It was great to go and check out Northern Monk's centre of operations, as I've rarely seen their…read morebeers west of the Pennines. The Old Flax Store where they're based is a Grade II listed mill and located in the industrial Holbeck area towards the outskirts of the city centre. Spread over three levels: their brewery on the ground floor; The Refectory and bottle shop on the first floor and event space (Chapter Hall) on the top floor, it's been lovingly restored both inside and out. Despite how separated they are from the main hub of bars and restaurants, there were quite a few people enjoying their afternoons here with a beer, hot drink or bite to eat (they serve food throughout the day). With a small selection of board games (alas, pretty much all of them had vital parts missing), I'd advise bringing your own if you fancied entertaining yourselves in this chilled out space for a while before you ventured onwards. Tip: they have a small free car park out front for the designated drivers.

Northern Monk Refectory is a fantastic spot for food and beer. It's situated in Holbeck so it is a…read morelittle bit of a walk south of the city, about 10 minutes, but this distance at least when I've been there recently means it's not overwhelmed by the crowds you would expect on a Friday or Saturday. Those that venture out are discerning and looking for a quality beer and great food and that's what you receive from the guys at Northern Monk and their food collaboration with Grog and Grub. The bar features 20 draught beers (not sure whether this number includes their 2 on handpump) it is about 50% their own beers and 50% guest, with this number of beers they do a good job covering a range of styles so you should not be at a loss to find something you like. In fact all the beers I had were very nice Track Sonoma, Curveball Pirate Porter, and Northern Monk Salt Lime Wit.

I liked it so much I even bought the t shirt!read more

From the owner: Craft beer with 20 taps and over 150 bottlesread more

This brewery has been supplying me with excellent pints for quite some time. Since I moved to…read moreLeeds, in fact, back in 2005. I've always been a fan, and as was discussed on the brewery tour, they're absolutely a 'second pint brewery'. As in, you'll almost always go for a second pint, rather than try one outrageous beer, and never do it again. I must admit, I'm taken by the hop-fad. It's a bit like spice - the more you get into it, the more you want it on your tongue. However, I'm not so into it that I don't want a solid beer, and whilst the brews here mightn't be 'experimental', they are well made, lovingly crafted, and consistently pleasing. A favourite has always been the Leeds Pale, but I'm keen to try the Gathering Storm - a seasonal trad stout. Love a stout. The tour we had showed how impressive this place is. There's no name for the size of brewery they are, being too large to class as craft, but too small to class within the ranks of Tetleys and the like. However, given the physical size of the place versus the volume of output, it's no mean feat - brews are brewing all the day long. It's incredible to think about the amount of pints being made in such a small space. I adore the aroma of the place. I did not get a turn on the forklift, although I didn't ask, but that's mainly as I fear the answer would have been 'no'. I did, however, get to learn more about one of my favourite liquids, see inside a Leeds institution, and appreciate the hard work that goes into something many might take for granted. (I certainly do, when I'm in the pub.) Here's to many more pints to come. Cheers!

What a lovely brewery. They got casks, and lots of metal baking jars. And a bloody forklift…read more Also, it's not really open to the public. You have to be special.

It was only about 15 minutes off the M6 freeway to the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley, Cumbria. The…read moreroads weren't that windy and were wide and well-paved so this is faring better than expected already. We arrived to where the brewery showed on my map, but it wasn't there. The brewery was slightly up the road within a small shopping inlet next to a coffee shop. We parked and approached the brewery and were pleasantly surprised with how impressive the set-up was. The building was large and beautiful with large wood beams, huge windows, and comfy leather seats. It was so quiet in there I didn't know how much noise we could make without being rude, so we opted to sit in the corner so we could strategize about which beers we wanted to try and how much time we wanted to spend off the road. I ordered the Lakeland Lager which is a 5%ABV Lager/Pilsner and Sean had the Cumbrian 5 Hop 5%ABV Golden Ale. I really liked the Lakeland Lager because it was crisp and refreshing with a great hop flavor on the back-end. Most of their beers were "real ale" style, but the lager wasn't. It was a nice change from all the real ales available. I also really enjoyed the Brodie's Prime with is a dark porter-style beer and is 4.9%ABV. It has a very smooth mouth-feel and is extremely drinkable. We sampled almost their entire beer selection and overall their beer was very good. The styles were done well and the beer was clean and clear and cheap! We were there around lunch time so we went ahead and ordered some food before they stopped serving. Sean ordered the beer cheese soup and I ordered the mushrooms with Stilton blue cheese on toast. The soup was served with large pieces of sourdough bread and butter so it was very filling for a good price. I tried some of the soup and it was really good. The mushrooms were sautéed in butter and the cheese was melted on top of the toast so it was damn delectable. I savored every bite of that toast. The soup was something like 2 pounds and the toast was 4 pounds. I think we walked out of there spending about 10-15 pounds total? Pretty decent if you ask me. Also, they refused to accept our tips. I am accustomed to giving tips always, but they politely declined my offer. Great service, delicious food, cheap and amazing beer and no tip?! It was one of the highlights of the trip.

