Goose Eye Brewery originally started brewing back in the village of Goose Eye, Keighley, back in 1991 and is a truly family affair built on three generations. Their aim? To produce fine traditional ales using traditional methods and the highest quality ingredients.
Currently located on the Castlefields Industrial Estate in Bingley, they opened their taproom on a mezzanine in the main brewery building in June 2019 with an extension to the seating area being added during lockdown part two in December 2020. In addition to the upstairs bar and seating area, there is a good size outdoor seating area to the rear of the brewery.
If you’re travelling from outside the immediate area, probably the best way to reach them is on the train – Crossflatts station is only a couple of hundred yards around the corner – with regular direct services from Leeds only taking 20 minutes and Bradford 17 minutes. A variety of bus services also stop at Crossflatts station and, should you be the designated driver (or you’re picking up some of their delicious beer in bag in box format), there is parking in the vicinity.
We received a very warm welcome on our visit, which was extended to our dog (they do ask that dogs are well behaved, for obvious reasons). One thing to note is that there is no wheelchair access with the taproom being up a couple of flights of stairs. However the team do say that if you give them a call they will do their best to facilitate your needs.
The abundance of wood creates a warm atmosphere (helped by a log burner) and there were plenty of people enjoying a drink on the Friday afternoon that we stopped by. On the bar you’ll find half a dozen delicious cask ales (core range and specials) and there are other options should delicious hand pulled beer not be your thing (apparently such people exist!). We got stuck into the Goose Eye Bitter, Golden Goose Pale Ale and Pommie’s Revenge ESB, all of which were excellent.
Whilst there’s no kitchen at the taproom, guest food trucks make an appearance at the brewery on the first weekend of the month (I need to keep an eye out to see when the Mexican Pilgrim makes a return visit), so make sure you keep tabs on their social feeds to see who’s there next.
All in all, it’s a great spot serving great beer – get yourself there!
