Is Leeds the ale capital of the UK? York, Sheffield, Norwich, Derby and Nottingham all lay claim across their branch area but what about specifically the city centre?

 

A big thank you to all 40 people who helped

us find out, it couldn’t have been done without you.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed it and perhaps

went to places not visited before. It was a

busy evening so if it was your first CAMRA

event it would be great to see you again,

and in circumstances where it’ll be easier

to have a proper chat.

 

The aim of the census is to capture information

and better understand how the drinking

scene in Leeds is changing over time. This is the

second event and is repeated every 2 years.

 

Hear about it on Radio Leeds. Richard (Press and Publicity Officer) talks to Gayle Lofthouse (5th Aug, 49:00 to 53:30).

 

The survey was a great success with 86 pubs/clubs/bars checked within 1 square mile that have been reported as serving cask ale (2 years ago this number was 69).

 

Selling cask ale on the day: 80 (66 in 2014)

Total number of ales: 372 (300)

Different ales: 211 (189)

Breweries: 118 (91)

Yorkshire breweries: 49 (40)

Pubs selling 6+ ales: 29 (25)

Most ales available: Duck and Drake 15, Tapped 12, Whitelocks 11, Hop 10

Most frequent ales: Leeds Pale 22, Sharp’s Doom Bar 9, Ilkley Mary Jane 8, Greene King IPA 8

Exotic ales: Foley’s Tap House and Whitelocks both had cask ales from Spanish breweries

 

Thanks: Leeds Brewery Tap who once again provided the ‘command centre’ upstairs and especially to Keith (Treasurer) for organising and coordinating the event.

How does 211 different cask ales compare? We'd say very impressively.

 

Bear in mind the results below refer to the whole city not just 1 square mile of the city centre!

 

Different ales:

Derby 213

Norwich 254

York 281

Nottingham 334

Sheffield 385

 

But as always, it’s the quality that counts not the quantity and no census can tell you this…you need the Good Beer Guide for that!