Huddersfield Part One – The Sportsman

Last weekend was one my boyfriend and I had been eagerly anticipating for a long time – Seshfest 2018 at Magic Rock Brewing in Huddersfield. To make the trip feel even more like a mini-holiday, we decided to head over on the Friday night as we’d heard about a Tap Takeover taking place at a pub called The Sportsman. Huddersfield is very easy to reach from Manchester – only 30 minutes away on the train. When we arrived we headed over to our hotel to check-in and leave our stuff and then went straight back out again to begin the weekend festivities at The Sportsman.

Drop by Electric Bear Brewing Company

The Tap Takeover at The Sportsman was a range of breweries from Bristol and Bath, many of which we had sampled before or had heard great things about. The first beer I had was an American style red ale from Electric Bear Brewing Company. I am a fan of a red ale but don’t tend to have them very often and at 4.3% this was a great sessionable option. Drop is a really lovely malty beer with caramel notes and a very subtle taste of orange.

 

Raw by Moor Beer Company

The next beer I had was the Raw English Bitter by Moor Beer Company. I decided I wanted stay on the session ales to keep in line with Seshfest the next day, which would only be serving beers 4.5% and below. Raw is also 4.3% and has a rich malt base and is full of flavour. I don’t tend to drink bitter, but this one is really enjoyable. Dry-hopped with a light fruit flavour, Raw is great for those who like clean, easy drinking bitters.

 

The Sportsman, Huddersfield

The Sportsman itself has a relaxed vibe and feels like a classic English pub with a slight modern edge. It’s very welcoming, from its friendly staff to its comfortable soft seats. The bar is the central point, with small rooms to the left and right with more spaces to sit and enjoy the excellent selection of ales. The food was fantastic too and excellent value for money. We both had a pie with mushy peas, chips and gravy – a steal at just £7.95. Considering the main focus of the menu is pies, there were also some good veggie and vegan options available. I am pescatarian, so eat fish but no other meat and I opted for the fish pie but I was really pleased that I was able to choose to have veggie gravy with it. I think it’s great that even pubs that are serving traditional style British food are embracing the need to offer good veggie and vegan alternatives.

Magic Rock taproom the night before Seshfest

We didn’t want to drink too much before Seshfest, so we decided to head back via the Magic Rock taproom. It was quite exciting to visit the brewery knowing that the next day it would be transformed for the festival, and also seeing the areas where each brewery would be the next day. The taproom had the same feeling you get the Thursday night before a music festival begins, there was an exciting atmosphere and the happy buzz of conversation in anticipation of the next day’s festivities. It seemed as though the taproom was mainly full of the brewers who would be serving at Seshfest and my boyfriend and I couldn’t help but look around at all the different t-shirts and hoodies embossed with the branding of breweries from the UK and around the world.

 

After sampling Magic Rocks’ Micromachine and Timequake session IPAs, we headed back to our hotel to get an early night before Seshfest 2018.

Thanks for reading! If you want to hear more about Seshfest 2018 itself, then please come back to the blog later this week where I’ll be posting a full account of the event and the beers on offer.