![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Leeds Tap Takeovers
Apr. 25th, 2019 10:47 pmWe arrived home after our trip from Bologna shortly before 4pm on Monday with the weather gloriously hot and sunny. Aware that we had missed a huge number of tap takeovers in Leeds over the weekend, set up to coincide with the Hop City event we had attended on the previous Thursday, we had vowed to head into the city that evening to try and sample some of the leftovers. As it turned out, our friend Oracle also wanted to meet up with us, so we decided we might as well combine the two and meet in Leeds shortly after 5:30pm. This gave us little time to get unpacked before heading straight out again but despite the rush, the evening proved to be worth it.
Our primary destination was the Assembly Rooms where the Vocation Brewery had hosted an Omnipollo tap takeover. We had thought that there would be few of these beers left, so we were surprised to discover that there were 12 still on tap. We decided to start with the lower strengths first and build our way up, partly because that's how you do it anyway to avoid an overpowering of flavour but also partly because Wolfie had a job interview the next day and we had to go steady. Alas going steady is not something we are particularly good at, and we were on our third thirds before Oracle had arrived. The beer quality was exceptional though and as we were the only people in the whole venue aside from one other couple, the bar staff had plenty of time to give us their recommendations. The higher strength 11-12% beers were quite expensive at £8 a third, but they did let us take advantage of an offer of buying any four Omnipollo thirds for £25, which saved us £7 overall. They also told us just how busy the bar had been during Hop City, which gave wonderful insight.
In the end, we tried seven of the 12 beers, while I eschewed by usual burger from the gloriously named Slap and Pickle, opting instead for a wrap from Falafel Guys. They have had a mobile concession on Briggate for a while, but I had never been, which was a huge error as the food was gorgeous. I had the falafal and halloumi wrap, where I was also permitted to try the three types of hummus they had - regular, a black smoked one and a luminous pink beetroot infused variety. All three were exquiste and combined well with the hot battered falafel and salty halloumi. I also got some fried halloumi fries with my meal, over which was dribbled a rather bitter pomegranate sauce which I am likely not to get again. Still, as the place was dead, the guy serving was great company, offering me some cucumber dipped in hummus, which I declined due to my hatred of cucumber. He then offered me a pink pickle, which I did accept.
Our next stop was Brewdog North Street as we wanted to sample some of the dark beers they had on over the weekend. In addition to this, we wanted to play Shuffleboard as you get an additional small stamp in your Beer Visa when you do so. The place was quite dead aside from a loud party of four playing shuffle on one of the other tables, and soon I was getting my eye in on things. Oracle had never played before so started a little ropey before really blooming into it, while I was on really good form, hitting a number of impressive spinned shots that completely surprised me. It was Oracle and I versus Wolfie and the duo won both games, although the margin of victory was quite narrow and the tension high. While we were playing, we also got to sample two dark beers including one milk stout brewed out of some guy's shed in Huddersfield, which was nice.
I would have stayed longer, but Oracle needed to get his train, so we walked him back to the station. After this, we had a decision to make - get the next number 4 or stay for one more drink. Deciding on the latter, we headed to the little Leeds Brewdog to sample some of the sour beers they had on over the weekend, again getting two as our next bus was cancelled, resulting in us staying out a lot later than we had intended. The second beer was again from Huddersfield shed brew man, while we also picked up a bottle of AB27, which has just been released. All in all then, it was a really good way to end the bank holiday weekend and it was fantastic to get to sample some of the beers we had missed out on due to us being in Italy. Furthermore, it was great seeing Oracle again and although we got back a little tipsy, we certainly weren't too bad, even having over an hour to sober up at home before our usual bedtime. This made Tuesday an agreeable day.
Our primary destination was the Assembly Rooms where the Vocation Brewery had hosted an Omnipollo tap takeover. We had thought that there would be few of these beers left, so we were surprised to discover that there were 12 still on tap. We decided to start with the lower strengths first and build our way up, partly because that's how you do it anyway to avoid an overpowering of flavour but also partly because Wolfie had a job interview the next day and we had to go steady. Alas going steady is not something we are particularly good at, and we were on our third thirds before Oracle had arrived. The beer quality was exceptional though and as we were the only people in the whole venue aside from one other couple, the bar staff had plenty of time to give us their recommendations. The higher strength 11-12% beers were quite expensive at £8 a third, but they did let us take advantage of an offer of buying any four Omnipollo thirds for £25, which saved us £7 overall. They also told us just how busy the bar had been during Hop City, which gave wonderful insight.
In the end, we tried seven of the 12 beers, while I eschewed by usual burger from the gloriously named Slap and Pickle, opting instead for a wrap from Falafel Guys. They have had a mobile concession on Briggate for a while, but I had never been, which was a huge error as the food was gorgeous. I had the falafal and halloumi wrap, where I was also permitted to try the three types of hummus they had - regular, a black smoked one and a luminous pink beetroot infused variety. All three were exquiste and combined well with the hot battered falafel and salty halloumi. I also got some fried halloumi fries with my meal, over which was dribbled a rather bitter pomegranate sauce which I am likely not to get again. Still, as the place was dead, the guy serving was great company, offering me some cucumber dipped in hummus, which I declined due to my hatred of cucumber. He then offered me a pink pickle, which I did accept.
Our next stop was Brewdog North Street as we wanted to sample some of the dark beers they had on over the weekend. In addition to this, we wanted to play Shuffleboard as you get an additional small stamp in your Beer Visa when you do so. The place was quite dead aside from a loud party of four playing shuffle on one of the other tables, and soon I was getting my eye in on things. Oracle had never played before so started a little ropey before really blooming into it, while I was on really good form, hitting a number of impressive spinned shots that completely surprised me. It was Oracle and I versus Wolfie and the duo won both games, although the margin of victory was quite narrow and the tension high. While we were playing, we also got to sample two dark beers including one milk stout brewed out of some guy's shed in Huddersfield, which was nice.
I would have stayed longer, but Oracle needed to get his train, so we walked him back to the station. After this, we had a decision to make - get the next number 4 or stay for one more drink. Deciding on the latter, we headed to the little Leeds Brewdog to sample some of the sour beers they had on over the weekend, again getting two as our next bus was cancelled, resulting in us staying out a lot later than we had intended. The second beer was again from Huddersfield shed brew man, while we also picked up a bottle of AB27, which has just been released. All in all then, it was a really good way to end the bank holiday weekend and it was fantastic to get to sample some of the beers we had missed out on due to us being in Italy. Furthermore, it was great seeing Oracle again and although we got back a little tipsy, we certainly weren't too bad, even having over an hour to sober up at home before our usual bedtime. This made Tuesday an agreeable day.
