Harrogate Tap, Harrogate

The thin and long Harrogate Tap is located adjacent to the Railway Station with a view of the platform through the windows on the back bar, but there is no direct access, and there are no screens with train arrival and departure times either. To be fair, I think they would detract from the grandeur of this old railway building with its wood panelled bar and walls, tiled floor and high ceiling with chandeliers. The bar counter supports a selection of premium and craft keg, but cask is dominant here with twelve hand pumps that were drawing Brass Castle Brewery’s Northern Blonde, Thornbriddge’s Market Porter, Anarchy Brew Co’s Blonde Star and Common Denominator, Bristol Beer Factory’s Neotropic, North Riding Brewery’s US Session and Mosaic Pale, Helmsley Brewing’s Yorkshire Legend, Rooster Brewing’s Scrambler and Buckeye, Saltaire’s Unity and Tapped Brew Co’s MOJO. I went for the Mosaic and MOJO that were well pulled by the friendly bar staff. I will allocate more time to here when I’m next in Harrogate because 30 minutes wasn’t long enough.

One of those pubs you walk into and it just feels right. Nice building, good decor, pleasant lighting, open fire, nicely full but still a few tables, and most importantly a long, well-staffed bar with an excellent selection of beers. Whatever the formula is, bottle it! On a more serious note, it seems to work better than most of the other Taps and is just a pleasant place for a pint.

What a grand place to start our first visit to Harrogate to check out some 2019 Good Beer Guide pubs last month. Right by the station with a good selection of cask and craft ales. We chose Totally Brewed Ninja Shark and Arbor C Bomb which were in excellent condition.

Official site of Harrogate Tap - www.harrogatetap.co.uk

Official site of Harrogate Tap - www.harrogatetap.co.uk