WARNING
Contains Shiny Brewing Kit pictures.
And Brewdog.
A sunny Saturday in Leeds provided the opportunity for a bit of a taproom tour, with Mrs PropUptheBar in attendance to be in charge of directions, input scores on Untappd, and ensure we ate some food.
We spent an hour wandering the streets of the centre, the arcades and municipal buildings looking glorious in the good weather.
Until we neared midday and decided it was time to make a start on our brewery explorations, catching Bus 39 northbound into the suburbs. Here's the route...
Terminus (8a Stonegate Road, Meanwood, Leeds, LS6 4HY - web)
We really ought to learn not to arrive at places too early.
The tables and chairs were still stacked to the side of the room when we bowled in, hollering "are you open yet?"
This is the taproom of Meanwood Brewery, who produced their first beers in 2017 and opened Terminus in November of 2018.
From the very neatly chalked beer board, I opted for the cask option - a Meanwood Brewery 'Court of Horrors', 4.2% session IPA.
A superb easy-going pint of murk in a handled glass to get the day started, enjoyed on the patio outside.
Setting off from Terminus, Mrs PropUptheBar needed steering away from the Boot & Rally - micropubs being her other temptation rivaling pudding-orientated craft beers in brewery taps.
An uninspiring walk took us down Meanwood Road on our longest trek of the day.
🕜 1:30 - Brewery Number Two
North Springwell (Springwell, Buslingthorpe Lane, Leeds LS7 2DF - web)
It's not the most obvious of locations, through some scruffy side streets, past the battered-looking Primrose pub, light industrial units and the inevitable student-living complex.
But at the end of the road we caught sight of happy punters sat in the sunshine next to a decorative bit of brewing kit.
A superb easy-going pint of murk in a handled glass to get the day started, enjoyed on the patio outside.
Setting off from Terminus, Mrs PropUptheBar needed steering away from the Boot & Rally - micropubs being her other temptation rivaling pudding-orientated craft beers in brewery taps.
An uninspiring walk took us down Meanwood Road on our longest trek of the day.
🕜 1:30 - Brewery Number Two
North Springwell (Springwell, Buslingthorpe Lane, Leeds LS7 2DF - web)
It's not the most obvious of locations, through some scruffy side streets, past the battered-looking Primrose pub, light industrial units and the inevitable student-living complex.
But at the end of the road we caught sight of happy punters sat in the sunshine next to a decorative bit of brewing kit.
This has a capacity of 16,000hl - 2.8 million pints of beer a year.
With everyone enjoying the sunshine, it was deserted inside except for the odd person popping to the bar and a couple of folks having a tour around the brewery. You can explain it to me a hundred and one times - I still don't know my mash tuns from my fermenting vessels.
I contemplated the various IPAs and continental lagers but - let's face it - I'd decided on the strongest on the beer list as soon as I walked in.
A rich and complex barrel aged imperial stout. Wonderful stuff.
Accompanied by bao buns from the food vendors in shipping containers to the side of the outdoor seating. You can explain bao buns to me a hundred and one times - I still don't know what they are or what the appeal is.
A rich and complex barrel aged imperial stout. Wonderful stuff.
Accompanied by bao buns from the food vendors in shipping containers to the side of the outdoor seating. You can explain bao buns to me a hundred and one times - I still don't know what they are or what the appeal is.
Thoroughly satisfied by imperial stout, we departed from North and continued on our route back toward the centre. We called into a small yard of workshops to check out Ridgeside Brewery. Sadly they were having a 'well earned break' - which we realised when standing outside their closed shutter, Twitter being the one place this was mentioned and the only place we hadn't checked beforehand. Doh!
So it was onward to Sheepscar Grove...
🕒 3pm - Brewery Number Three
We were now at the original home of North Brewery.
When they first moved to Springwell, this Sheepscar site was used to concoct sours and barrel aged brews for their Small Batch Project.
In 2022 it was sold to Tartarus - a brewery founded by Jack Roberts and Jordan Orpen in 2020 with a view to brewing European, experimental and foolishly strong beers.
Ah foolishly strong. I will do well.
'The Mackenzie Potergeist', please. A 14% 'Dulce de Leche Imperial Stout' which was pretty much as good as imperial stouts ever get. I've had a few of the Tartarus double-digit beers and am in awe of how they make them so fearsomely easy to drink.
🕓 4pm - Brewdog diversion
Brewdog North Street (Crispin House, New York Road, Leeds, LS2 7PF - web)
We didn't need to call into Brewdog, especially being as they'd tried their best to hide it from us behind scaffolding.
But we were walking right past and figured we'd poke our heads inside.
"No, we can move on", said Mrs PropUptheBar.
