Naylor's Brewery Bar & Emporium

Some of you may remember that at the end of my piece about Saltaire Brewery, published at the end of September, I mentioned that after leaving Saltaire, the family and I called in at another brewery, on our way to Skipton.

We never actually made it to Skipton, for reasons I won’t bother explaining now, but we did make a very brief visit to Naylor’s Brewery and Beer Emporium, at Cross Hills, near Keighley.

The brewery is housed in an industrial unit, a short distance from the village of Cross Hills. Adjacent to the brewery is the company’s Brewery Bar & Emporium, and whilst this was closed at the time of our visit, the adjoining brewery office was open, and the very nice young lady in charge sold me a few of bottles of beer, and also allowed me to take a few photos of the bar.

The brewery began life in 2001 at the Old White Bear public house in Cross Hills. It was started by the pub’s owners, brothers’ Stephen and Robert Naylor, initially to brew beer for the Old White Bear. The brothers soon realised that their future lay in brewing, so in 2006 they made the decision to follow their passion and concentrate soley on producing quality, hand-crafted beers.

Naylor’s beers are brewed from British barley, supplemented by small amounts of wheat and rye and bittered using several varieties of hops, sourced from around the world. The brewing water used is pure and soft, and drawn straight from the Yorkshire Dales, with a traditional top-fermenting ale yeast used to produce the finished product.

The company brew a wide range of both cask and bottles beers, details of which can be found on their website. One thing which does puzzle me though, is the “rider” on the website which states that the Brewery Bar is now under “old management”, with the Naylor’s back in charge. I’m not sure what might have gone on there, so I won’t speculate further, but the bar did seem a nice little place to enjoy a few of the company’s beers, along with a bite to eat.

As I hinted at in the Saltaire article, we weren’t primarily in the region for a beer hunt, but after Google notified us of the proximity of Naylor’s, it seemed rude not to stop by and take a look. Ryedale Brewing and Beer Monkey were also quite nearby, but as we had a family meal planned, with Mrs PBT’s cousin and her family for later in the evening, we decided that two breweries were enough for one day.

Now, nearly two months after our visit, I have finally got round to drinking two of the three Naylor’s beers I brought back with me. Here’s what I thought.

Naylor’s Brewery Brewer’s Choice – Yorkshire Ale 4.0%. Described as a "Right, proper, traditional Yorkshire Bitter. Copper in colour, bitter to begin with, but mellows once you get to know it. Best drunk wearing a flat cap, (whippet optional)".

There is little I would disagree with in that description. Basically this is a very decent drop of beer, with a pleasant and refreshing bitterness, balanced by just the right amount of malt.

Naylor’s Brewery IPA 4.5. There is a nice plain-looking label, with some attractive-looking Celtic artwork on the bottle, and this sets the tone for what is a very good and very drinkable IPA.

The label states, “Our IPA is strong enough to last the journey and bold enough to stand out. Good bitterness and a pronounced aroma are supplied by the generous amount of hops”. It also informs the drinker that as well as wheat malt, the beer contains lactose, dark chocolate and natural chocolate flavouring.

I didn’t pick up the last three ingredients in the taste, but what did find is a very satisfying and thirst quenching beer, with lots of juicy malt, complemented by a real fruity background.

The beer is very pale in colour, and pours with a nice fluffy head. I would like to have sampled this beer in cask form, but as mentioned earlier, the brewery tap was closed at the time of our visit.

I still have a bottle of the 5.9% Old Ale, kicking around somewhere, but that can be a treat for another day.