Yorkshire Day!

Yesterday, as we all know (and if you didn't, you do now; remember it), marked the annual Yorkshire Day celebrations. It also marked the first day I could drink after being off alcohol for a week while on antibiotics; this was a tough journey - try working three consecutive nine-hour shifts at Beer Ritz knowing full well you can't even touch a drop at the end of it - but I'd made it, except a few cheeky tasters such as our home brew and some Rudgate beer at the brewery. 

Beer. From Yorkshire.

Anyway, it was a perfect excuse to drink some Yorkshire beers, beginning with a bottle of Black Sheep Imperial Russian Stout at bang on 5pm (didn't want to wait til I'd walked home to crack this open... a week can do that to you). If you have come across this stout before, I'm sure you'll agree it certainly is an interesting drop. I poured it into a large wine glass, a typically black pour with pretty much no head unfortunately. The first thing I noticed was that it was quite highly carbonated for a stout - not necessarily a bad thing but certainly unexpected. This is a beer that develops massively as you drink it, each sip is different from the last, different aromas coming to the fore with each finger. Chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and a nice maltiness all make appearances, a classic stout really. I'd heard good things about this beer and was expecting a little more, but it was a really nice and interesting one nonetheless. Give it a try!

New face of the Town Hall Tavern

Given the occassion, I thought I'd try the recently refurbed Town Hall Tavern, which coincidentally my old colleague had just started at full-time; even more coincidentally, I'd heard Timmy Taylors pints were £2 for Yorkshire Day. I couldn't say no. I hadn't been to this pub for about two years, and the last time was a quick afternoon stop. What had once been a rather traditional boozer has been transformed into a modern day 'bar' (they're still pubs dammit!) akin to Veritas and the like. It is now very well presented and nicely laid out, utilising modern decor interspersed with tradition such as old Taylor's posters, photos of old Leeds etc. The Ram Tam and Golden Best (only the latter of which, as it turned out, was £2) were on fine form, both delicious pints. However, there was a distinct lack of custom. Town was dead in general, to be fair, but only a few business-looking chaps and the two of us made up the entire clientele. Perhaps it was just a Monday, perhaps it's the recession, or perhaps it's the pub's location. Who knows, but that place should definitely be attracting more than several punters a night.

From there we headed up to the curiously named Nation of Shopkeepers; but as you've probably all made up your mind about the place already, I won't bore you with the details. Also, I was drinking Anchor Steam Beer, and there's not much Yorkshireness to that is there?

Happy (now belated) Yorkshire Day :-)