My long pour skills left a bit to be desired. Not to mention my baseball cap.

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of Leeds Waterfront Festival, tucked away in the corner of Brewery Wharf, something drew our merry group towards the oversized Havana Club banners. Even if we’d had to pay for the privilege I’d have jumped at the chance to make cocktails on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The fact it was free and we’d sunk a couple of cold Coors Lights meant we wasted no time in reserving a session at the stall.

Our lovely Scottish cocktail expert introduced us to the strange implements laid out like a surgeon’s table – the graters, knives and Hawthorn strainers – and forced a shot of Havana Club down our necks to ensure we could ‘appreciate’ the taste of the rum on it’s own.

We donned our uniform of pinnys (and for some reason baseball caps) and proceeded to create rum-based cocktails such as El Presidenté and the very Cuban La Bodequito del Medio Mojito. Fresh limes, mint (stalk ‘n all) and orange zest were thrown together in vigorous concoctions along with sparkling water, sugar, ice and various incarnations of Havana Club, from the standard Blanco and 3 year aged versions to the Añejo 7 Años, a darker more luxurious spirit with characteristics similar to oak aged beers, wines or whiskies –  a touch of vanilla and fruit in amongst the pang of the alcohol to make it slightly more bearable.

Havana Club cocktail making at Leeds Waterfront Festival

We were half-cut, drenched in sunshine and giddy enough to shake our stuff creating daiquiris all afternoon. We finished up with an inter-group competition to serve our delightful host with the perfect El Presidenté. I came second, ousted by a dubiously large amount of orange zest applied to the winning drink.

I’ve no idea why Havana Club chose to take a stall at Leeds Waterfront festival, or why they chose to give away free cocktail making sessions to the happy revellers. I’m glad they did though, as it turned out to be one of the highlights of the day, and we left with sunny and well lubricated dispositions just as the drizzle started to break up the al fresco party.

The merry band of cocktail makers

Another ‘whoop’ for Loiners this weekend as Friday and Saturday sees not just one beer festival in Leeds but two!

Rothwell Beer Festival 2010

Rothwell, home of the charming Rosebud and our very own Copper Dragon loving R’Sam, is holding a beer festival. 40 cask beers, plus bottles, cider, perry and food will all be available in aid of two local charities.

The organising committee have been working their socks off since January and the fruits of their labour (with some help from Wakefield CAMRA and Clark’s Brewery) will hopefully lead to another addition to West Yorkshire’s beer scene.

“We’re raising money for the local church roof which was stripped of lead just before the bad weather” says Paul Mann of the organising committee. “Additionally half the proceeds will got to Rothwell Lions who go a great amount of work in the local community”.

“The beer list is changing right up until the last minute but we’re hoping for a good crowd”.

The Leeds and Wakefield areas are spoilt for choice this weekend, with both Rothwell Beer Festival and LS6 Beer Festival so now it looks like a beer before and after this Saturday’s football.

For more details visits www.rothwellbeerfestival.co.uk

There’s nothing like a spot of good news, and a new beer festival in Leeds can only be a good addition of the cities beer scene.

A day of bands, beer and sunshine (the latter not guaranteed) in Leeds’ eclectic Hyde Park is on paper, a bloomin’ brilliant idea. Take local musicians, regional breweries and pop them down into a stunning brand new arts centre within the former St Margaret of Antioch Church, and voilá!  On top of that potential the festival aims to raise money for West Yorkshire charity Village to Village, helping development projects in Africa.

I’ll be nipping by before and/or after the crunch match with MK Dons at Elland Rd. I’ll stick to Bovril at half time to save myself for some samples of these beers (which may or may not include a gallon-sized taster* of St Petersburg, mmmmmm).

Absolution – Abbeydale Brewery, Sheffield (5.6%)

Barnsley Bitter - Acorn Brewery, Barnsley (3.8%)

Dark Mild – Bank Top Brewery, Bolton (4.0%)

Daleside Bitter - Daleside Brewery, Harrogate (3.7%)

Beyond The Pale – Elland Brewery, West Yorkshire (4.2%)

Ginger Beer – Hadrian & Border Brewery, Newcastle (4.0%)

A over T – Hogs Back Brewery, Surrey (9.0%)

Mary Jane - Ilkley Brewery, West Yorkshire (3.5%)

Pale Rider - Kelham Island Brewery, Sheffield (5.2%)

