PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS - Summer 2020

 

 

Harrogate

 

The Coach and Horses on West Park, which did not re-open following lockdown, has had its Premises Licence revoked by Harrogate Borough Council after breaching lockdown regulations, and remains closed.  The licensee has appealed the decision, and separately a petition has been raised calling for the Council to allow his daughter a licence instead.

 

Cold Bath Brewing on Kings Road are now serving three cask ales.  Beartown, Brass Castle, Horsforth, North Riding and Ridgeside are amongst those seen so far.

 

Dog & Duck at George Hotel (no real ale) is closed. This hotel was owned by Shearings’ Country Living Hotels which went into administration in May.

 

Geek Bar is a board games and hobby shop / bar on Bower Road which opened in March, it will be serving one Daleside cask ale.  https://www.facebook.com/thegeekbarharrogate

 

The Swan (on the Stray) (Market Town Taverns) has not re-opened following lockdown.

 

 

Knaresborough

 

The Bear at Carriages opened 20th August at the old Carriages bar which closed in February.  Although principally a restaurant, it welcomes drinkers and has one handpull, serving Kirkstall Three Swords, as well as a Turning Point and Kirkstall Virtuous IPA on keg. https://www.thebearatcarriages.co.uk/

 

Blind Jack’s re-opened (inside) on 21st August, open Thursday through Sunday, table service only, and also now has tables outside at the front of the pub.  They continue to deliver cask and keg ales in two and four-pint containers, as well as cans, bottles and mini-kegs, as they have since before lockdown.  Also sells cans, bottles and mini-kegs nationally.  www.blindjackspub.com

 

The Mitre (Market Town Taverns) has not re-opened following lockdown.

 

Knaresborough station platform is to get a micropub, called The Track and Sleeper, expected to open this autumn if planning is approved.  It will be operated by the owners of the Rockingham Tap in Swinton, near Rotherham.

 

 

Ripon

 

The King Billy has re-opened under new management, but no longer has any involvement with Hambleton Brewery or Village Brewer.  The new beer line-up is Theakston Best Bitter (as before), Hobgoblin Gold, and they are hoping to add one changing guest ale.

 

The One Eyed Rat has undergone refurbishment and re-opened under new management on 23rd August.  Currently five cask ales of six, and a real cider to follow soon. The pub did not initially re-open after lockdown following expiry of its lease; this pub was a Good Beer Guide entry for the last 30 years.  The former tenants, Dave and Ruth Hamby, are now concentrating on their other pub, the Blue Bell Inn at Kirby Hill.

 

The Ship on Bondgate (closed 2018, currently tinned up, did not serve real ale) has submitted a planning application for four terraced and one detached house (20/00624/FULMAJ).

 

Turf Bar and Bistro has closed.  This was the bar of the Ripon Spa Hotel which has closed after 114 years, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

 

Outlying areas

 

The Lamb & Flag at Bishop Monkton has not re-opened following lockdown.  Shielding vulnerable owner.

 

The Hopper Lane Hotel at Blubberhouses has not re-opened since lockdown.  Shielding vulnerable family members.

 

The General Tarleton Inn & Restaurant at Ferrensby has not re-opened since lockdown.  Their telephone line appears to have been disconnected.

 

The Lime Tree Inn is a new-build pub opening soon in Great Ouseburn.  It will be serving two Rudgate beers and one changing beer.  https://www.thelimetreeinn.com/

 

The Nelson Inn (formerly Chez La Vie @ The Nelson) at Hampsthwaite re-opened under new management in August, though currently no real ale.

 

The Masons Arms at Hopperton (no real ale) is up for sale at £325k.  The pub (restauarant) has not re-opened since lockdown.

 

At The Three Horseshoes in Killinghall an application for demolition and construction of a convenience store and four flats has been approved by Harrogate Borough Council (19/04606/FUL).  The pub has however re-opened since lockdown.

 

The Anchor Inn at Langthorpe re-opened after lockdown but has since closed and the pub is now up for let.

 

Inn at South Stainley is closed and up for sale.  The pub is owned by the Seafood Pub Company which went into administration in June.

 

The Railway Inn at Spofforth and the Flying Dutchman at Summerbridge (both Sam Smiths) have not re-opened since lockdown.

 

The George at Wath has not re-opened since lockdown.

 

The Glasshouse at the Birch Tree at Wilsill has closed with the tenants moving to The Crown at Middlesmoor.

 

 

Club News

 

Harrogate Cricket Club has leased their upstairs bar, ‘Balcony’, to an independent operator, currently serving two cask ales, and hoping to increase to three.  Open to the public, membership is not required.

https://www.balcony-harrogate.co.uk

 

 

Brewery News

 

All the breweries in our region have been selling cans, bottles and/or mini-kegs during lockdown and most are continuing to do so.  Check Pulling Together or WhatPub to go to the individual brewery shops online.

