Huddersfield – Magic Rock Brewery Tap

This is the taproom of Magic Rock brewery, a company which was established in Huddersfield in 2011. It’s now something of a corporate affair, having been taken over by Lion Brewery, an Australian multinational. Magic Rock beer is also widely available in supermarkets and the like, as well as often being seen on restaurant menus. The taproom is listed in the Good Beer Guide, although I would have come here anyway given the good reputation that Magic Rock have.

There’s no shortage of seating here, this is part of the external area. There are food trucks which turn up every weekend, this week’s was a Dutch company.

The list of beers, although they’ve also got the complete menu on Untappd as well which made things easier.

The very nice interior of the taproom, which is very well reviewed on-line. I mentioned to the member of staff that I had booked a table just in case, but it was clear that I didn’t need to. It was a little busier outside, but the venue was surprisingly quiet. Everything was clean and comfortable, with an organised feel to the whole arrangement.

I must admit to being slightly disappointed at the entire lack of any dark beers, even as guests, with not even their Commons Grounds porter visible. I went for five different beers from Magic Rock, all served as thirds. The bar service was slightly clumsy given that the beers are all the same colour, I would have really preferred a better set-up than this, even if they had just written them down on a bit of paper. The barman told me the drinks, but he got the order muddled up, although I think I was able to correct it (that’s the handy thing about a Gose, it’s not hard to recognise). There was also a moderately surprisingly lack of engagement given that this is the brewery’s taproom, but the service remained friendly enough.

The keg beers were all very good though, my own personal favourite was the Clown Juice a white IPA, which is a mixture of an IPA and a Witbier. Anyway, I had a perfectly pleasant couple of hours here and I liked that they were serving as thirds. The location was clean and there was an on-trend feel to the whole arrangement, with the staff members always being helpful and polite. This also means that I’m verging on completing the main range of beers from Magic Rock which is handy. This is very much worth a visit though, it’s not far to walk from the centre of Huddersfield.