Midnight Bell - Leeds Brewery, West Yorkshire (4.8%)

Leeds Pale - Leeds Brewery, West Yorkshire (3.8%)

Hebden’s Wheat - Little Valley, Hebden Bridge (4.5%)

Yorkshire Pale Ale (YPA) - Roosters, Knaresborough (4.3%)

Ruby Mild - Rudgate Brewery, Tockwith (4.4%)

Raspberry Blonde - Saltaire Brewery, West Yorkshire (4.0%)

Blackberry Cascade - Saltaire Brewery, West Yorkshire (4.8%)

Golden Chalice - Glastonbury Ales, Somerton (4.8%)

St Petersburg Stout – Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell.

Kipling - Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell (5.2%)

Yorkshire Terrier – York Brewery, York (4.2%)

Somerset Premium Perry - Broadoak Brewery, Clutton (7.5%)

Janet’s Jungle Juice - Westcroft Brewery, Somerset (6.5%)

*Of course I’ll be responsible and all that, so long as Leeds win!

LS6 Beer Festival

Just got back from an ear-pounded evening at The Cockpit in Leeds. The main attraction was to see Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip who introduced us to their new album and a host of old favourites in the infamous ear-destroying arches of one of Leeds’ most popular music venues.

Norman Bar, or Norman's as it's more commonly known. Pic (c) Briggate.com

Before the gig we headed to Norman’s for tea. Norman Bar is often overlooked as an establishment to enjoy fancy beer but its elitist and trendy weekend image belies it’s self-proclaimed internationally stocked beer fridges. Goose Island IPA, Anchor Steam, Modelo Negra, Black Sheep and Pilsner Urquell are complimented by a draught line up including Duvel Green, Lindeboom and Addlestone’s cider. It’s also set in a contemporary and atmospheric space, lit with shades of purple and blue that fall just the right side of pretension. The oriental menu serving Japanese noodles and Thai red and green curries are dishes to be reckoned with and at £5.50 for a pint and a spicy filler are great value on a midweek lunch.

We washed down fish and chips (£5 on Fish & Chip Thursdays) with cool, crisp Amstel and with buckets of time to kill nipped around the corner to Rock Bar, Dom Matteo’s Balearic-inspired drinking den. Lavishly furnished – a cross between Moroccan luxury and Ibizan chic – it isn’t the sort of place I’d find myself at peak times.

Thou shalt not serve repetitive generic beer...and Norman Bar doesn't have a bad line up

We only had the staff to contend with though and nestled up in oversized and elaborated stitched cushions, waxing lyrical about Glasto rumours and intoxicated festival excursions. Slightly out of place but we didn’t care – they had Tiger kegged and Brooklyn Lager chilled in the fridge, so no complaints directed towards the ex-United defender turned barman.

Onwards to the gig. There’s no such luck with finding a decent selection of well kept beer at The Cockpit, but that’s ok. Red Stripe in bottles (and I’m sure usually in cans too) is all you need to get you through here and it’s just perfect that way. We wouldn’t change it for the world. Well perhaps swap Carlsberg for something, anything, else given half a chance. If you can tear your feet from the sticky floor to bounce around to the music you’ll certainly need a good intake of water too.

Norman Bar Leeds, picture borrowed from Norman's website with thanks

Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip are a double act: Scroobius Pip is a poet by trade, with a natural gift for rhythmic musings. I guess you could call him a rapper, but all the baggage that comes with that label doesn’t suit him. Dan Le Sac is the music man, dazzling us with warp-speed hands on some type of music box sheltered behind his Apple Mac notebook. They enter the stage with gusto, piling straight into an exhilarating track from their first album.

Le Sac’s beats are infectious. They shake your shins and rise up from your trembling feet to your abdomen, reverberating through every vital organ until you are acutely and sharply conscious to every sense. Simultaneously Pip’s politically charged lyrics hammer home messages of equality and context until your ears are fit to bleed.

If you’re lucky enough for your ears to survive intact (when you hear these songs on the radio you can’t feel the bass, but see them live and it’ll rattle in your head for days) the duos social commentary and liberating call-to-arms will linger in your ears long after the Radiohead-scored Letter From God To Man closes the curtain on proceedings and you may start thinking twice before passing judgement the next time life requires it.

Scroobius Pip delivers pinpoint social observations at Glastonbury last year. Fittingly, the blue light was just as the camera captured it (he's unfortunately a Millwall fan).