I'm often in Windermere for the weekend, and having a pint at the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley…read moremakes for a great start to it. It's a big venue, with a large downstairs area next to the bar, and further seating on a mezzanine upstairs. There's then a further bar (only open sometimes) through the back. There's large glass panels to let you see into the actual brewery itself, so it's interesting just being in the place. There's outside seating too, in the car park, so it's hardly picturesque, but it's fine too when the weather is mild or if you want some peace and quiet away from the buzz indoors. It's a good atmosphere, very laid back and friendly, with plenty of dogs. Staff are pleasant and helpful, and know their beers well. The beers are good - all sorts from your pale ales through to your dark stouts, and last time I was there I had a raspberry sour. It wasn't great if I'm honest, but you can't win them all :-) Hawkshead seem to be quite an adventurous brewery, so there's always something new to try. My favourites are the stouts. There's a range of food too which seems to be mostly traditional 'Northern' food - Shepherd's Pie, Yorkshire pudding, Venison burgers - mostly very meat heavy, so I've never tried anything, apart from the chips. The chips are good! They do a fantastic beer festival. We went this year for the first time, and it was brilliant, we had such a good time. You get a menu, and can just work your way through the ones you fancy the sound of. They're categorised into the different bars, so it makes it quite fun to work your way about trying different ones. They had a massive marquee when we were there, with a crazy and very entertaining jazz band. It's a family atmosphere, with kids there too, so the adults are sensible and nothing gets too out of hand. I'm hoping we can go every year! With regular weekend checks ins until next year.

Harrogate brewing is a great local pub. They didn't have a chef at the time I visited so they only…read morehad prepackaged snacks. Beer is great and that's what matters. A proper pub atmosphere. Try there Nib mild my favorite

From the owner: Independent, award winning Micro, brewing in the beautiful North Yorkshire Spa Town of Harrogate,…read morein North Yorkshire. ​ We also run a fun, cosy taproom inside the industrial unit of the brewery.

First time coming to this place after hearing about it through word of mouth. Good selection of…read moredrinks, friendly staff, table service as well as option to scan a code on the table to bring up the menu! Nice touch!

Never had North Brewing beer before so when a friend in Leeds said come over we can check them out…read morein their brewery, well how could I say no? North Brewing Co has opened the brewery up with a bar and as such it's a little off the beaten track right at the top of the city a block behind North St. if you get a taxi up that way you will likely have to direct them as we did, you access the brewery from Sheepscar Grove. Like most breweries it seems they are located in a non-descript industrial unit. But I guess on the bright side this means the place will never be crazy busy unless they have a special event. The bar itself is a nice combination of freeze blocks and tiling and they've made use of the various brewery common items like pallets to create the furniture and draught list. The brewery kit is lovely and shiny sitting down the side and at the back of the space with 4 large fermenters against the wall. Like a mad scientists lab, it's presence is a pleasant reminder that your actually drinking in a brewery. All the beer was on good form as you'd hope. I especially liked Bulkhead which is a brown ale and Full Fathom 5 which is a stout. They don't do food here. Hey it's a brewery, get over yourself. But they are happy for you to order in and have a few takeaway menus from local places they would recommend. It's a very good place to start an evening or Saturday afternoon I would say as it's only about 5 min walk south from here down North St to some very decent bars and pubs, which is exactly what we did.

