Halifax – Victorian Craft Beer Cafe
On the way back to Bradford, I visited this Good Beer Guide listed pub in Halifax and it’s a relatively short walk from the railway station (which is handy as that’s where I was coming from). The pub opened in 2014 with the aim of bringing continental style drinking to the residents of Halifax.
The lighting in the pub was quite dim, but that suited its character and decor, although it made it difficult to capture in a photo. I think these capture the charm of the pub though, somewhere very cosy and comfortable.
The beer board and that’s a well put together set of options, I was suitably impressed. There are usually 10 or so ales, 18 beers on tap and 100 bottled beers, I’d suggest it’d be hard for a beer drinker not to find something appropriate. Although not the man who reviewed the pub saying “pretentious, overpriced and dire beer”, although nearly every other review is quite rightly positive.
Some news which I saw on the pub’s web-site is that they’re starting brewing themselves, under the Second Sight Brew Co banner and it looks an intriguing little set-up, with more at http://www.secondsightbrew.co/.
I had debated going to get something to eat elsewhere, but the chorizo pork pie met my needs instead of bothering with anything else. The beer was refreshing and had the pineapple and apricot flavours that it promised, although not to the same depth as some of the other ones I’ve had from Brew by Numbers. Still a very pleasant way to end the night. Oh, and the pork pie was delicious, with not too much jelly for me to scrape off (it’s too decadent for me).
As an aside, one thing that slightly confused me is that the Brew by Numbers brewery (one of my favourite) have several 55 Double IPAs, but I was able to check the pump clip to see that it was the El Dorado & Idaho 7 beer. Precision is needed for Untappd, a reminder really that I need to get out more….
The service at the bar was friendly and engaging, this feels like a pub that the community is supporting. The decor is something else by any definition, a far cry from when it was an Italian restaurant, and I think they’ve done a great job with that. This really is one of those pubs that you could bring a book along to and spend a few hours here, or equally, find someone to talk to. I’m delighted that the Good Beer Guide directed me here, as although it’s a little bit trite to say that a pub can help you escape normality, I’d say this one can pretty much achieve that in the nicest of ways.
