Kirkstall Brewery makes beer history this month

Kirkstall Brewery is reopening Leeds’ iconic Tetley building from 26 April, bringing the landmark back into Yorkshire beer culture.

The move to revive The Tetley, which db outlined back in March, follows Kirkstall assisting North Brew Co in escaping administrators as well as fend of a potential takeover offer from private equity firm Keystone, formerly known as Breal Group which has already absorbed Yorkshire’s Black Sheep Brewery, London’s Brew By Numbers and Brick Brewery as well as Birmingham’s Purity.

As part of the reopening, the bar will be serving not only Kirkstall’s own beers, but also those from other local modern and traditional craft and cask brewers, including Tetley.

Northern brews

Speaking about the opening, Kirkstall Brewery owner and founder Steve Holt, said: “We’re thrilled to have not only Kirkstall, Leeds Brewery and North beers available but also beers from other Leeds based breweries including Northern Monk and Anthology and of course, Tetley’s Bitter.”

Simon Schofield, head of development north at Vastint UK, the developer behind Aire Park and owners of The Tetley building, admitted: “We hope this partnership with Kirkstall Brewery gives the people of Leeds a small taster of what’s to come in the very near future.”

Holt added: “It was always our ambition with this project to create a venue that offered fantastic food and celebrated the best of local brewing.”

Bar and restaurant

The Tetley will be open from 10am with the new bar and restaurant menu featuring quality classic pub food daily, as well as traditional roast dinners every Sunday.

The building was built in the Art Deco style in 1931, and by the 1980s Tetley’s Brewery had became the world’s biggest cask ale producer, making the site an icon of Leeds beer history, even after its closure in 2011.

From 2013 until 2023 the building, which is located within the Leeds’ district Aire Park, operated as an art gallery.