Out in Leeds

Leeds is one of those great Northern cities of going out, a place where the preparation for Saturday night’s revelling is as important as the night itself. 

Where tens of thousands of students live, study and party and bands like the Kaiser Chiefs, Alt-J, Gentleman’s Dub Club and Pulled Apart by Horses all first found their stages and have since brought a new found confidence to the local music scene. 

Unlike other music cities, it doesn’t have its own sound and is instead known for allowing an eclectic range of musical styles to flourish. But the reason we’re here isn’t so much for the music scene, but to explore the city’s longstanding reputation as one of Britain’s original craft beer capitals. 

Home to the country’s first ever dedicated craft beer bar – North Bar – and now a flurry of new brewers such as their own North Brewing Co and the multi-award-winning Northern Monk, it seemed like the perfect city to base ourselves for an adventure in the north of england.

And in fact, the timing of our trip couldn’t have been more perfect - we are greeted by a massive “Welcome to Leeds International Beer Festival” billboard at the train station. They say the Queen thinks the world smells of paint because everywhere she visits has just had a lick. Well, we’re beginning to think the world smells of beer.

Its Friday night and excited party-goes are wobbling off the train alongside us, but we decide not to join them into the neon and darkness, instead making an early journey to bed. Many of our beery friends are already in town for a week of beer events, but we know we’ll get a chance to bump into them tomorrow – we have a mammoth Saturday ahead of us, so keen we are to soak up the best offerings this city has in store.

After bunkering down for some kip at The Art Hostel, we got up early and began an epic 14-hour tour of 17 of Leeds’ best bars, cafes, restaurants and music venues, all of which enthusiastically placed their favourite picks from their impressive beer lists into our hands as soon as we sat down. 

As you can probably imagine, we were left a little hazy by the end of the night, having tasted some 40 or more local brews. We’ve uncovered some true gems along the way, that we’re excited to share with you in this guide to drinking in Leeds.

Leeds is a city that we’ve visited many times before and always had a great time – the people here are so friendly and welcoming that it’s hard not to. To make the most out of any trip, we wanted to share some of our own all-time favourite drinking holes with you, as well as some new ones we uncovered on this visit. 

To help us on this mission, local food, drink and music scene aficionados, Simon and Nicole from I Like Press offered to be our guides for the day. They’re seriously tapped into the craft food and drink scene in the city and wanted to help us meet all the right people, drink in the right places and eat the best food the city had to offer.

So here it is, our ultimate guide to Drinking in Leeds.

On the fifteen-minute walk over to the Northern Monk brewery from Art Hostel, we stop off at Laynes Espresso (16 New Station St, Leeds LS1 5DL). Opened five years ago by Dave Olejnik, it is one of Leeds’ original ‘third wave’ coffee shops. It’s a packed little shop and a hive of activity at this time in the morning. A round of espressos sets us up perfectly for the day and we wander over to the brewery.

Based in a vast Victorian warehouse with exposed brickwork and stone floors, the building used to store flax for the nearby mill. Long since repurposed, the site is now home to one of our favourite Northern breweries, who this week are acting as one of the hub venues for Leeds Beer Week. ‘The Bretheren’, as they like to call themselves, are creating all kinds of award-winning beers, including a Neapolitan ice cream inspired pale ale and Mango Lassi Heathen IPA.

The walls of this beautiful, airy, spare are adorned by the ‘Patron’s Project’; photography by renowned Northern beer photographer Tom Joy, illustration, painting and can-art by local artists. The brewery likes to support the arts in the local community and all of the ‘patrons’ are given a Black Card, which gives them a discount in the brewery.

We enjoy a brunch of Avocado, Lemon & Dukkah on their in-house Hop Bread, washed down with a round of Patron’s Project Coffee Porters. Each brewed with a single-origin coffee, from the likes of Rwanda and Costa Rica, these are something really special. We all pass around the Cherry & Almond, Pineapple & Golden Syrup and Orange versions and fail to reach a consensus on our favourite.

Everywhere in this city is within walking distance – 20 minutes from end-to-end, “40 minutes in heels!”, Nicole warns us, in-case we plan a wardrobe change. After brunch, we soon find ourselves back near the station, visiting one of the bars that are listed as the “Train Station Massive” on the Leeds Beer Week programme.