I can officially announce the Wars of the Roses are finally over. The evidence comes from the fact that Mitchell’s of Lancaster owns York Brewery. Centuries ago, that would have led to armed insurrection, bloodshed and the last of the Plantagenets offering his kingdom for a horse. Today, in less tribal times, it means that you can enjoy a pint of York Guzzler in pubs in Lancashire.
The only violence involved in the merging of Lancastrian and Yorkist interests came when brewery workers knocked down walls to expand their brewing operations and ended up in the kitchen of the Brigantes pub next door. The pub is unrelated to the brewery but Market Town Taverns, Brigantes’ owners, took York’s expansion in good grace, moved the kitchen and sells York’s beer on the bar.
The brewery dates from 1996. It was the first new brewery in the city for 40 years and is the only one within the city walls. They take such things
seriously in a city steeped in history: you’re either Inside the Walls or Outside the Walls.
The brewery at Toft Green has been a carpet showroom, a garage and a mortuary. If you think the latter calls for jokes about it being the best place for a stiff drink in York, the owners would agree with you.
Sizeable presence
As well as the brewery, there’s a visitor centre and a tap room where you can sample all the beers at remarkably reasonable prices: £2.56 for York Guzzler, with all brews on sale for less than £3. You can become a member for £3 and get a further 10% off beer.
Mitchell’s revival of its brewing interests came as a shock. The Lancaster brewery dates from 1871 and is still in the hands of descendants of the founding family, the Barkers. It built a sizeable presence in the north-west, with an estate of more than 50 pubs, but stopped brewing in 1999 and became a pub and hotel group.
It kept a toe in brewing by licensing Thwaites of Blackburn to brew its Lancaster Bomber brand. Andrew Barker, who took over Mitchell’s in 2004 with his brother Jonathan, told me they have a passion for cask ale and were keen to get back into brewing. The old Mitchell’s plant was not viable and they leapt at the opportunity to buy York.
Head brewer Nick Webster showed me round his 20-barrel plant in York. Most of the kit comes from another long-gone Lancashire brewery, Matthew Brown of Blackburn. The latest addition is a fifth fermenting vessel: it was fitting in this large piece of equipment that required Brigantes’ kitchen to be remodelled.
Webster and his team produce nine brews a week. They buy malts — including the Maris Otter pale — from Fawcett’s of Castleford in West Yorkshire. Hops are supplied by Charles Faram in Malvern, Worcestershire, and include such traditional English varieties as Challenger, Bramling Cross and Fuggles, with imported hops from the USA, Europe and New Zealand for special aromas and flavours.
The regular beers are York Guzzler (3.6% ABV), Yorkshire Terrier (4.2% ABV) and Centurion’s Ghost (5.4% ABV). They range in colour from gold, through amber to deep ruby, and offer full flavours of rich malt and bitter and fruity hops. There’s a programme of monthly specials and seasonal brews. Many — such as Constantine — stress the city’s links with its Roman and Viking past. A special beer is brewed for the Jorvik Centre’s festival in February that celebrates the city’s Viking roots.
Invigorating example
York Brewery owns five pubs of its own but now enjoys access to Mitchell’s 52 pubs on the other side of the Pennines. In total, the brewery delivers to 490 pubs through direct sales and distributors, and supplies the country’s ‘Big Three’ pubcos, Enterprise, M&B and Punch.
It’s an invigorating example of the success of the independent brewery sector and the growing demand for rich-tasting cask beers. You can enjoy the experience of brewing by taking one of the regular tours.
It’s a good place to while away an hour or two. It has a heavily beamed ceiling, tables fashioned from old wooden beer casks, a map of Roman York, pictures of Richard III and a small library of books about beer.
If, like me, you clamber down the stairs from the tap in search of the gents’ loos and open the wrong door, you could find yourself in Brigantes. No worries: you’ll be made welcome there, with another pint of York Guzzler and some excellent grub.
Peace has broken out in York and on both sides of the Pennines. You can wander into a Mitchell’s pub sporting a white rose and no-one will turn a hair.
Except when they’re playing Roses cricket matches, of course.