Park benches and beer culture
I had never been to UK before, so that made my trip to Leeds that much more special. It all began with one of my closest friends giving me concert tickets for my birthday. Ed Sheeran with his music has been a big part of our journey together, so this trip was a proper stroll down memory lane. Even tho my everyday music preferences tend to steer more to rock and metal.
What happens when you let a beer geek like me loose in one of the most beer oriented countries? Well, I had a good few days full of tasting and looking for local craft. Tried to taste as much as possible. Sadly didn’t have enough time to visit a brewery or do a proper bar hopping trip, but let’s be honest here, that wasn't the main purpose either. So park benches and classic bars it was.
I love the beer culture in UK. Each and every place we chose had a decent craft beer list with their focus point mostly on local beers. Loved seeing that, cause here, in my lovely little Estonia we are still struggling with a lot of bars that seem to think imports are better and not really selling or showing off the amazing beers that local craft brewers are coming up with.
Some breweries from UK that I’d advise you to taste are:
Meantime Brewing. We tasted their Pale ale with passionfruit. Which was surprisingly well balanced with a hint of sweetness and their Ginger & Lime pale ale, which in my personal opinion could have use a bit more ginger, but the lime gave it a nice refreshing side. Considering that these were house beers made for Wagamama an Asian restaurant they complimented the dishes well. Even tho the Ramen I got was so plane in taste I basically had to season it myself. Another one of Beer saves the day.
This cute little bear represents the Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. Their CLWB Tropicana was, well tropical. Good choice for a beer on itself on a sunny day. Full of taste and when fresh, it’s awesome.
Of course we couldn’t have missed out on Magic Rock Brewing. Did the Grapefruit Pale Ale, Salty kiss, a Sour rose and the coffee porter. All were good. Surprisingly light but still good. And the cans, again. Whoever disdains their labels, is amazing.
Making the UK and Leeds especially a craft beer travel destination is on my to do list for sure. If you have any questions or want to know what I think about the beers I’ve tasted, look me up on untapped HP6der.
’til next time!
H