"Are you sure? They've got an Amundsen Scream Egg Series Salted Caramel Fudge pastry stout".
Which was enough to facilitate a quick change of mind.
The beer was too sweet for my liking, although I didn't seem to have any difficulty finishing it.
In the basement of Brewdog is an interesting games area with an arcade corner and two shuffle boards.
Another bus trip was needed to travel out of town in the other direction - west of the city centre to Kirkstall.
🕠5:30pm - Brewery Number Four
The day came to a close in a modern brewpub close to the train station.
If ever a city weren't short of places to drink within a few minutes of the station it's Leeds.
🕡6:30pm - Brewery Number Five
Tapped Brew (51 Boar Lane, Leeds, LS1 5EL - web)
This was the busiest place we visited, as well it should be in the centre on a Saturday evening. Doormen guarding the entrance and turning a couple of people away, so how I got past them I'll never know.
It's part of the small chain which also includes Sheffield and York Taps alongside several other bars. Not quite the heritage environs of either of those, this is a single rectangular room with the bar on the right-hand-side and brewing kit on the left side.
Not sure how much use the kit gets though, with most of the wide beer range coming from well-known UK and European names.
I opted for their Sheffield-brewed 'Sheaf Street Pale Ale', an easy-going pint to bring things to a close.
We'd had a fine day out, making it to a varied bunch of places and enjoying beers ranging from familiar murky pales to trad milds to decadently strong porters.
Northern Monk is an omission from this post - somewhere that I called into on another day. And there's a handful more taprooms that I've missed too. Always leave something for a return visit!
Tartarus is an old-school brewery tap set up - a little bit of random furniture and some beer-fest style benches; limited opening hours as you'd be well and truly in the way of the brewing operation at other times.
The staff were friendly and happy to chat about their beers, tempting me to try the Vault City barrel aged barley wine. It is just possible that I may not have been walking in quite such a straight line departing from Tartarus as when I arrived.
Almost forgot the shiny brewing kit picture...
The staff were friendly and happy to chat about their beers, tempting me to try the Vault City barrel aged barley wine. It is just possible that I may not have been walking in quite such a straight line departing from Tartarus as when I arrived.
Almost forgot the shiny brewing kit picture...
🕓 4pm - Brewdog diversion
Brewdog North Street (Crispin House, New York Road, Leeds, LS2 7PF - web)
We didn't need to call into Brewdog, especially being as they'd tried their best to hide it from us behind scaffolding.
But we were walking right past and figured we'd poke our heads inside.
"Are you sure? They've got an Amundsen Scream Egg Series Salted Caramel Fudge pastry stout".
Which was enough to facilitate a quick change of mind.
The beer was too sweet for my liking, although I didn't seem to have any difficulty finishing it.
In the basement of Brewdog is an interesting games area with an arcade corner and two shuffle boards.
🕠5:30pm - Brewery Number Four
Kirkstall Brewery Taproom and Kitchen (100 Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS3 1HJ - web)
The original historic Kirkstall Brewery was several miles up the road with grand old buildings on either side of the Leeds-Liverpool canal. That's now a student hall and the brewery disappeared for many a year.
Resurrected in 2011, they now recreate many of the old recipes, such as this cracking strong mild which I was drawn to...
The original historic Kirkstall Brewery was several miles up the road with grand old buildings on either side of the Leeds-Liverpool canal. That's now a student hall and the brewery disappeared for many a year.
Resurrected in 2011, they now recreate many of the old recipes, such as this cracking strong mild which I was drawn to...
Whilst it's every bit the modern building outside, the interior of the taproom is something of an eye-opener. They've collected all manner of old pub features, from screens, to mirrors to old advertisements, creating an impressive bar that you wouldn't be expecting at first glance. Just don't spoil the illusion by looking up at the high ceiling and modern ventilation ducts.
If ever a city weren't short of places to drink within a few minutes of the station it's Leeds.
🕡6:30pm - Brewery Number Five
This was the busiest place we visited, as well it should be in the centre on a Saturday evening. Doormen guarding the entrance and turning a couple of people away, so how I got past them I'll never know.
It's part of the small chain which also includes Sheffield and York Taps alongside several other bars. Not quite the heritage environs of either of those, this is a single rectangular room with the bar on the right-hand-side and brewing kit on the left side.
Not sure how much use the kit gets though, with most of the wide beer range coming from well-known UK and European names.
I opted for their Sheffield-brewed 'Sheaf Street Pale Ale', an easy-going pint to bring things to a close.
We'd had a fine day out, making it to a varied bunch of places and enjoying beers ranging from familiar murky pales to trad milds to decadently strong porters.
Northern Monk is an omission from this post - somewhere that I called into on another day. And there's a handful more taprooms that I've missed too. Always leave something for a return visit!
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