 

Cold Bath Brewing on Kings Road are now serving three cask ales.

 

Harrogate Brewing have increased brewing capacity during lockdown with new fermenters.  The Taproom opened 9th July and is now open Thursday through Sunday every week.  Four cask ales.

 

Rooster’s taproom at Hornbeam Park re-opened 4th July.

 

Turning Point’s taproom in Knaresborough opened on 10th July.  Open Fridays and Saturdays only.

 

Note that the above taprooms are now all card only, and, with the exception of Cold Bath Brewing, they prefer you to use the Round app to order your beers!  If you do not have a smartphone / tablet or cannot use the app please speak to staff who will take your order and card/contactless payment.

 

 

Card/contactless payments

 

The following establishments are now only accepting card or contactless payments:-

 

Harrogate

 

Cold Bath Brewing

Disappearing Chin

Harrogate Brewing

Little Ale House

Major Tom’s Social

North Bar

Rooster’s Taproom

Starling Bar

 

Knaresborough

 

Bear at Carriages

Groves Inn

Six Poor Folk (online payments only)

So!Bar & Eats

Storm Bar & Restaurant at Dower House

Turning Point Taproom

 

Note that all Sam Smiths houses remain strictly cash only.

 

 

If any of the above is incorrect or out of date, please let us know by emailing harcamra@hotmail.co.uk or ‘Submit Update’ via www.whatpub.com

 

 

Thank you to everyone who has carried out surveys of the pubs and clubs in our branch area. Over the last year we have managed to get out to virtually all of them. Special thanks goes to members Roland and Ken who have made it their mission to survey all the outstanding venues on the list, many of them in remote areas.

So how do I score the quality of the beer?

 

You don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to begin scoring your beer.  However, it is not about your personal favourite beer receiving the highest scores!  You may try a beer that isn’t to your normal taste but what you need to consider is the quality of that beer, how well the pub has kept it and served it, and score it according to the general guide below.  It is a simple 0 to 5 point system, with half points being used if your opinion of the beer falls between two categories:

 

0.   No cask ale available

 

1.   Poor.  Beer is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment

 

2.   Average.  Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing

 

3.   Good.  Good beer in good form.  You may cancel plans to move to the next pub.  You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again

 

4.   Very Good.  Excellent beer in excellent condition.  You stay put!

 

5.   Perfect.  Probably the best you are ever likely to find.  A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely

 

 

How do I submit my scores?

 

In order to submit your scores you need to either login to CAMRA’s online pub guide www.whatpub.com on a desktop computer or a smartphone, or you can use the GBG app on a smartphone.  On WhatPub you will find over 35,000 real ale pubs from all over the UK; these are not all Good Beer Guide pubs, merely pubs that serve real ale.  The same pubs can also be viewed on the GBG app or you can just select the Good Beer Guide pubs.  In order to start submitting scores via either WhatPub or the GBG app you need to:-

 

1.      Login to WhatPub.  To do this you need your membership number and your CAMRA password.  Or, in the GBG app link your CAMRA account by following the ‘Profile’ icon in the bottom right-hand corner.

 

2.      You can then search for your pub by name.  Be careful here as there are many pubs in the country which share the same name.   Try searching the pub name and the town or postcode.  The What Pub web page on a mobile device also gives you the option to search for real ale pubs nearby, very useful if you are in an unfamiliar town.

 

3.      Once you have found your pub, go to the ‘Submit Beer Scores’ box on the right-hand side of the screen (on the WhatPub desktop version), tap ‘Submit Beer Scores’ on the tab bar underneath the pub photo (on the mobile WhatPub version), or tap ‘Beer Scoring’ immediately above the pub description (in the GBG app).

 

4.      Simply fill in the date and your score, then as you begin typing, the brewery name should automatically appear underneath where you are typing.  You do not have to enter the name of the beer you are drinking but if you wish to do so once you have entered the brewery name you should  be able to click on the arrow in the beer box and a drop down list of that brewery’s beers should appear.  In some cases the beer you are drinking may be new or a one off by the brewery so may not appear on the list, if this is the case you can simply type in the beer name.  Select the beer name, click ‘submit score’ and your score will be entered into the database.  (You can also optionally include the price per pint and comment on the beer under ‘Advanced options’).

 

It is as simple as that.  An added bonus is that a record of your scores is kept so you can look back (on either WhatPub or the GBG app) to see the beers you’ve had and how you rated them.

 

Find out more at https://camra.org.uk/nbss