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You should know by now that the Reliance is one of the best eating and drinking establishments in Leeds, but unless you’ve called in recently, you may not be aware that it now offers a very drinkable house ale, Reli Best Bitter.
“Obviously bitter is very much a large part of what we do,” explains co-owner Joss Ainsworth. “Draught ale accounts for a big portion of our draught sales. And it fits in with everything we try and do - particularly on the food side of things - we try and source as much stuff as we can locally. Until recently we’d had Theakstons Black Bull, which we used to keep on as a constant, and the other pump we just used to circulate around all the little local microbreweries. But we decided that we wanted to have our own house beer; Black Bull was good, but we wanted something that was a bit more identifiable with us. So we kind of approached a few breweries to see if they’d be prepared to do something for us and tried a few things, and eventually decided on this one, which is from Acorn Brewery in Barnsley.”
Joss also tells us that all kinds of people have been giving Reli Best Bitter a try, reflecting the renaissance that beer in general is currently enjoying around the country. And you can see why it’s been going down well: it has a lightness and freshness about it that means you don’t have to be a real ale aficionado to enjoy it.
Joss adds: “It’s 3.8% so it’s a good session strength, it’s not loopy juice. It’s just a good Yorkshire style ale. It’s got that kind of nutty brown, malty character with a bit of fruitiness to it. It’s just a good pint. It’s great that there are so many different styles of ales coming out now, lots of pales and hops, but I think it was important for us to just go and find a good, honest, full-flavoured Yorkshire style ale.”
Reli Best Bitter is £2.60 a pint at The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, LS2 7PN, 0113 295 6060
Posted on Wednesday 17th February 2010
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