To say
that we as a community and a culture are being spoilt for choice in present
times continues to be a large understatement. With every new beer, brewery and
destination bar comes a level-up in my indifference to them. Places that five
years ago would have had me queueing up on opening night are now largely being
ignored.
Falling
into that list is the Summer Wine Brewery Tap in Honley. I wrote an Instagram post recently, whilst drinking an outstanding can of Cortes, about my old love
for Summer Wine Brewery and the time when I would have easily placed them
amongst my top three favourites in the country. I remember beginning a post
about them in 2012 that I hoped to find amongst my notes but alas could not. I
did however find the below grainy photograph that features my favourite ever
SWB beer ( #bringbackCohort ) and the nostalgia branding that seems a lifetime
ago now.
Having
opened in 2016 I was rather excited about the prospect of this new bar, having
always thought the brewery was based in Holmfirth, a small town I sometimes
visit that already has a few decent bars and pubs. It isn't Holmfirth though
that the brewery and Tap are housed, but rather the nearby village of Honley.
This disappointed me as it involved extra work to get somewhere I didn't know
how to. So I never made any effort to get to the Tap.
This
was idiocy.
See,
Holmfirth is difficult to get to without a car. Honley is not. Honley has a
train station. It has an hourly train that only takes 7 minutes from
Huddersfield. I am in Huddersfield fortnightly. I just never bothered to
check.
With this
"new" intel firmly in mind and with a late kick off last Saturday, I
finally made the non-arduous journey to Honley and the easy to reach Summer
Wine Tap. I'm not always one for travel posts, but this was a journey that I
wanted to be able to make seven years ago; one I should have made two years
ago.
When
travelling anywhere, it pays to check the train times for our day of travel,
not the previous day’s timetable like I did. This led to a 58 minute wait in
Huddersfield for my train to Honley. This was my mistake, slightly eased by
trying the Half Acre beers in Arcade Beers that all the cool kids are currently
snaffling. Soon I was on that quick, quiet train through the Yorkshire villages
to Honley.
With
Steve and Martin chatting away on the Hopinions podcast in my ear, I managed to
get lost going to the Tap even though it is relatively simple to get to. Just
follow these easy instructions:
Walk out the station and continue down the
road directly in front of you. Past the Monkey puzzle tree you will come to the
ginnel pictured below on your left. Cut through here and turn right down the
road at the end. At the bottom of this road you are directly facing the
entrance to the industrial estate that the Tap is on. There is a helpful map
attached to a gate that points you to the Tap unit from here (basically keep to
the riverside of the units until you see the Tap.)
On a
cool winter’s afternoon, there isn’t quite the bustle from outside that a lot
of Brewery Taps attract, though I imagine the space is quite wonderful in the
Summer, facing onto a grassy verge and a stream. Walking inside I realise I am
the first person through the door on this particular day.
There
is nothing ramshackle about the space. It is wooden - naturally - but it is
spacious, brightly lit and neatly designed. Long, high wooden benches sit aside
smaller tables. Nine keg and two cask offerings are clearly displayed. I opted
to start on a half of Cask Firefly and chatted to the barman, who had an
unnerving resemblance in looks and mannerisms to one of my old university
housemates.
There
are events held here and there is room to open a gate to the side further where
bands do set up sometimes. If it were busy then there is the room to
accommodate. There is a warmth to the room; a familiarity that some of the US
brewhouse inspired rooms don't generate. Perhaps it is the big Summer Wine
branding bearing down on me that brings nostalgia to a time of fewer breweries
but great ones. I like it here a lot.
I
stayed in the tap just over an hour, trying four different beers. My feeling
was that I could take a laptop or book there and just relax for the whole
afternoon. It was certainly quiet enough to do so. Yet that is a little bit of
an issue. The space is very good but I wonder if trade is currently strong
enough to justify it continuing. The barman revealed to me just how quiet
Sundays can be.
There
may be various reasons for this, though these are just my opinions. One may be
misunderstanding of scope. From Huddersfield station it takes almost the same
amount of time to board the train to Honley and walk to SWB Tap as it does to
walk to Magic Rock Tap. I imagine many, including myself prior to Saturday, are
not aware of this and mentally feel the effort is a stride too far. It may also
be down to the classic lack of promotion and marketing. The social media pages
for the Summer Wine Tap are relatively unused, as are the ones for the brewery
itself.
