Daleside Brewery

Daleside Brewery

Founded	1988;37 years ago (1988)
Founder	Bill Witty
Headquarters	Harrogate, Yorkshire , England
Key people	Craig Witty (Head Brewer) Eric Lucas (Managing Director)
Owner	Independent (1988–2024) Rooster's Brewing Co (2024–present)
Website	www.dalesidebrewery.com

Daleside Brewery is an independent brewery founded in 1988 by Bill Witty. Its headquarters are located in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.

In March 2024, it was reported that the company had been acquired by Rooster's Brewery. ^[1]

History

Three years after his father founded the company, Craig Witty became head brewer in 1991. When Billy died in 2007, his son took over running Daleside Brewery and continues to be a driving force behind the popular English microbrewery. ^[2]

Established in Harrogate, the firm moved to Starbeck in 1992 and went through periods of enlargement up until 1999. ^[3] It has won numerous awards for its ales, including its Morocco Ale.

Morocco Ale

The 17th-century recipe for this ale, which had been brewed especially for Charles II of England and named after his wife, Catherine of Braganza, who was described as being Moorish , ^[4] was rediscovered in the early 1990s after being lost and was given to Daleside under special licence. ^{[4] [5]} Morocco Ale is specially brewed for Levens Hall in Cumbria, who are the owners of the secret recipe.

Products

Daleside produce a wide range of beers including;

• Morocco Ale, a traditional spiced beer based on an Elizabethan recipe
• Old Legover, a low abv Old Ale ^[6]
• Monkey Wrench, a stronger Old Ale (CAMRA award-winning) which was brewed especially for a beer festival in Hartlepool (so named after the colloquial nickname for people from Hartlepool who are known as Monkey hangers) ^{[2] [7]}
• Ripon Jewel, a strong pale ale, commissioned by Ripon Cathedral in honour of a gemstone associated with the founding of the cathedral. ^[2] Brewed since 1999; a percentage of the profits go to the cathedral's maintenance fund. ^[8]
• Chocolate Stout, a stout where the barley is heavily roasted and Nestlé chocolate is added ^[2]
• Duff, a 5% abv dark ale ('Duff' sounds like 'dubh' Gaelic for "Dark")
• Crack Shot Ale, named in honour of Jane Ingilby who supposedly dressed as a man and fought at the Battle of Marston Moor, ^[2] later standing guard over Oliver Cromwell when he hid in Ripley Castle overnight after the battle ^[9]
• EU in, a golden fruity ale
• EU out, a light hoppy ale (both of these were brewed in spring 2016 during the EU Referendum campaign in the United Kingdom) ^[10]
• Greengrass, named after the curmudgeonly character Claude Jeremiah Greengrass from the TV show Heartbeat ^[2]

Sponsorship

Daleside Brewery sponsor the annual Auld Lang Syne 6-mile (9.7 km) fell race in Haworth every New Year's Eve. ^[11]

References

1. "Harrogate brewery completes acquisition of local beer maker". Foodmanufacture.co.uk. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
2. "Going Down in History". Yorkshire Evening Post . 12 June 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
3. "About Us". Daleside Brewery. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
4. "Beer fans worldwide get on the road to Morocco". The Yorkshire Post . 25 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
5. "Morocco Ale". Levenshall.co.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
6. Halley, Ned (2005). The Wordsworth dictionary of drink; an A-Z of alcoholic beverages. Ware: Wordsworth. p. 178. ISBN   1-84022-302-2.
7. Barnard, Ashley (7 September 2016). "North Yorkshire brewery picks up CAMRA award for its popular beer". The Northern Echo . Retrieved 19 October 2016.
8. "For good effect, add a healthy dose of spirit". Churchtimes.co.uk. 2 November 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
9. "Elizabeth is a crackshot with her recipes from the past". The Yorkshire Post . 12 November 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
10. Chalmers, Graham (5 May 2016). "Yorkshire brewery launches new beers 'for' and 'against' the EU". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
11. "Runners brave wind and rain in fell race". The Yorkshire Post . 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

External links

• Official website
• RateBeer

53°59′59.4″N1°30′04.2″W / 53.999833°N 1.501167°W / 53.999833; -1.501167