Since opening our doors in May 1996, all at York Brewery have poured their heart and soul into brewing excellent, handcrafted ales enjoyed by drinkers far and wide.
Our birth marked a return to brewing inside the city walls of York after a 40-year absence. The original site of the brewery, our home for just over 23 years, was located just inside the city walls on Toft Green; a mere stone's throw from the historic royal entrance to the city, Micklegate Bar.
The site housed a 20-barrel brew plant, with six traditional open-top fermenters and five conditioning tanks. A gallery constructed above the brewhouse offered visitors a fantastic viewing platform while on one of our popular guided brewery tours.
The frontage of the brewery on Toft Green was relatively modern, with the rear significantly older. Built in the late 16th Century, the section overlooking Micklegate was the birthplace of Joseph Hansom (1803-82), the inventor of the Hansom Cab. He probably served as an apprentice joiner in his grandfather's workshop in the former stables that housed our conditioning and racking equipment. A provisions merchant then briefly owned the building until 1897 when furniture company Whitby Oliver took residence. Their logo can still be seen on the side of the top floor offices above Brigantes pub on Micklegate.
In December 2008 York Brewery was purchased by Mitchells of Lancaster, a 150-year-old family-run pub company who themselves brewed until 1999. A rebrand followed, and York Brewery was expanded to include a new distribution warehouse to allow the servicing of the large pub estate. Unfortunately, harsh trading conditions within the industry soon meant that a large portion of the Mitchells pub estate was sold off no longer warranting a separate warehouse. After ten years under their ownership, in December 2018 Mitchells of Lancaster, and therefore York Brewery, went into administration.
Thankfully that wasn't the end of our story, with Black Sheep Brewery stepping in to purchase the brewery and four linked pubs as part of their expansion into retail. Since this acquisition, sales of York Brewery beers have grown steadily, especially the already best-selling Guzzler and perennial favourite Yorkshire Terrier.
7th April 2012 ChrisOs Easter Tasting. Clear dark amber - brown beer, little pale tan head. Light dry palate. Sweet malt, a little dark toffee. Fair bit of spice on the back. Dry finish. Somewhat over sweet and too much spice.
Bottle at Chriso’s Easter tasting 2012. It pours deep amber, with a thin off-white head. The nose is spice, medicinal, gravy, coffee and HP sauce. The taste is spice, roasted malt, meaty, wood, leather, HP sauce and coffee. Medium body and moderate carbonation. A bit odd.
Bottle at Chriso’s Easter tasting 2012. It pours deep amber, with a decent white head. The nose is wood, leather, herbal (particularly sage), lemon and earth. The taste is wood, leather, dryness, light spice, soap, herbal, currant and earth, with a dry, almost herbal finish. Medium body and soft carbonation. Tough to drink. Doesn’t do anything for me.
Hand pulled pint into a UK sleeve during a beer festival at ‘The Crown Inn’, Oakengates (Sep 2011), one of 34 cask ales on hand pulls. Dark amber mixed with a mahogany brown, the body having wonderful clarity: on top a good covering of off-white bubbles which produced some heavy lacing as the beer level fell. Immense malt character in the nose and taste with the hops creeping up on you as the mouth dries. I had this beer on three consecutive evenings and noted some subtle changes as the air slowly oxidised the brew remaining in the barrel. The beer became mellower, softer, being nowhere near as sharp as the first nights pint. A good beer from a good brewery!
Brown 500ml bottle, best before 11 Jun 2012, poured into an Abbot Ale glass tankard in Oct 2011. Light amber, almost golden in colour, bright, clear and clean looking: good solid blanket of foaming bubbles on top. Lacing held throughout the review. The smell was fairly sweet, with a nectar and floral aroma. Add a tub of toffee and molasses to the nector without any extra sugary smell and you are almost there. The tatse was a good blend of bittering hops and sweetening malts (not unlike the smell). Medium body depth for its alcohol content and beer style: I found it a well balanced beer with enough points to want another. I believe it is brought out on draught occasionally, would love to try that version.
500ml Brown bottle, best before the end of Oct 2011: the bottle was opened and reviewed on 29th Nov 2011. Poured into a UK pint sleeve. Bright, clear and amber: on top an inch thick head of large white bubbles. Good hop based aroma, with some malt esters coming through as well. The malts rule the taste, neither sweet nor burnt, just pleasantly malty. A hop bitterness is evident also, especially towards the end of the sip. The depth of body is fine and the 4.0% ABV feels about right, carbonisation also as you’d expect from a UK bitter: this is easy to drink and unoffensive (more than exciting), nice blend of flavours, a good example of a regular Uk bitter.
bottle at chrisos ... copper ... thin white head ... soft sweet apricoty nose that im not fond of ... sweet fruits juicy fruits ... ok ... light pine soapy linger
Bottle at Chriso Easter Tasting 2012. Hazy amber lasting beige head. Earthy and rustic beer. Does smell of malt and twigs. Better in mouth than nose. Om malts. Bit of hop.
Bottle at Chriso Easter Tasting 2012. spicy aroma touch of soap some malts. Its ok spicy darkish beer. Not sure i could finish a pint. Too spicy and soapy