A taste of the Ridings

I've always felt an affinity for Yorkshire, it feels similar in part to my home county of Somerset but with friendlier, more down to Earth people. After being welcomed with open arms to Leeds for the beer bloggers conference last year and numerous trips to York, I find myself wishing I were living there. One of the Leodesians playing a significant role in the organisation was Leigh Linley (of The Good Stuff) who ably led a group of maybe 40 thirsty beer bloggers around town on the Thursday evening; so when I heard he was writing a book on Yorkshire beer I knew it would be a great read.

The book!
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After receiving Great Yorkshire Beer I can say I certainly wasn't disappointed. It perfectly catches Leigh's personality that's shown so well on his blog by providing a whirlwind tour around some of the choicier movers and shakers in the Yorkshire brewing scene, interspersed with beer reviews, food recipes and other choice tidbits. I'll definitely have to try the beer battered mussels which sound like a perfect beer snack.

Its great to have a "book-shaped" book after most of my last book purchases have been abnormal sizes and shapes...they're OK for coffee table usage but not practical to take in hand luggage! I like the pump clip design for the front cover and wonder when Leigh is going to turn his hand to brewing ;).

For me its interesting to hear some more of the back story for breweries I know and love, plenty of familiar faces of people I've shared pints with in the past but also the chance to put a face to a name for some of the other breweries I love. Alongside these better known brewers are people that not even I have heard of, which I'll try to rectify ASAP! This book is very much about the stories behind the beers and breweries with the tasting notes as an aside.

Leeds Brewery's Hellfire

There are also plenty of fantastic pictures throughout, and the font is a sensible size for all of you whose eyes have become weary over the years.I think Leigh's doen a great job at picking a variety of breweries to showcase the region and I'm on the look out for the beers as we speak - though if you're looking for an exhaustive tick list, look elsewhere.

There are a few layout bits I would have done differently, not least having the brewer contact details at the start of their sections as it took me a while to find them! Also, I was surprised to not find twitter names alongside the more traditional addresses, given what Leigh said about the breweries' use of social media. Not even his own account or blog link is given! Would have been good to include at least the postcodes of the pubs mentioned as well.  I think all of these data plus some handy Google maps could be included on the Great Yorkshire Beer page of Leigh's blog which would add some great functionality and allow for periodic updates in the same vein of Des De Moor's London pub guide. A few of the beer pictures/ pumpclips don't match up with the tasting notes opposite, which may cause confusion particularly if you're reading after sampling a few Great Yorkshire Brews...
Would also have been nice to have a beer index and bibliography/ further reading section, though that's probably the inner list geek in me speaking!

Beer taps at Magic Rock, Huddersfield

Overall a fantastic book and I'd love to see more regional efforts cataloguing the rise and rise of local brewing, that's a challenge to you, dear reader to get out and chronicle your own counties! You can pick up the book for the reasonable price of £10 post paid on the publisher's website or if you're within travelling distance the fantastic York Tap is hosting a launch party next Thursday 30th (details here).

Is York best beer city outside London?

I spent a few nights in York after Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so much so that I'm heading back before EBBC next year (see you there?). 

Why do I think its a contender?

The pubs for a start, there are (allegedly) 365 of them, but its not the quantity that matters but the quality. As well as the new York Tap there are;

Pivni -(The original Pivovar venue) is tucked away in the shambles. Somehow they managed to cram a load of casks and kegs in (you can see the casks stillaged behind the bar) and on my visit it was standing room only. (Twitter)

House of Trembling Madness (also a magnificent bottled beer shop) - I didn't get a chance here but did peruse the shop. Its amazing, a good thing I didn't bring my wallet as I'm sure I would have struggled to carry home my purchases! (Twitter)

Brigantes - Spent a lunchtime here, fairly upmarket looking inside, but prices are good. I liked how the handpumps were split into light and dark beers, with prices clearly displayed on the blackboard. There's a fair bottle selection and my burger was excellent. (Twitter)

The Maltings- A true street corner local, with bare wood floors, old notices adorning the walls and a bar counter made out of reclaimed doors. Simple but tasty grub. Look out for the rude clock! (Twitter)

The Punch Bowl - the best of the 4 Nicholson's pubs in York. Just a small front bar for drinking as the rest of the pub is set up for diners but an interesting range of beers (outside of the usual Christmas specials you might expect) plus mulled wine and cider. Just the thing when its cold and wet outside. (No Twitter)

The Volunteer Arms- a backstreet local, you wouldn't expect to find much in the way of beer here but they have 4 handpumps and real cider, all in good nick, friendly staff, no noisy background music and comfy seats. Spent a pleasant hour here on my final evening in York.(Twitter)

There's the York Beer and Wine shop (resplendent with cheese counter) that's been there for 26 years.

There's even a brewery within York city walls. (Twitter)

Outside of beer there are a host of tasty eateries, cultural and historical attractions (York Dungeon, Jorvik, The Walls, Art Gallery, Museums) and plenty of decent independent shops, tea rooms and other miscellanea tucked in all over the city.

With the high density of bloggers in Leeds it seems York doesn't get as much coverage in the blogosphere as perhaps it should. It is only 20 minutes away by train after all.  If you've not been for a while or even ever then do yourself a favour and head along. I'd recommend booking a  room though as there's too much to do in a single day!

A tale of three taps

Dome window at York Tap

Pivovar. A Czech beer importer and owner of Pivni bar in York. But this year it has also been the driving force behind the opening of three excellent bars, the Sheffield, Euston and York taps respectively. I've been fortunate to visit all three within the last half of 2011. Although similar in terms of beer range and proximity to a station they all have their own unique charms.

The Euston Tap was my first visit back in August for the Bieres San Frontieres staff party. Housed in one of the Doric Arches outside Euston Station, its a fairly tiny venue, but there are more seats hidden upstairs. The beer tap arrangement has to be seen to be believed and there are both cask and keg beers available from all over the UK and further afield. I enjoyed some Bristol Beer Factory Acer and Saison.

Later that same month I visited the Sheffield tap. Right on the platform and  with an hour to spare until my connection I indulged in their comprehensive beer menu, tasting the Hawaii coconut porter and an old favourite, Schlenkerla rauchbier marzen. On draught I plumped for the Thornbridge Burton Ale and a half of Camden Pale. I found the bottle prices to be reasonable so bought a couple for my train journey too.

But the jewel in the Pivovar crown is the newly opened York Tap. Based in the original station waiting room which has been lovingly restored, including the stained glass dome windows. There is a fully navigable island bar with beers down three sides and fridges in behind, with a smallish but exciting bottled selection. There's also real fires, very handy for drying off in front of when its been hammering it down in York. I visited twice last week and could have stayed all night. I had far too many tasty beers to recap on them all, there's something for everyone, the staff are friendly and helpful and the pub has the excited buzz of conversation that indicates a quality establishment and the best I visited in 2011, hence my Golden Pints nomination.

I shall certainly endeavour to return to all three in 2012 and suggest you do too.

Bonus Question:

(There may be a prize)

Can you identify all three beers?