Awesome beers at great prices. Watch out for the special beers they often produce in really small…read morequantities. I've never had a bad blue monkey beer! The shop also sells great merchandise such as t-shirts, bar mats, bottle openers etc. you can ask for some free blue monkey beer mats with your purchase!

What else can I say about this fabulous tiny bar of joy? I can say that I've been back several…read moretimes and consistently enjoyed it. I can say that every member of bar staff I've interacted with has been great, they give good banter and know their beer for sure. I can say that I've enjoyed every tipple, albeit as pricey as it can be. And I can say that I'm still a fan of the odd and random décor. I wish they'd open a little later, but hey, one can't have it all. Even so, if you're wandering Meanwood of a Sunday and want a paper and a pint, this should be on your list. Bringing nothing but more North Bar joy to the area, this is a great spot and I'm well chuffed they're a part of this area in town. But as Devlin mentioned, watch out and ask before you buy - there's a few that'll set you back more than a couple of quid.

Forever on the hunt for decent beer, called in for a few whilst passing with a m8, part of the…read morenorth bar, Schneider Weisse on tap is getting harder to find, it was spot on and cold, girls behind bar was very nice and as there was only us in, we had waitress service, also good to see where beer prices displayed, £14.90 for one of them may be a shock if you order willy nilly..

Great pub, upstairs from bottle shop. Friendly staff, maybe best atmosphere in all of York! Don't…read moremiss this gem!

This place was a little hard to find. Look for the liquor store on the ground floor that says…read more"trembling madness" on the window. Pub is upstairs. Pub was fairly cool. Saw some reviews saying something about a Harry Potter vibe, but I didn't get that at all. It has some cool elements, but definitely did not live up to those expectations. Had a nice beer selection on tap. And prices were quite reasonable. Ended up picking up a few interesting beers on my way out.

The Old Peacock has recently been taken over by Ossett Brewery. They have spent a considerable…read moreamount on a very sympathetic and aesthetically pleasing refurbishment of the premises. Add to to that one of the biggest beer gardens I know of in the area, and my first impressions were very good. On my first visit, a few weeks ago, shortly after it opened, I was only there to sample some of the nine real ales they had on hand pull. All were in great condition and served perfectly, by extremely welcoming and knowledgable staff. My favourite at the time was the Citra, which, as its name suggests, is extremely refreshing. Being so close to Elland Road Stadium, they regularly have large volumes of lads pouring in through their doors, which would explain the rather unusual approach to the gentleman's rest room! It has an entry door, a one way system for doing your business and washing your hands, and then an exit door. Can't say I've seen this anywhere else, but a great idea! Anyway, I held off posting a review until I had had the opportunity to return for food, which I managed to fit in last week. I had their traditional fish and chips. The batter on the fish was delightfully light and crispy, the fish itself was really tasty and the chips were "skin on" and served in their own individual fryer basket.....nice touch! It also came with peas and homemade tartar, which was lovely too. Overall, a fantastic new addition to the area, with great food, drink, and excellent service, in very pleasant surroundings. I will definitely be back. Well done Ossett, you have created a gem here.....keep up the good work!

This has got to be one of the better "supporters" bars that I have ever been to. It's located just…read moreoutside of Elland Road, the home of Leeds United, the Championship (2nd division) team. Of course I went there just before catching the game across the street, having an hour to spare. The place was jam-packed with fans sucking down suds and generally having a good time before kick-off. My friends went in and I told them that I would meet them there. (I went to the fan shop of Leeds Utd first.) When I got there and tried to get in, the security lady at the door of the pub wanted to see my game ticket. I told her that my friends had gone in already and that they had it. I told her my name (fortunately my friends told her!) and she let me in. So I guess this keeps out the rifraf. Being crowded and having to use the toilet often when you down pints, I thought it was great that out back they had a section in the garden fenced off for privacy and had the ol' game day urinals that you find in Europe at least. This cut down on waiting in the gents and kept me from wetting myself! Although crowded, there is a huge staff so not a long wait for a drink. Great atmosphere.