9th May 2022. Yes, Will, nearly 4 weeks behind. Shoddy work. I press on.
A gig in Leeds, a pretty good place for music as Chris Dyson knows. And just a teeny chance of a pre-gig pint.
By chance, I walked out of the station the wrong way and ended up at Ossett’s Hop in t’Wharf.
Ossett don’t get the credit they deserve. Their locals pubs in the West Riding are boozy and boisterous, their crafty Salt beers always impress Mrs RM, and the Hop bars are fun, if a bit dated.
Not many people know that the Hop bars invented the “pizza in pubs” concept nearly 20 years ago; most folk think it was Brewdog.
The hipster crowd, such that there is of it left, have clearly headed for the Calls since my last visit c.2006, as Hop is too quiet. Or maybe Leeds office folk head straight home for Ovaltine and an early night on Mondays.
There’s a few young women, a few students, a few old blokes, and the White Rat tap is dripping, so I have that.
I take the Rat, their signature beer, on a little tour of the rambling premises to find the most authentic seating, then end up back at the bar.
If I had my notes that I deleted at the gig that night I’d share the complete playlist, but safe to say it would delight readers of the New Musical Express c.1986.
The cool, crisp, White Rat (3.5) delighted me, and if you want a break from relentless New Leeds then Hop almost feels Old School now.
retiredmartin 
Aren’t Ossett best known for their Autovacs ?
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“Proudly serving beer via Autovac”. We need those signs on pubs.
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This was a second local (after the Grove) when I worked in Leeds.
Friends of Ham was new, as were Midnight Bell and Cross Keys.
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You’re right, Stewart, there was a cluster of new or remodelled pubs around that time, many with Leeds Brewery beers.
Grove as good as ever.
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I haven’t been in the Leeds Hop for nearly a decade, so your blog and excellent photos have reminded me of what I’ve been missing. Worth waiting almost four weeks for.
I especially like the shot of the canal from the escalator in the station.
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I think it was that view that persuaded me in, Will.
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None other than the great Richard Coldwell said the canal view was “the single most atmospheric view in Leeds.” I know exactly what he meant. What a great city.
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Dave,
Yes, just like the Shopshire Union from the front door of the Anchor is the single most atmospheric view in High Offley.
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I haven’t enjoyed that view for nearly 20 years.
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And within a few steps of the escalator and the Hop, the ‘dark arches’ conveying the River Aire underneath Leeds station are a fantastic work of art and engineering…
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Those hop pellets are very impressive.
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Love the Hop. Ossett definitely one of the most underrated Yorkshire breweries, with their feet in the Cask and Craft camp. Some of my favourite pubs (I am thinking of the Shepherd’s Rest in Sowerby Bridge, where I met my wife).
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Excellent points about Ossett, and the Shepherd’s Rest was probably my introduction to their beers (not your wife).
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I don’t know the Shepherd’s Rest in Sowerby Bridge, only the Shepherd’s Arms at Ennerdale Bridge where I stayed on the Coast to Coast walk and the Shepherd’s Arms in Whaley Bridge
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