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02-02-2013, 08:23
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Just a random look at beers from a random brewery this time. The random brewery in question being the Kirkstall Brewery in Leeds.

Not totally random, as it is yet another brewery whose beers I've drunk. In its final days when it was owned by Whitbread. There's a story behind that. When I arrived in Leeds in 1975, Whitbread had discontinued cask beer from all its Northern breweries except Castle Eden. So I basically completely ignored their pubs. Not that there were a huge number in Leeds, strangely enough. Around 1980, they re-introduced cask beer in the form of BYB Bitter. Then I started paying attention to their pubs. Frustratingly, the brewery closed a few years later, in January 1983.

It was a mystery to me why Whitbread kept open the Kirkstall Brewery and closed the Bentley's Brewery in Woodlesford on the other side of Leeds. The Woodlesford brewery was right next to the railway line and with much more room around it than the cramped Kirkstall site. I guess it must have been less modern. Ironically the cask beer Whitbread brewed in Kirkstall bore the Bentley's name (BYB = Bentley's Yorkshire Breweries).

When they got back into cask, Kirkstall put out a few other experimental brews. I can remember drinking cask Dark Mild in one of their Leeds pubs with Henry and Sandra (not sure why I mention this, as you have no idea who these people are) in 1982.

There's another reason why this isn't a random brewery. You can see it in the table below: an AK. Kirkstall is the furthest north I've found one being brewed. Now isn't that fascinating?




Kirkstall Brewery beers in 1885


Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
boil time (hours)
boil time (hours)
Pitch temp
max. fermentation temp
length of fermentation (days)


7th Sep
1885
X
Mild
1052.6
1013.3
5.20
74.74%
6.50
1.40
2.5
2.5
57.75º
68.5º
5


8th Sep
1885
XXX
Mild
1066.2



8.00
2.22
2.75
3
57.5º
º



8th Sep
1885
L
Mild
1049.6



5.03
1.07
2.5
2.5
58º
º



10th Sep
1885
PA
Pale Ale
1060.9



9.87
3.31
2
2
58º
º



10th Sep
1885
AK
Pale Ale
1049.9



12.42
2.01
3.25
2.5
58º
º



11th Sep
1885
BA
Pale Ale
1055.4



10.00
2.33
2
2
58º
º



15th Sep
1885
KKK
Stock Ale
1069.3



10.00
2.97
2.5

58º
º



15th Sep
1885
L
Mild
1049.3



5.67
1.20
2.25
4.25
58.5º
º



16th Sep
1885
IS
Stout
1071.7



10.35
3.71


58º
º



Source:


Kirkstall Brewery brewing records.



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FOmILDA4wcg/UQpWSY1uSHI/AAAAAAAAQQk/dzRdCWmtDWU/s320/Kirkstall_Brewery_beers_1885.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FOmILDA4wcg/UQpWSY1uSHI/AAAAAAAAQQk/dzRdCWmtDWU/s1600/Kirkstall_Brewery_beers_1885.jpg)

Other than that, there's nothing very special about their beers. Just the usual combination of Mild Ale, Pale Ale, Strong Ale and Stout.




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