frailties of The Leeds Digital Ale Trail trial CAMRA social, starting at Baht’ap fell as flat as a pint pulled without a sparkler at the last branch meeting.

If anyone does get my pun around Yorkshire dialect, a Leeds city centre boozer and modern technology, please comment below.

Have Leeds Brewery sold out?

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Well no, not really, but I was immediately worried when I heard the news yesterday that Leeds Brewery have sold all seven of their pubs to Cameron’s.

In a press release, Chris Soley, Chief Executive of Camerons Brewery said, ‘We are delighted to have acquired such a prestigious group of pubs to add to our growing managed estate.  Leeds Brewery have established a group of truly fantastic pubs which are very different from our current managed group, but with the same high retail standards and customer service.’

That sort of puts me at ease a bit because the Leeds Brewery pubs are definitely different from the Cameron’s pubs, at least in the West Yorkshire area anyway. For those living elsewhere the most prominent Cameron’s pubs in this area are, The Head of Steam, chain.

Now if you want real ale they are okay, but ‘only alright’ as we say in Yorkshire. Generally speaking they keep a range of solid but unremarkable real ales, with a heavy North Eastern bias. Those of you thinking, what’s he on about, it’s all the same up there isn’t it? No, it’s not and ‘The North East’ has it’s own identity, which is further sub divided into fiercely contested local identities. Never confuse Sunderland as being the same as Newcastle, and vice versa, despite their close proximity. Although there are some decent brews up there, they tend to produce. Well, as I said before, solid but often unremarkable beers.

On the other hand Leeds Brewery gave us something a bit different. Excellent solid ales and many regard Leeds Pale to be the new Tetley’s (as in Joshua Tetley as opposed to Tetley Walker). They also gave us a taste of the more progressive too. Yeah, yeah, I know that Head of Steam have a good bottle and keg range, but it’s the hand pulled real ale selection that worries me. They’ll have to rename The Brewery Tap too, because it won’t be anymore will it?

All the Leeds brewery pubs had their own feel as well. All good, but all slightly different. Clean tidy, well run by smart staff. I have only been in the Leeds and Huddersfield version of Head of Steam, although there are fifteen, mostly in the North Eastern metropolis. Altogether Cameron’s have around seventy venues in the UK. That’s a lot, sounds almost like a big Pubco. They also have the capacity to brew over 1 million hectolitres of beer per annum. Well, if it’s all like Strongarm they can keep it.

Despite the assurances to continue to stock Leeds Brewery products. I’m still not convinced, more often than not in Crowd of Favours or The Lamb and Flag, I will go for the more progressive ales on offer from forward facing breweries across the UK. Just for the record, I have no issue with Cameron’s, the North East or the lovely folk and a lot of these beers are just the ticket in a traditional country boozer in Northumbria or any of the other beautiful places up there. I’m just not going to go into Leeds for a pint of Red Hot Durham Miners Tyne Water or something of that ilk. We’ve already got much better and we need to build on this and not go backwards.

I really hope that Cameron’s are true to their word and don’t just subsume the Leeds Brewery pubs into anonymous mediocrity. If I’m honest, I think Leeds (and York) has just lost a chain of quality small boozers that appealed to a wide spectrum of discerning customers. If Cameron’s are true to their word then I will be truly thankful. On the other hand, if they are just going to cash in on the locations then Leeds will be a poorer place. I’ll let you know.

What’s that? What are Leeds Brewery doing? Investing in new brewery plant and concentrating on the core function of what their name implies. Maybe when they can brew 1 million hectolitres of beer per annum they will be able to buy all the pubs back? Or maybe they won’t want them then, because they will remember how they over extended in the first place?