So I’m sat at home all reflective now, contemplating not only the ringing in my ears but life, love and the brutal reality of the world we live in. Scroobius Pip does that to you, he speaks volumes of truth and his words say many things I wonder about but could never articulate my feelings on. Words that are drilled home amidst a hailstone of bass from Le Sac that would make Thor proud. A beer would probably help numb some of more negative ruminations but I’ve had one every night this week and I’ve an important call at 9am.

Beer’s a great catalyst for putting the world to rights, and so is music. But mixing the two on a school night can be a little taxing on the brain.

Dan Le Sac VS Scroobious Pip – Letter From God To Man from dooferz ggg on Vimeo.

Look for the woman – Scroobius Pip and Dan Le Sac from Jim Philpott on Vimeo.

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – “Thou Shalt Always Kill” from Mikey Levelle on Vimeo.

Leeds Beer, Cider and Perry Festival. Image copyright of Leeds CAMRA

It nearly sneaked past us again this year, but Leeds Beer, Cider & Perry Festival starts today and is well worth a visit. It doesn’t seem to get much in the way of promotion and it’s not located in the city centre, but the festival is showcasing a whopping range of beer this year.

Beer lovers can fight their way through 150 real ales ‘from Yorkshire and beyond’ and the ‘best range in the North’ for cider and perry. There’s also a beer cum ice cream parlour to get us in a summery mood despite the bitter wind still encircling Bridgewater Place and a Global Beer Bar stocked to the rafters with fancy bottles from all four corners of the globe.

There’s  a whole host of Yorkshire brewers selling their wares at the four day long festival. West Yorkshire is very well represented with Sowerby Bridges’s Brass Monkey, Hebden Bridge’s Little Valley and Elland Brewery from the hilly Calderdale. Joining them from the West are Bob’s Brewing, Five Towns, Fernandes and Ossett of Wakefield; Salamander and Saltaire of Bradford and Shipley; Goose Eye and Old Bear of Keighley; Mallisons of Huddersfield and of course Leeds Brewery, Tetley’s and Fox from the host city.

From the gateway to the Dales there’s Ilkley, Moorview, Copper Dragon and Rodham plus Nook from deep in Last of the Summer Wine country. Otley brewery don’t count cos they’re from Wales but given they’re name they get an honourable mention (please save us some 08!)

From South Yorkshire you can sample beers from Kelham Island and Abbeydale both representing the Steel City plus Oakwell from nearby Barnsley (no Crown Brewery, boo!). Both Masham breweries – Black Sheep and Theakston’s –  have with a handful of beers from North Yorkshire on plus Great Heck and Brown Cow from Selby, the much revered Roosters, award winners Rudgate and York Brewery. From Humberside Wold Top of Driffield are providing the only East Yorkshire brews available.

We'd recommend steering (pardon the pun) clear of Armley Gyratory if you've been to the festival. In fact anytime really...

If you fancy something further afield you can find beers from Somerset to Southport, Wales to Wearside (even some brewery from freezxing cold Fraserburgh!). And if that isn’t enough miles for you the North Bar sponsored Global Beer Bar has an array of continental delights, namely Westmalle Tripel, Erdinger Oktoberfest and Anchor Bock in bottles.

Other highlights that we’ll be seeking out are Wem’s Cherry Bomb, Liverpool Organic Shipwreck IPA, Hopback’s Summer Lightning (if the weather deserves it!) and the Leeds specials, but other than that between a few of us we’ll try as much as possible no doubt! Oh and there’s a little (well, huge) favourite of mine that fingers crossed I get to try on cask, but I won’t name for fear of my not seeing any by Saturday!!!

For more details see http://www.leedsbeerfestival.co.uk/. If anyone wants to meet up for a pint or three email me at mark (at) real-ale-reviews.com or drop us a line via twitter @realalereviews

Horsforth Beer Festival

Horsforth Beer Festival, North Leeds

Jam-packed with Yorkshire beer, Horsforth plays host to its annual beer festival this weekend and some of the pints you’ll find probably haven’t even left God’s Own County to get to your (half) pint glass. Local beers include:

• Great Heck ’Slaughterhouse Porter’
• Hambleton Ales ‘Cheeky Mare’ and ‘Stallion’
• Little Valley ‘Python IPA’
• Ilkley Brewing Co ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ & ‘Ugly Duckling’

Prizes for the most memorably weird and wonderful beer (and brewery) names go to:

