The first Harrogate Beer Week gets under way on Monday, with talks, tastings, tours, and more across various venues in the town.
There will be activities in 16 spaces altogether, with some of the UK’s leading names in beer headlining. Here’s a taste of some of the events.
What’s on?
Monday, 20th September, 6pm, Cold Bath Clubhouse
A gathering of local beer people takinga look at what’s in store for the inaugural Harrogate Beer Week and officially thanking sponsors and partners.
There will be words from special guest Jules Gray, who founded Sheffield Beer Week in 2015. Jules also spearheaded Indie Beer Feast — Sheffield’s craft beer festival — and Indie Beer Shop Day. She’s the owner of Hop Hideout Speciality Beer Shop and she’s an unstoppable all-round beer pioneer and ambassador for women in beer. Jules will talk about her experience of setting up and establishing Sheffield Beer Week, the impact it has had on local beer business and her local community, as well as the wider benefits it has brought to Sheffield.
A very limited number of public tickets are up for grabs for £15 (includes a welcome beer on arrival).
Tuesday, 21st September, 7pm, Cold Bath Clubhouse
The inimitable Melissa Cole will host an entertaining and enlightening conversation with some of our local brewers and business owners, including Turning Point, Roosters, Daleside, Harrogate Brewing Co, and Cold Bath Brewing Co. They will chat about the local beer scene and the beers they brew, and share some of their personal highs and lows from their time spent working in beer.
An award-winning writer, Melissa is widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s leading beer and food experts. She is renowned for her insightful and engaging writing style, sense of humour, and ability to translate complicated beer jargon into something everyone can understand. From judging beer competitions from Amsterdam to Rio and Denver to Dublin, to brewing with some of the world’s most respected breweries, like Fuller’s, Odell, and Goose Island, she is also sought after by restaurants like the world-famous St John to help construct beer lists. She writes regularly for all the main food and drink titles, as well as being a well-known face on the food festival circuit and regularly quoted in the national press.
Tickets £15.
Wednesday, 22nd September, 7pm, Roosters Taproom
Join award-winning writer and photographer Matthew Curtis as he takes his new book, Modern British Beer, on the road. The evening will involve a tasting of beers from Rooster’s Brewery plus a talk from Matthew about his philosophy of what makes a British brewery ‘modern’, plus he’ll be reading a few passages from the book itself.
At the end of the tasting, Matthew will hold a Q&A session, before being available to sign copies of his book, which can be purchased directly from him on the night. Matthew is an award-winning writer and photographer based in Manchester. He’s the author of Modern British Beer and An Opinionated Guide to London Pubs, as well as being the co-founder of Pellicle Magazine, established in 2019 with his friend and brewer Jonathan Hamilton. He is as deeply enamoured with a fresh West Coast IPA as he is with a good pint of bitter.
Tickets £15
Thursday, 23rd September, 7pm, Cold Bath Clubhouse
Pete Brown brings his book Craft: An Argument to life as he digs into a decades-long argument and, in doing so, creates a fascinating, complex, and hugely satisfying answer. The craft beer boom is the biggest thing to hit brewing and drinking for more than a generation. What started off as a small band of idealistic hobby brewers is now a multi-billion-dollar global industry, but even its most passionate fans can’t actually agree what ‘craft beer’ is, with some arguing that it’s simply marketing hype, and others claiming it doesn’t exist at all.
Pete Brown is a British author, broadcaster, and consultant, specialising in food and drink, especially the fun parts like beer, pubs, cider, bacon rolls, and fish and chips. Across 12 books, his broad, fresh approach takes in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery, and natural history, and his words are always delivered with the warmth and wit you’d expect from a great night down the pub. He writes for newspapers and magazines around the world and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme. He was named British beer writer of the year in 2009, 2012, and 2016, has won three Fortnum & Mason food and drink awards, been shortlisted twice for the Andre Simon Awards, and in 2020 was named an Industry Legend at the Imbibe Hospitality Awards.
Tickets £12
Saturday, 25th September, 3pm, Cold Bath Clubhouse
Yorkshire-based cask ale expert and beer sommelier Annabel Smith has worked in the beer industry for almost 30 years as a licensee, educator, beer inspector, public speaker, and author. She will lead a guided tasting of beers from all five local breweries, alongside insightful anecdotes on the history of beer in Harrogate.
Tickets £23 (includes beer)
• The full programme and all tickets are available at harrogatebeerweek.co.uk/
