York brewery opens new bar – with 18 beers on tap

A York brewery has opened its own tap room.

The Hop Studio brewery, in Elvington, has created the bar by converting an empty shop building in Pocklington.

It says The Market Tap will boast the town’s biggest beer range and creating ten new jobs.

The bar will have 18 beers on the bar at a time, as well as a large selection of bottled beers and ciders, a broad wine range and bar food.

Nine of the beers on the bar will be Hop Studio’s, and the other nine lines will be used to showcase beers from other leading Yorkshire breweries.

‘No other bars like it’

The new bar opened on Friday. Dave Shaw, owner of Hop Studio, said: “We have been looking for some time for the right property, so we could open a brewery tap. We looked at a few of the villages around York and other towns, but when we found this pace we knew it was ideal for us.

“Pocklington is a great town and it has new shops, and lots of new housing going up, but there are no other bars like this here and I think there are a lot of people whose beer tastes are not yet being met in the town.”

He said the tap room made business sense.

“Accessing the market can be difficult for smaller breweries. The big brewers can be more aggressive on price and big pub companies do not give us a lot of access.

“More and more breweries are opening their own tap rooms, and it is a good way for us to have a direct route to the market.”

The bar team will be led by Frenchman Julian Huyart, while the kitchen team will be led by Theresa Kaui, from Hawaii.

British and Belgian beers

Dave founded The Hop Studio in 2012, having previously been a local government IT worker for 20 years. The brewery has produced traditional British-style beers, including pale ales, best bitters and porters, but has also produced Belgian-style saisons, dubbels and quadrupels, as well as innovative beers such as white chocolate stouts.

He said: “We’re thrilled with how well the brewery has done in its first six years, and we know a lot of people across the region have enjoyed our beers.

“We make beers full of flavour, aroma and charisma, with something to suit ever beer taste.”

Those beers also reached the UK’s international tourist market in 2015, when its porter was chosen as one of only two beers to be sold in the House of Commons shop, under the name Treason.