The Brewery Tap, Leeds

As the Tap for the Brewery that bears the city’s name, this place has at least been given a suitably prominent central location, which goes some way to making up for the rather disappointing interior. Comparing this rather bland typical city bar to the Kirkstall Brewery’s recently opened tap house, it does seem that Leeds Brewery have missed a bit of a trick with this place. You enter into a wide but fairly shallow room with the bar directly opposite the front door. Banquettes and tub chairs have been arranged under the huge front windows which were completely obscured by condensation on our evening time visit. There is a drinking ledge along the right hand wall underneath some arty black and white images, whilst enamel beer signs decorate the walls to the left, where the room extends into a raised space with mostly standard chairs around small tables. Upstairs there is a smart lounge with comfortable looking seating and a rather spectacular black wall with an interesting image painted on it in white, reminiscent somewhat of the artwork in the Crowd of Favours. The rest of the décor is in the form of beer signs and modern art prints plus a ‘Beer Stops of Leeds’ poster which details the city’s pubs on a ‘tube map’ style chart. Also visible is the brewhouse which I believe is responsible for the brewery’s left-field output, rather than the familiar regular brews. A couple of these creations were available on tap on our visit, easily identified by labels explaining that they were brewed on site. The keg range is actually pretty extensive, with plenty of interesting options and very little in the way of global brands. Judging by the large blackboard behind the bar, there are some good bottled beers to be found as well, and ale drinkers can make use of the taster trays which allow you to try a selection of ales in third pint glasses. The ale options on our visit comprised Leeds Pale, Best and Midnight Bell as well as guests Marble Chocolate Marble, Collingham Winter Warmer, Black Edge IPA and Red Willow Feckless. Posters advertised monthly ‘Tap Takeovers’ where guest brewers can showcase their ale range, with Off Beat Brewery lined up for December. The good beer range makes up for an otherwise rather disappointing venue and the friendly staff and convenient location mean that I would certainly consider a revisit – it’s just a shame they didn’t strive to create something with a bit more character.

The Brewery Tap was rammed during a recent Friday evening visit, which I suppose is to be expected. I’m not sure why there was music playing in the background as the addition of chattering from the after work crowd created a bit of a din. There is a thin bar where premium draught products can be purchased alongside ales that are drawn through twelve hand pumps. There is some more seating and I think there is another bar upstairs where the toilets are also situated. The steamed up windows, noise and lack of space made me leave a little earlier than I had planned. I would revisit at a quieter time so that I could have a proper look around, but I wouldn’t go out of my way.

This was also our last pub of the evening, after the PG meet up. A popular pub this one, as it was very busy on our visit. I finished the night with a Collingham Winter Warmer and then had to bail out. Lots of condensation on the windows, looked like an amphibian house.

We only had time for a quick one as we were dashing for the train, but hadn't seen Leeds Midnight Bell on our travels round the Leeds hostelries yesterday, and knew we would find it here, and it was superb. Must start here instead of finishing on our next trip so we have time to enjoy the range on offer.

A fantastic range of beers, about half from Leeds Brewery, and just a stone's throw from the station. When we were here there was a special beer brewed on the premises, using the two and a half barrel plant which can be seen upstairs: Brian the Mild, a proper 3.2% mild with none of the extraneous hops that the Leeds brewer just couldn't resist throwing into their own Vienna Mild. According to the pub's website there is also a lager brewed on site, called Leodis. As others have pointed out, this is the perfect place to start or finish a Leeds crawl.

Owned by Leeds Brewery and opened at the end of 2008, this is basically a modern, fairly nondescript two-floor café bar with attendant furnishings close to the station. Housed in a curved building with industrial-style signage and with a large glass frontage, there is a brewery upstairs and some large pictures of old Leeds along with some brewerania on the otherwise fairly bare walls. Eight ales on over 12 pumps (Leeds brewery plus guests, alongside some higher-end keg and bottles. My Leeds Pale was enjoyable. Worthwhile as part of an extended pub crawl simply for the range of good beer available but I wouldn’t fall over myself to do a session in here considering the standard of competition elsewhere.

As others have noted, The Brewery Tap has a modern and contemporary feel due to minimalist and modern furnishings and it's large frontal window. In fact, from the outside, it's a fairly dull and unremarkable building but don't be put off. We had lunch here and the food was decent, substantial and good value with a range of quality sandwiches served with chips and salad as well as main meals if you fancy something bigger. There's a wide range of ale on offer listed, along with the keg and cider available, on a blackboard behind the bar. On tap when we visited were: Leeds Pale, Best, Midnight Bell and York Gold, Ilkley The Chief, Mary Jane, Summer and Siberia, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, NYBC Best and Rudgate Best. A good selection in terms of style and strength and mostly local. The Siberia and The Chief were excellent and in decent nick. Leeds has a great range of pubs and The Brewery Tap certainly adds to the whole but may suffer in comparison to some of the others. As a stand alone though this place is well worth a visit.

The large plate glass windows,open plan interior and modern furniture give this place the feel of a bar,but the ale range and beer condition make this an ideal spot to begin or end any beer tourist activity in central Leeds given it's proximity to the station. On our visit the decoraters had been at work ,the wooden bar repainted in a light cream finish,the walls similar.There is now an extensive range of both ales and kegged beers,all advertised on a long blackboard.Besides a few Leeds Brewery products,on my trip there was also a wide selection of Ilkley beers and overall there was an excellent mix of strengths and styles on offer.The food was also properly cooked,substantial and very good value with mains around £5-£7.At lunchtime there was plenty of room to spread out,and the first floor seating area was barely used.The brewing equipment up there behind a large window now seems to be out of action. The Brewery Tap should be put on the list of any real ale crawl around Leeds,if that is your aim.

Modern bar located very close to (but not visible from) Leeds station. All a bit functional in the main seating area, but there is also a more comfortable lounge upstairs (near which there is also some brewing equipment visible). Eight of the 12 handpumps were working, and - as you would expect from the name - there were a good number of Leeds Brewery beers (e.g. Samba, £3.00-ish) available. Several guest ales on offer too. Overall, worth stopping of for a quyick pint of waiting for a train. (NB - Review dates from August 2011.)