Sitting in Amity Brew Co’s renovated Mill Shed taproom on a warm Friday afternoon in late March is a very pleasant use of one’s time, let me assure you.
Founded in 2019, they opened their brew house and taproom in December 2020, right between lockdowns, inside Sunnybank Mills in the village of Farsley, previously famous for the filming location for Great British Sewing Bee and Emmerdale and the location of a post-war Aston Martin Factory!
The taproom is tastefully decorated in sympathy with the historic mill and they welcome children until dark and dogs at all times (good choice for my money). Each weekend they clear the on-site brewing area for seating so you can sit amongst the tanks, or on the outdoor seating terrace.
A recent crowdfunding request to finance a barrel ageing warehouse and large scale improvement to the outside seating area (decking, roof and heaters) met its target in a matter of days, eventually more than doubling it. Those who supported are dubbed FAmity and received 125% of their investment behind the bar (and continue to get 10% off in the brewery for life!). Clearly the people of Farsley are here to support its first and (so far) only brewery, further evidenced by the steady traffic of locals known by name to the bar staff.
Amity also runs a now yearly BrewFest beer festival each July (2023’s edition will be 30th June – 2nd July), which features many craft brewers, both local and from further afield, such as Tartarus, Vocation and Vault City. Other events seem to include a monthly quiz, an Open Desks vinyl session on a Sunday and recently a co-event with Leeds Arcade Club for the Superbowl with classic 90s arcade cabs. Naturally they also offer brewery tours and tastings each month for the new or the curious, which alas I’d missed by one day for March!
On today’s visit there are eight keg lines featuring mainstays like Festoon (4.6% Helles) and Waterpistol (6.0% American juicy pale) and one cask line; currently Bessy (4.5% Milk Stout).
We sensibly opted for Sensible, a 4% marshmallow stout collab with a local vegan marshmallow producer which was genuinely fantastic. Whilst Festoon was bready and crisp, Sensible will give you diabetes, it’s so sweet and decadent!
The brewery appeared to do a reasonable amount of trade on cans and click and collect from the local area, which I have no doubt helped no end during those early lockdown days! We picked up a couple of cans of Festoon Light (3.8% American Light Beer) to go and will report back later on those.
Amity’s taproom is very much worth a trip out this way of West Leeds, and, for those who enjoy their brewing heritage, it is coincidentally located almost opposite The Fleece in Farsley, which was the first pub Joshua Tetley purchased outside the brewery in Leeds (complete with plaque to commemorate the fact).
