Our Branch area of Harrogate, Ripon, Knareborough and surrounding villages is blessed with a great variety of real ale pubs, both traditional and contemporary.

On this page we'll be covering all the latest pub news, with reviews and features on pubs, breweries and ales. We'll also be compiling a definitive guide to the best pubs, using feedback from local CAMRA members. Please get in touch with any information or comments you feel relevant here.

LATEST NEWS

Roosters Brewery, based in Knaresborough, will be brewing a one-off special of an old favourite – Roosters Cream. The 4.7% beer should be available in pubs in February.   Also coming soon is a limited edition at 4.3%, Astro is brewed with Galaxy hops.
Let us know what you think of these two beers or any others you've tried recently.

Progress is being made at Blind Jack's micro brewery. Landlord Paul hopes to have some test brews available at the Good Beer Guide listed Knaresborough pub in late January or early February. We're all looking forward to trying them out along with the other fine ales at our branch meeting there on the 16th February.

Yorkshire's latest new brewery has opened in a purpose-built brewhouse in Shipton-by-Beningbrough. The Treboom Brewery is run by John Lewis, a former cancer research scientist who worked at York University. The 10-barrel plant hopes to supply cask ale to pubs within a 50-mile radius of York, bottled Treboom beers may follow in the future. The brewery is also “green” with water coming from a bore hole on site, drainage through reed beds and electricity generated by solar panels.
We now have 36 breweries in North Yorkshire and well over 100 in the historic county as a whole.

Two pubs in our area have had a makeover recently, The Moor & Pheasant at Dalton near Thirsk and The Kestrel on the Wetherby Road coming out of Harrogate. If you've been in either since they reopened in their new guise why not drop us an email and tell us what you think?

Wetherspoon's The Punch Bowl in York reports on Twitter: “Due to a new company wide ale offer, we will now be running Ale Wednesdays (pints from £2.10) and CAMRA Sundays (50p discount with card.)”

Wharfebank Brewery of Pool in Wharfedale, just on the cusp of the Harrogate & Ripon area, launched their latest beer,  VPA or Verbeia Pale Ale, named after the Goddess of the River Wharfe, at the Otley Beer Festival on 18th November. It is a very pleasant, pale, sessionable beer at 3.6% brewed using three varieties of hops.

Welcome to new managers at the Winter Gardens in Harrogate and Chris Schofield at the Cross Keys in Knaresborough, best of luck to you both.

Congratulations also to the Fat Badger for winning two awards at the Plush Awards on November 17th for “Best Bar” and “Best Newcomer”,  well done Clarky.

Both our Masham brewers, Theakstons and Black Sheep, will be brewing seasonal beers and specials over the next few months. 

For those travelling to York by rail you probably won't need telling that the York Tap opened on platform 3 on November 15th , 2011 with an awesome 20 handpumps, plus lots of high quality foreign bottled beers in the fridges and some exotic European beers on draught, you can also try those controversial “craft kegs” if 19 cask beers and a cider aren't enough.

The Half Moon in Knaresborough is currently shut for renovation, the word is it shall be reopening a “gastro pub”.

The Harlow Gata in Station Parade is being renovated in preparation for its rebirth as a Zizzi.

The Drovers at Bishop Thornton near Ripley, which has been closed for some time, has been gutted by a mysterious fire. It was unlikely to have ever reopened as a pub.

The Travellers Rest beside the roundabout on the A59 at Killinghall is now sporting a sold sign, there is no information on who the new owners are or their plans for the pub.

Ian Fozzard has sold the Market Town Taverns chain of excellent pubs/bars to Isle of Man company Heron and Brearley who own Okells Brewery and other leisure industry companies on the island as well as North West England and Wales. The company's three pubs in Liverpool are in the 2012 GBG and include the Fly in the Loaf and the well known Thomas Rigbys. Ian will stay on for at least a year and the new owners promise no fundamental change at MTT.

Ian Fozzard has bought Roosters Brewery from Sean and Alison Franklin, Ian's sons Oliver, who brewed at Cooper Dragon, and Tom, who has worked with beer writer and specialist beer off licence owner Zak Avery, will be in day to day control.  Sean and Alison will continue to run the brewery until the end of the year and will remain involved as consultants in 2012. 

Thurs 19th Jan 2012
7.30pm
Branch Meeting
Tap & Spile,
Harrogate

Thurs 16th Feb 2012
7.30pm
Branch Meeting
Blind Jack's,
Knaresborough