Blind Jack's, Knaresborough

This small pub in Knaresborough’s market square is home to an onsite micro-brewery (Knaresborough Brewing Company) and also showcases ales from a sister brewery (BAD Company). I was a little disappointed to find none of the in-house beers were available, but this was compensated for somewhat by the presence of three BAD brews – Comfortably Numb, Wild Gravity and Love Over Gold. I tried the latter and thought it was outstanding – one of the best beers from a long weekend in North Yorkshire. Other options on handpull were Small World Spring Bank, Magic Rock Simpleton, Rudgate Ruby Mild, Kirkstall Pale Ale and Brass Castle Northern Blonde. For my money, this is an excellent line up and I was disappointed to have to leave after just the one pint, as I would’ve quite happily worked my way through most of those on the bar. The pub itself is remarkably small, with entrance into a compact main bar with scuffed floorboards, bare brick walls and an attractive wood panelled bar counter on the rear wall. Pews run around the perimeter of the room, supplemented by numerous low stools and there is a huge Blind Jack’s mirror on the right hand wall, doing its best to create the illusion of extra space. Décor is fairly minimal, with a few seemingly out of date blackboards near the bar (one detailing upcoming brews from the in-house brewery) and a couple of paintings on the left hand side providing the sum total of visual distraction. A door to the right leads into a very compact snug with enough space for four or five small tables, with bench seating around the walls. Stairs here lead up to two similarly sized rooms, each with bare floorboards, basic seating and nice fireplaces, providing vital overspill even on a fairly quiet Saturday afternoon. There was no music playing during my stay and TV screens were conspicuous by their absence. In many ways, the pub could be classified as a micro-pub – meeting most, if not all, of the criteria to be termed as such. I really liked the feel of this place and found the service to be very friendly and the beer in excellent condition. I imagine the place could potentially get very crowded on popular evenings, but it certainly deserves to do well and was my favourite pub of the six I visited around town, despite some stiff competition.