Magic Rock Tap, Hillhouse, Huddersfield

Very nice tap room - with plenty of space inside and outside. Bench seating, some undercover outside. As you'd expect, a wide range of keg and cask. Had a couple of different IPAs and they were lovely. Dont miss the snacks - a never seen before packet of poppadoms, with a pot of mango chutney inside!

The Magic Rock Tap is another pub on the outskirts of Huddersfield that I'd wanted to visit for some time and finally managed to get to last week. It is located on the edge of a trading estate, but has its own entrance with a small car parking area and a cluster of buildings. The tap itself is to the rear of the brewery's offices. You enter via an outdoor area, with covered seating options and a wagon selling pizzas. Inside is a typical warehouse bar with rows of high tables adjacent to the brewery equipment itself (behind a window) and a large bar against the rear wall. What immediately struck me was how busy it was. There was a large group of well dressed business people, which seemed at odds to the surroundings. I got the feeling that they'd perhaps had some sort of meeting on the premises earlier in the day and were now commencing an evening's drinking. With the noise and crowded nature of the bar, it felt more like the atmosphere of a city pub in London than a brewery tap in a warehouse on the outskirts of Huddersfield. Ringmaster is the regular cask ale here. Two other handpulls were serving Dark Arts & High Wire, whilst craft options were De Mole (a 10% Mexican imperial stout), Fantasma, High Wire, Salty Kiss, Saucery, Cannonball, Stiggy Pop, High Wire Tropical & Murk Life Balance. Whilst the 10% imperial stout was tempting, I hadn't yet dumped the car for the day and instead opted for the High Wire. I felt this one was slightly unusual for a brewery tap. Although my visit was probably clouded by the noisy business types. It provided a complete contrast for what was to be my next stop - the Cowcliffe & Netheroyd Hill Liberal Club (not listed on the site)!

Visited a couple of weekends ago as part of a crawl in Huddersfield. The brewery tap is behind the brewery itself, where there is plenty of outdoor seating including some covered. Once inside again there is plenty of seating, a window to the brewery area itself and the all important bar offering five cask hand pulls (one of which was off at the time of my visit) and 10 keg taps. Inside was pretty busy but no issues in getting served or finding a seat. There was a food hut outside and someone came round inside to warn customers when service was about to finish so they could get their last minute orders in. Overall I enjoyed my visit here and would happily return.

Housed in a brick built industrial unit this is not the easiest place to find. Given that you have to enter via the rear of the unit and this means crossing a sizeable lake in the rainy season (most days). There's smoking shelter outside and some tables and chairs for those occasional sunny days. The decor inside is minimalist to say the least. One large room with a bar on the rear wall with 3 handpumps and lots of expensive craft keg. There's a fenced off barrel store to the right and windows into the brewery to the left. It was pretty chilly on our recent visit and most people didn't even consider taking their coats off. The pint I had was in good nick as you would expect from a brewery tap. It's OK, but I've been in many better brewery taps.