Dukes, Halifax

A craft bar on two floors located in a part of the Market building that is accessible outside market hours. The rear mounted counter has five pulls, one is at the far end and is for cider, 15 visible keg taps, but there’s a total of 21 beers & ciders on including a pin on the bar back which contained a 10.6% Stock Ale (£6 per half). There’s much more seating upstairs with a selection of bored games and the toilets, where you’ll find two unisex cubicles with a common washing vestibule. Downstairs has a plywood counter and benches, wirey stools and tables, and a fridge of cans and bottles. Blackboards behind the counter list the beers and if they’re vegetarian friendly or gluten free, no deferential is made between cask and keg. No cash is taken and it’s Good Beer Guide 2024 listed.

Official site of Dukes - dukeshalifax.bigcartel.com

Official site of Dukes - dukeshalifax.bigcartel.com

Nice indoor market and a little shop conversion run by beer lovers and fans of hard rock. I enjoyed a Rivington Bounced Right Back whilst people watching in the window. Decent selection of Belgian bottle in the fridge available for takeway.

Another modern bar in another arcade, seemingly a Halifax speciality. Very yoof-oriented; vivid pink, white and turquoise décor with low-grade American pop-punk playing too loudly given the time of day. The bar and some perch seating are fashioned from pine sheeting. Five pumps with three on, all from LHG. My Pale was one of those haze beers (inevitably) and in that context it was kept competently (NBSS 3.5), priced at £2.40 a half which seemed pretty steep and served-up by a polite barmaid. Usual array of craftykeg and a cider. Cashless, of course. Of amusement value (to me, at least) was the fact that of the three customers, precisely zero were of the type they were aiming for – me the trad ale drinker and two loud lager-drinking lads. Not my kind of place but worth looking-in if you’re new to the town.