• Dicky Ticker Brewery
• Leadmill Brewery’s ‘Old Mottled Cock’
• Bazen’s ‘Zebra Best’
• Blue Monkey’s ‘99 Red Babboons’
• Millstone Brewery’s ‘Tiger Rut’
• Nutbrook Brewery’s ’Cow Juice’
• Old Spot’s ‘Dog in the Barrel’

The Hop, live music and real ale pub opening in Leeds this March

Wakefield’s finest are coming to Leeds in the guise of The Hop, the live music and real ale venue of Ossett Brewery’s pub armada. Situated in the Granary Wharf area of Leeds overlooking the reinvigorated quayside, The Hop will sit under two of the previously disused railway arches that are tucked away between the confluence of the Leeds-Liverpool canal and the River Aire.

I’ve been watching the empty unit over the last few weeks and months, gradually turning from a blank canvas to a vaguely pub-like skeleton as I pass by. Today’s walk to the bank was considerably brightened by the sight of a new sticker in the window, shouting loudly ‘Opening on Friday 26th March!’

The Hop will take the tally of great pubs within a five minute walk of where I work to new heights, with the ‘thes’ of Grove, Commercial, Adelphi, Cross Keys and Midnight Bell fame all located a short stumble from each other.

Photos by me and my good friend Rick

Bridgewater Place towers over Granary Wharf form across the Leeds-Liverpool canal and is one of the views from The Hop. Pic (c) Mark Fletcher 2010

The 3 new buildings and canal basin at Granary Wharf near Leeds train station. Left to right: Candle House (apartments), City Inn (hotel) and Watermans Place (apartments). Pic (c) Rick Harrison 2010

The striking angular form of Waterman's Place at Granary Wharf, just a moment's walk from the site of The Hop. Pic (c) Rick Harrison 2010

I was out for a drink recently and dived into Calls Landing Stew & Oyster Kitchen for a bit of respite from the biting cold whilst walking between Brewery Wharf and the City Centre. I was looking for a bit of warmth and some beer but I found quite a bit more. The place is quite small but on a cold night this meant that it was offering a very cosy feeling however, with large windows and balconies over the River Aire I would imagine it is equally an un-claustraphobic spot in the summer.

The menu offers seasonal stews using locally sourced produce, a large bowl with crusty bread being £5.50, Bruschetta, Anti pastas (including a Cheese Board or cold Meat Selection). Obviously Oysters were available, £1.50 for a single portion. There were also sweets and hot drinks available but in the main the menu was short and fairly uncomplicated. I cannot imagine Gordon Ramsey coming in and levelling his favourite ‘pretentious’ allegations at this menu. In a rather innovative twist you can also get a pot of stew and some chunky bread to take away for four quid, which I think is rather a bargain, and 5.50 to sit in doesn’t seem too bad either.  can’t vouch for the quality of the food but hope to be able to shortly, if anyone reading has eaten here please add comments and let me know how the food is.

Turning to the beers their are currently three cask ales available, Theakstons, Deuchars IPA and Mr Scrooge which I assume is a guest left over from the Christmas period. Amstell, Sagres, Guiness, Leifmans Fruit Beer and Bulmers were all also available by the pint. Turning to the fridge bottles of Broolyn EIPA, Vedette, Duval and Aspall’s Cider. Basically the selection is now what ‘beeries’ are increasingly able to expect from decent mainstream bars in Leeds. Very reminiscent of the selection available at Baby Jupiter Bar but in a very different setting. Personally I think that this shows an continuing trend towards different types of bar looking to stock a greater variety of beers that was once merely the preserve of North Bar.

Brewdog Tactical Nuclear Penguin - the world's strongest beer

BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin Tasting at North Bar, Leeds

One of the best things I’ve found about living in Leeds, or a larger city for that matter, is the variety of events that take place that you don’t always find in less adventurous urban areas (maybe I was just brought up in a particularly boring town?!).

Zak with the Penguin

In the three years I’ve made Yorkshire’s modern capital my home, I’ve enjoyed Leeds International Film Festival, the West Indian Carnival, the Christkindelmarkt, a couple of League One Play Off Semi Finals and (less fortunately) a huge Robbie Williams concert at Roundhay Park (don’t ask) and countless other dates in the diary that are a feature of dwelling in a cosmopolitan city.