The
other reason may come down to further worth. Though destination taprooms are
very much a *thing* in the 2018 beer scene, many want more reason to board a
train than a single bar. I, personally, wanted to use the opportunity to look
at the rest of Honley, rather than immediately board the train back to
Huddersfield. So when it was time to leave the Tap I ventured into the centre
of the village.
Honley
is rather picturesque, dare I say quaint. A village that may attract tourists
and weekend breakers were it in Cumbria or the Cotswold. Its pretty and the
main street has an array of interesting independent boutiques and shops.
Amongst them are the triumvirate of Mustard and Punch owned places; a bistro, a
tapas bar and now a Craft Beer and Gin Bar named the Krafty Kettle.
Housed
in what appeared to have previously been a disused storage shed between shops,
Krafty Kettle is a well decorated little bar complete with a fascinating tap
arrangement previously unseen to me. It is quiet mid-Saturday afternoon, though
I'm assured it can get busy in the evenings.
There
are fifteen keg beers on offer and a couple of casks. Its down to my own detriment
that a perfectly solid looking keg line-up doesn't initially spark my interest.
Mentally, when I see a keg focused menu, I'm looking for something new or
unusual to avoid disappointment. Shaking myself out of this nonsense, I order a
perfectly fine Wiper & True Milkshake and a garlic snacking salami. There
are only two other patrons in as I sit and imagine that, with a few extra
friends, a spot by the window or upstairs here would do me for the
evening.
Leaving
the Krafty Kettle and walking back from where I'd come from, I take a left down
a gorgeous, narrow cobbled street to The Allied. This was a favourite of the SWB
Tap's barman and I can see why. It's a boozer but a friendly, local one at
that. Four casks face out into large rooms of obvious regulars chatting away
and seemingly nipping in and out throughout the day.
I take
residency in the surprisingly empty pool room, looking longingly at the green
table. I will always miss pool. I'm barely any good at it and I like table
tennis and shuffleboard as much as the next craft beer drinker, but the
culture's aversion to our best pub game still disappoints me.
What
doesn't disappoint me is the pint of Bradfield's Farmer's Blonde in front of
me. It is a beer that has taken a place in my mind that renders it one to
avoid, mostly as it is one that finds itself in pubs that can't keep it well.
Not in The Allied though. It is in such wonderful condition and so tasty that I
could have stayed and sunk another four. Perhaps I was lucky, but I would
suggest that this is the sort of pub could put any beer on and serve it to
perfection.
With a
little time before my train, I decide to make one more stop in Honley as I'd
enjoyed everywhere thusfar. I'd noticed a large roadside Thwaites pub named the
Jacob's Well earlier and thought it looked promising. It is on the way back to
the station after all.
Sadly,
a pub that was once likely a characterful coaching inn has had the full big
brewery make over and lacks any soul. The place is quiet, less cheerful than
the previous stop and the beer... is very Thwaites-like; not undrinkable just
not enjoyable. You can't win them all but I always enjoy a pub gamble even if I
don't recommend the Honley Village Trust place this pub in the tourist
brochure.
Knowing
the route back to the station, the walk seems to take no time at all before I'm
back in that little one-platformed station. I've been in Honley a little under
three hours, visited four places and have time to get some food in Huddersfield
before the match. It won't be the last time I venture out here and I would
recommend anybody making the beer pilgrimage to West Yorkshire for a certain
other brewery tap makes the extra 7 minute journey to this one. I'm going to
wait for warmer days for my next visit just to sense the contrast.
Summer
Wine is back in the conversation and their current releases of tallboy cans
have all been sensational, alongside an already solid range. 2011 me is very
happy about this. They deserve their place here; they earned it long before
many others did.
Honley
is testament to a motion happening across the North of England. Small towns or
villages where big brewers like Thwaites would have normally thrived now have a
choice we were once happy with in city centres. A large Brewery Tap and a Craft
Beer dedicated bar in a village with a population under 6000? Beer 2018.
As a
side note on this day that I feel strongly enough about to mention, post match
some friends and I visited the Star Inn, The Rat & Ratchet and The Corner
in Huddersfield. On a cold winter's eve, the three pubs seemed to be in direct
competition with each other as to which could make their patrons pass out
first. Uncomfortably hot to the point we quickly left all three. Pubs - on busy
Saturday nights where people don't have the room to take four layers off, do
not make your rooms warm enough for shorts and sandals. Jesus wept.
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