York

From http://iansaleadventures.blogspot.com/

Another weekend away - this time in York. I'd had lots of recommendations from Scott Wilson, who was there recently, plus I had the GBG, but somehow, the time goes before you get a chance to try out all the recommendations.

First stop, very close to our hotel and not far from the station, was Brigantes, which ticked both the GBG and SW boxes. It's an excellent pub, with very friendly bar staff, large glass windows to the front which almost make it feel like you're outdoors, and, most importantly, an excellent selection and quality of ales. These were the choices the first time we were in:

When we returned just 2 days later, as many as 6 of these beers had changed. We were fortunate to get a chance to taste the last of a one-of brew from Great Heck - it was called Life Begins (abv 4.0 of course) and it was brewed especially for a 40th birthday held in the pub on Saturday night - in fact, it was our favourite beer of the weekend.

Brigantes backs on to the York Brewery with whom they share a back yard. Another recommendation and must-do of the weekend was the brewery tour - they do 4 per day, 7 days a week in summer and 6 days the rest of the year - quite a schedule. It's a small brewery so, naturally, it's not so much a tour as a talk. The Tap Room there is atmospheric, however - lots of old knick-nacks adorn the place:

I'm a sucker for hoppy, American style IPA's and here I'm supping the brewery's latest ale - Centennial, which is not even listed on their own web site yet.

Amongst the other pubs we visited, the Last Drop Inn was another GBG entry and had a cute little outdoor drinking area, surrounded by brick walls, with room for just 3 tables - very cosy.

The Ackhorne was less impressive, although still very acceptable, but the York Terrier was a little more interesting in both surroundings and ale choices.

A couple of observations from the weekend - the LocAle promotion is well supported and advertised in the local pubs; and several pubs also prominently display this sign:

This saved us a few bob

Less pleasingly, we again came across what to me is the slightly disturbing trend of heavily etched glasses. Jenning's seem to be leading the way here - this first example is not too bad:

However, the ones I saw in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago were a bit over the top:

You could barely see the beer for the external etching - it made it feel like you were drinking some kind of horrible, fizzy European yellow lager. I hope other brewers don't follow this trend.

Back in York, our last pit stop was the Lamb & Lion which has a beer garden that is backed by the City Wall, and has fine views of the nearby Minster. This was their beer selection:

All good stuff - an easy trip on the train and an interesting city with lots of good beer and great pubs.