Harrogate Beer Festival 2025.

Last weekend was the 2025 annual Harrogate beer festival. A two day event at The Crown Hotel, Harrogate organised by Harrogate Round Table. Aside from being a great showcase of mostly Yorkshire beer, Harrogate beer fest is a great social event. My only mistake this year was going on the Friday night, when most people I knew went on the Saturday. I did think about going back for the Saturday session. But the combination of the Saturday morning hangover and having just got back from a week in the far east (Tunstall beach, Hull) ensured all enthusiasm to do so was minimal. 

Plus I am over fourty now you can't expect too much from me regarding commitment to drinking. Being officially old.

 

Non the less this year was probably most memorable as the first major reveal/showcase of the new Daleside Brewery re-brand, all the new pumpclips on display. Both Roosters and Daleside having a fairly big range of beers on offer.

  

The Amity keg bar.

Starting things off this year I ventured to the keg bar to opt for Amity Brew Co Conchord. A 4.2% NZ pilsner, crisp and fresh with vibrant gooseberry and sweet fruity, floral hops contrasting it's bone dry finish. An impressive score of two and half (out of five) in the beer review logbook marked a solid start to the evening. 

Daleside Stout (4.2%) is quite a rare seasonal and I felt had to be tried at some point. I don't get to try literally everything that gets brewed at work like in the old days. A nice, straight down the middle roasty stout with a medium bodied rounded feel much how I remembered it. 

Bingley Brewery Hannah Green was a subtle but nicely rounded 3.6% blonde ale. Nice, nuanced fruity hops. Yet Darkland brewery Tower Blonde (3.8%) had a distinct grassy note difficult to describe. Stubbee Pineapple (4.6%) had lots of sweet tropical flavours but not the kind you associate with hops.  

Ranking high in the public opinion front was Titanic Cappuccino (4.5%). Which pretty much did what it said on the tin. Lots of sweet roasted malt and coffee with an all round light drinkability. Nice, but not my kinda thing. What stood out more was the local classic Harrogate brew co Nidd Mild that was on impressive form. A 3.7% traditional dark mild with lots of roasted malt coffee-chocolate dominating, leading into the subtle underpinning of traditional hops.  In my opinion this was better than the keg version that won gold at SIBA beer X last year. 

I did get to sample some of the other Daleside beers available for quality control purposes. They are all now brewed on a different kit to years gone past which makes it interesting. Another highlight of the evening was Phoenix Brewery Wobbly Bob 6%. An old school strong ale tasting like it's straight out the 90's. Bold with nuanced fruit and malt throughout. This one pretty much brought a close to the evening. 

All in all it was a great night. As busy as it usually is. Am very much looking forward to attending again next year. 

The Winding Wheel Beer Festival, Chesterfield.

The famous crooked spire.

Last weekend was a great opportunity to venture out of town on a beer hunting adventure. On a road trip organised by my old man we ventured beyond the borders of Yorkshire and into the lesser known wilderness known as the midlands, to a pleasant market town called Chesterfield. 

Chesterfield is a splendid place, not too posh, nor too Northern, but to basically sum it up; It has the famous crooked spire (see above). Thornbridge Brewery beer is nearly everywhere and there are very few charity shops. But I digress..  

Beer festival ground floor.

The annual Winding Wheel beer festival is a CAMRA event encompassing three floors of The Winding Wheel Theatre in Chesterfield. The beer list was pretty extensive with the majority of beers from breweries I had never heard of. Thornbridge Brewery have a separate cask and keg bar. 

Given we were joining on the second day of the festival the beer range had been thinned out a bit. The new highly sought after Thornbridge The Union, 6% IPA  on keg had sold out. Sadly so had a fair few others on the hit list. However, despite this a pretty diverse array of quality beers were still available. 

Thornbridge bar.

The first beer to grab my attention was from a Blackpool based micro brewery; Pool Brewing That's Just How I Feel. Mango, pine and citrus dominate the palate and the mouthfeel of it was fairly heavy for a 3.8% blonde. Then wandering onto the middle floor, Hang The Elephant Van Milder at 5.4% was a strong mild with character. Rich and chocolatey with oily coffee and liquorice throughout. 

After this Neighbourhood Brew Placebo was a 4% blonde ale with a soft grainy feel and some spicy citrus notes. It almost had some resemblance to an American wheat but on cask. Wickham House Jester at 4.5% was amber hued and closer to a classic British pale ale. Plenty of fruit and malt. 

For the grand finale of the evening Brampton brewery Menin Gate was the obvious choice. It's not often you find a 7.4% Belgian style Dubbel on cask. A class beer indeed it's deep amber depths opening with boozy apples and pear. Lots of caramelised malt and winter fruits lingering in the finish.

After this it was time to say goodbye to the Winding Wheel Beer festival. It's always great to visit new places and break the habit of going to the same beer festivals every year. Thank's again to my old man for organising the adventure.