As well as these large scale events it’s actually the smaller opportunities that appeal to me most: being able to see Almodovar films in the ancent Hyde Park Picture house, attending a Flying Dog beer and food evening and the chance to see actual rock stars whilst playing 5-a-side (if you classify relatively obscure post-rock bands as rock stars!).

So when Zak Avery asked me if I’d like to take part in a live video tasting of the newly released and lavishly expensive Tactical Nuclear Penguin by BrewDog, the strongest beer in the world, not only did I jump at the chance but I carved another notch on my list of reasons to live in Leeds…

Luckily the selected date, Friday just gone, was a quiet day in the office (not entirely down to the fact the night before was our Christmas party) and I managed to grab an afternoon off. I covertly snuck off to North Bar, less than 12 hours after I’d left there and met up with Matt and Rob from Hopzine.

Moments later Zak trooped through the door with a crate of small glasses on his shoulder, a very unimposing dark 330ml bottle peaking over the sparkling glassware. Tactical Nuclear Penguin had arrived in the building.

And so the tasting began…

Cath from North Bar went first, describing Tactical Nuclear Penguin as ‘a peaty, smoky whiskey’ and starting the spirit/beer debate with a nod to the stronger stuff.

Matt tries to conjure the words to describe the complexity of Tactical Nuclear Penguin

I went next and managed to lose most of my vocabulary. I was looking for words like wood, smoke and chocolate but that came out as ‘barbecue’. It was difficult to put into words a beer as complex as Tactical Nuclear Penguin after one sip and even more so as the whole time I was trying to talk it’s burning a fast track path down my oesophagus!

Matt and Rob from Hopzine followed, Matt being more impressed than he expected and Rob picking up on some stewed fruits and similarities with BrewDog’s other aged stouts. Matt, like me, somewhat sat on the fence on the spirit debate, but Rob decidedly swayed towards beer.

Paul Marshall (a singer who holds the special title of being one of only about 3 musicians that both my girlfriend Sarah and I can enjoy together) popped in on his lunch which was naturally mostly liquid, picking up on whiskey and peat also, and was followed by Matt from North Bar and Andreas from Vertical Drinks who both came up with words we’d not been able to find – ‘beer liquor’ and ’soy sauce’. All agreed it was a beer but had the character of a spirit – a hybrid of the two perhaps.

Paul Marshall aka Lone Wolf takes a good sniff of BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin

If you read Zak’s notes on his blog you will have already read the best single description of BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin though, from one of Zak’s regular customers, Michael C. I wish I’d been there to hear it, but not as much as Zak wishes his video camera was rolling as Michael uttered the worlds best beer-review-tweet that never happened: “It tastes like someone has taken all the liquorice in the world and left it at the bottom of a coal mine for a thousand years“.

The day I write something that good I’ll have nailed this beer blogging malarkey!

Thanks to Zak and North Bar for hosting the tasting session. The tasting continued well into the afternoon with a host of Belgian ales, American IPAs, stouts and cherry lambics arriving at the table (Sarah who joined us later in the day was particularly impressed with the Casteel Rouge, a new favourite perhaps?)

Also check out Zak’s video blog for his words on Tactical Nuclear Penguin but also lots of other cracking beers (the Raging bitch video is a particular favourite).

It seems so simple, this-setting-up-a-brewery lark.

Walking around the compact, but seemingly organised Leeds Brewery with co-founder Sam Moss, it’s easy to forget that the business has only been in existence for a touch over two years.

Situated on a light industrial estate not far from Leeds’ bustling centre, the brewery is the hub of an expanding local empire that now stretches to three pubs across the town centre as well as the modern and compact Leeds Brewery HQ. The team produces three permanent beers and twelve seasonal beers; one for each calendar month. The beers are on sale across the country and also in Leeds brewery’s three self-owned pubs in Leeds city centre.

The Leeds Brewery team

Being Leeds residents and big fans of the beers that the brewery makes, we jumped at the chance to take a day off work and visit our very own local brewers. Upon arrival the other half of the management, Michael Brothwell, was busy making an emergency keg delivery in the back of his Ford Fiesta, so it was down to Sam to take us round the modern set up…

Sam takes us through the mash tuns, coppers, fermentation tanks right to the conditioning tanks where the final brews are materialising, and we chat about beer and business the whole way round. Our first question was simple, where do you start when setting up a brewery?

