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News & Press

Here at Dark Horse Brewery, we are proud to say that we have won several awards and accreditations, and have even had our 15 minutes of fame on ITV! So here is just a small selection of the news we have made:

Keelham Farm Shop to open in Skipton next week (Craven Herald, June 2015)

KEELHAM Farm Shop is due to open in Skipton on Wednesday - and its owners are promising to keep it local. Read more ...


Grassington Festival showcases Craven's culinary delights (Craven Herald, June 2015)

GRASSINGTON Festival once again showcases some of our region’s very best culinary delights.

FOR the third year running, locally sourced and prepared food will take centre stage in Grassington Square, on the middle Sunday of the festival, June 21. Read more ...


Real ale fans choose their perfect Yorkshire beer

4:40pm Saturday 15th November 2008

A pale ale brewed in Hetton has been crowned Yorkshire’s Perfect Pint.

David Aynesworth, a real ale enthusiast and owner of The Craven Arms in Appletreewick, has been on a mission to find the county’s premium pint and chose 22 of the best to feature at the Craven Beer Festival at his pub. His pilgrimage was documented on an ITV Yorkshire series produced by Katy Metcalfe of Grassington-based Cheeky Monkey Films. And so he could do his research thoroughly and safely, Mr Aynesworth enlisted the help of his son, Robert, to drive his 1930s Bentley so he could sample potential entries.

The mission wasn’t without danger. The Bentley, affectionately called The Brigadier, developed gear box problems towards the end of filming and, while Mr Aynesworth was trying to fit a new part, he broke his collar bone. To cap it all, continuity was compromised when Robert’s sheepskin jacket was stolen before the last episode was filmed.

Mr Aynesworth’s research meant he met people with a shared passion for real ale and was able to select 22 beers for the festival. After much debate and sampling, festival-goers voted Hetton Pale Ale, brewed by Dark Horse Brewery, as their choice of Yorkshire’s Perfect Pint.

The brewery is run by Richard Eyton-Jones, who began honing his brewing skills at Goose Eye Brewery, near Keighley. He said: “I am really pleased that my ale was picked as it is a new ale and was probably only the third batch I’ve made..” Ironically Mr Eyton-Jones bought the micro-brewery, formerly known as Wharfedale Brewery, in January from Mr Aynesworth and Steve Blizzard, of Hartlington Hall, Burnsall. The pair had launched the original brewery in the spring of 2003.

Watch Richard in action by skipping to 4 minutes, 50 seconds!

 

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Craven Herald - Hetton's Dark Horse Brewery creates new ale for Grassington Festival

dark horse breweryFor the first time ever in its 33-year history, visitors to Grassington Festival will be able to drink a specially brewed Yorkshire beer.

Brewed at Hetton’s Dark Horse Brewery, FestivAle has been crafted specially for the festival to showcase the best qualities of a creamy Yorkshire Ale. The beer is four per cent ABV. The brewery was launched in June 2008 on the site of the Wharfedale Brewery by husband and wife team Richard and Carole Eyton-Jones.

Housed in an old laithe (or hay barn), the brewery can produce up to 12,000 pints a week and its flagship beer, Hetton Pale Ale, won the coveted title of Yorkshire’s Perfect Pint in the TV series of the same name.

Its FestivAle will be launched on Saturday, and will be available to try in pubs up and down the Dale, including those in Grassington, The Angel at Hetton, The Clarendon at Hebden and the Fountaine at Linton. Participating pubs are generously donating proceeds to the festival, which runs from Friday, June 14 to Saturday, June 29.

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The Tempest at Elslack wins "Pub of the Year" (2011) and we get a mention

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Yorkshire Post - Pub Of The Week: The Fountaine Inn, Linton

The Fountaine Inn is the kind of local you really do want on your doorstep. A village green complete with ducks, river running through it, tiny hump back bridge – Linton, just a heartbeat from the fleshpots of Grassington has the whole caboodle, including Vanbrugh’s stunning Fountaine Hospital and almshouses.

The historic pub is whitewashed, ancient and inviting. Inside, a warren of attractive rooms includes the rather chic snug with comfortable, high-backed banquettes, beams and open fire. Hetton Pale Ale, Theakstons, Thwaites Original and John Smiths are on tap and a crowd-pleasing, hearty menu might feature salmon and dill potato cakes, roast bacon joint with honey, thyme and chilli glaze and local game casserole with dumplings.

A value-for-money two-dishes-for-a-tenner deal is in place pretty much all the time. Beef braised in Fountaine Pale Ale (a bespoke beer brewed in Hebden Bridge) is a rib-sticker and a must in winter months. There are 17 wines by the glass starting at £2.65 and an espresso machine dispatches heart-stopping coffee.

Managers Chris and Natalie Gregson run a tight and happy ship and are keen to forge connections with the community; to this end they run an allotment with the local school, growing herbs for the pub.

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Yorkshire Evening Post Pub Review: The Bull, Broughton, Near Skipton

It is quite a long review, so the full article can be read here, however the bit where Dark Horse gets a mention is below:

"... But let’s start at the bar where four real ale handpumps dominate the counter. Though the company has obvious red rose credentials, the choice of beers is appropriately dominated by Yorkshire, with Copper Dragon’s Golden Pippin and Hetton Pale Ale from the Dark Horse brewery among the regulars on the bar. Being very familiar with the former, I opt for the less well known latter – a very pale, dry, refreshing beer, with just a gentle suggestion of the spicy characteristics of a wheat beer." <<Read more>>

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