Beer cupboard stock up

On Ilkley Moor: one with hat, one without hat

If you read about my special beer night a few weeks ago, you might remember that my usually varied and brimming beer cupboard was running a bit low, with only a few beers left, most of them bottles I was saving.

So with pay day just gone it was time for a stock up, so the weekend just gone I nipped to Ilkley for a few hours out on the moor with Sam Lanes, stopping at Booth’s supermarket on the way before a quick wallet burning session in Beer Ritz.

I’d gone with the intention of stocking up on pale ales, it’s been a while since I had any staple favourites in and I fancied some strong hoppy numbers, the likes of Halcyon, EIPA, Goose Island, St Lupulin and co. But I ended up leaving with a surprisingly English ale selection, as the Booths stock was very focussed on Northern numbers and I got distracted at Beer Ritz by  a few ‘new ins’.

Beers from Booths

Booths has a good selection of ales, although nothing was really grabbing my attention at first. After a few minutes scanning the vast array of brown bottles I picked up a Williams tayberry beer which I remember being good, a Joseph Holt as not only was I tempted by the Lowry label and because 1849 Champion had been good.

A few people had told me to try Chalky’s Bite, whilst I couldn’t resist a beer local brews (thinking a bit ahead of myself for beer swap round 2?!) particularly Withens IPA which I (think) I tried at Keighley & Worth Valley festival at Oxenhope.

And once at Beer Ritz (where I parked extraordinarily badly unbeknown until I got back to the car) I couldn’t say no to a Hooky Double Stout (it’s bloomin’ fantastic!). Distracted by the stout and a cap in the shop who was asking advice on BrewDog’s Paradox and Rip Tide, I stopped in the stouts and porter corner and helped myself to a Dark Star Imperial Stout. It was a short journey along the shelf to a Marble Tawny and a 5am Saint, before grabbing (carefully) a Burton Bridge IPA and a Jaipur to fuel my IPA hunger.

Beers from Beer Ritz

I barely had time to pack these beers home before shooting off to the Christkindelmarkt in Millennium Square, aka the Leeds German Market for light and dark wheat beers and some very fizzy lager.

All in all it was quite a beer oriented day (Sunday most definitely wasn’t!) and over the weekend I even managed to get my beer swap parcel sorted at last, hurrah!