Leeds Brewery Mash Tuns and Coppers

“We thought it would be a good idea to develop some beers,” says Sam. “We had decided that we would like a pale, medium and dark beer, as well as a weaker, medium and strong alcohol strength beer”.

The results were Leeds Pale, Leeds Best and Midnight Bell, three very drinkable pints that are perhaps less experimental than some of those produced by other fledgling breweries, and deliberately so.

“We had set out to sell beers. This meant that they had to be very drinkable. As well as this, we have worked hard to make the brewery as commercially viable as possible; creating a strong and trusted brand, immediately recognisable and trusted on the pumps at the bar in order to keep people coming back.

Whilst we wander around the building talking – the smell of mash and brew filling the air - it is clear that the brewery house is full of action today. The head brewer Venkatesh Iyer is laying out the casts ready to fill with a freshly fermented batch of Leeds Pale. “Venkatesh is probably the youngest head brewer in the country,” points out Sam with a hint of pride. “He’s great, certainly the youngest head brewer of an operation of this size”.

Leeds Brewery Mash Tuns

Our journey takes us from the stainless steel mash tuns and coppers, through to the polished and gleaming conditioning tanks Some of the vessels are imported from Germany because of course our European friends are the kings of precision engineering – quality vessels are required at this stage to ensure smooth surfaces and thus reduce the risk of yeast infection, which at this point in the process would be pretty devastating.

“We retain the yeast from each brew which means that it is ultimately unique to us. The life span of yeast used in this way is a fairly lengthy cycle, so it can be reused for a good period of time.

Leeds Brewery fermenting tanks

Whilst admiring the shiny vats Venkatesh begins filling the casks with fresh Leeds Pale, hurriedly switching the pipe from cask to cask. Ah yes, the beer.

Sam explains that Leeds Best is an all-British beer; the malt is sourced in Britain, the hops are sourced in Britain and of course the water is British. The team agrees that brewing an all-British product was important. But Midnight Bell and Leeds Pale spread the net slightly farther afield, with Pale using hops sourced from Slovenia.

Unique to all the Leeds beers is the yeast which they use. With each brew, the yeast – unique to the brewery – is retained. The process is one of top fermentation, technically, and the yeast can be captured from the top of each brew once fermentation is complete. The life span of yeast used in this way is a fairly lengthy cycle, so it can be reused for a good period of time.

One of the interesting aspects of the business model is the progression of the self-owned chain of pubs that are appearing across Leeds. The Brewery Tap , PIN, and The Midnight Bell are three modern pubs which stock the permanent cask ales, as well as a range of continental beers (bottled and tap) and guest casks from around the country. Each watering hole has it’s own personality and the system harks back to an age when Leeds acquired its grand Victorian pubs, in the days before Tetley’s moved in and took over the cities brewing and selling trade.

To put the brewing landscape of Leeds in perspective. Sam makes an interesting point that despite the huge Tetley brewery (now owned by the Carlsberg Group and scheduled for closure in 2011), there are very few, if any, competitive breweries in Leeds – one of the largest cities in the North of England.

When we first started looking at Leeds as a potential place to set up, we couldn’t believe that despite being known as ‘The Leeds Brewery’, no one at Tetley’s had thought to copyright that name. We thought we would step in and take the chance to create a good brand that takes pride in being associated with the city.”

Leeds Brewery is well on its way to becoming one of stars of the booming micro brewery scene. And soon enough they may be the only brewery left in the centre of Leeds, with the impending closure of the Tetley’s plant barely a mile away. Leeds Brewery’s physical size is dwarfed by the colossus of the beer giant, but there’s time for LB yet. The light industrial estate location might not scream authentic micro brewery, but Leeds modern brewing set up and quality ales more than make up for that.

The speed at which Leeds Brewery has established itself and its beers in Leeds and across Yorkshire is a sure sign of Sam and Michael’s determination to make their venture work. By creating a strong base of pubs and brewery, coupled with an understanding of how to create a modern brand in a rapidly-changing landscape, it is exciting to consider how far such a young brewery might go.

“One of the questions we had been ready to pose was one that was born from conflicting rumours we had heard circulating the local area, about the future of Midnight Bell – LB’s dark mild offering – as a bottled product.
Sam sadly confirmed that Midnight Bell wouldn’t be available in bottles any longer, but the good news is that it will be replaced by the more marketable on-trade bottles of Leodis (their premium lager) and Hell Fire (a fruity beer) the latter two both available in the 330ml sizes.”