A Friday Night With Benefits....

The start of the early May bank holiday weekend saw me heading up the Calder Valley for a gig at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club, but before that I drank some wonderful beer at The Crafty Fox in Brighouse, and then had a chat with the new owner of the area's original micropub....

Last Friday I had a ticket to see Teesside noisemakers Benefits at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, a gig I had been looking forward to for some time. I decided to get the train from Brighouse, which gave me the opportunity to call in first at The Crafty Fox for a pint or two. This is a regular haunt for me when I am in the town and I usually bump into a few friends when I am there. The bar, which opened in autumn 2019 a month or two before lockdown, has got steadily busier over the past couple of years with customers drawn by amongst other things some excellent beer on both hand pump and tap, regular live music, and the all-round friendly vibe created by owner Baz, his wife Michelle, daughter Georgia, son Luke, and the rest of the team behind the bar.

Baz is a massive fan of craft beers, in particularly dark, strong ones, which often feature on the taps, but for those of us who enjoy the likes of NEIPAs and DIPAs, he has looked after us very well indeed, with North Wales wonder brewers Pollys frequently available, amongst the likes of Deya, Kirkstall, Verdant, Neon Raptor, Vocation, and Full Circle, to name just a few. I think its fair to say it took him longer to get into the cask side of things, but over the time the choice and quality has just got better, with beers from the likes of Salopian, Neepsend, Kirkstall, Wensleydale, Church End, and Wilde Child on the wickets.

Recently, beers on both cask and keg have been available from murkmeisters Two by Two, about whom I have been raving since first coming across their beers on one of my trips to the North East. And it seems that it isn't just me that thinks their beers are outstanding. An initial barrel on cask was eagerly and rapidly consumed by the regulars in the Crafty Fox. A second barrel of a different beer went the same way, as did a third. And then Baz announced he could go direct to the brewery rather than using a wholesaler as long as he bought a pallet at a time. Which he has. 

And so back to Friday evening. There was a Two by Two beer on one of the hand pumps on the bar. Like so many of their beers, it was named after the combination of hops used (in this case Rakau, Idaho, Ekuanot). Like most of their beers it was an unfined, opaque murk, the colour of orange juice. Like most of their beers it was wonderful; plenty of juicy fruit with citrus and earthy notes and a hint of pine. With an ABV of 5%, it was no lightweight but was deliciously easy to drink (NBSS 4.5). I managed to enjoy another couple before I headed off to get my train to Hebden Bridge.  A guy stood next to me at the bar who I have known for years said I wouldn't have drunk a beer looking it a few years ago, and he wasn't wrong. But, things have changed, unfined beer has become a common feature over the past few years. All I can say is - if you get the chance to try a beer from Two by Two, don't let the appearance put you off. There will be more of you that will be glad you tried it than those that won't....

A star on the bar

The train was on time, and after enjoying the wonderful beer in the Crafty Fox, I arrived in Hebden to a beautiful spring evening with pleasant sunshine and without the underlying chilly breeze we'd been experiencing for most of the past week or two. The trees beside the river and the canal towards the main road were in the fresh and eager green foliage that makes this time of year so delightful, with the birds singing along cheerfully in the background.

Welcome to Hebden Bridge

I walked down the main road and arrived at Vocation & Co, where all the outdoor tables were taken as the early evening crowd were trying to catch the sun's remaining warmth as they enjoyed their first drinks of the still nascent weekend. It wasn't too busy inside, so I was able to get served quite quickly. Whilst cask is sold here, it is generally only from the Vocation Brewery itself, which I have drunk many times over the years, so I generally go for the guests that are available on keg. I ordered a half of a pale from Newbarns Brewery of Edinburgh, which was very good, but I am afraid I can't advise any more details. I can tell you that I then had a half of Vocation's very own Crush Hour, their 4.6% easy drinking juicy pale which just hit the spot.

I finished my drink and walked on into the town. I'd heard that the erstwhile owners of The Pub, formerly Calan's, had sold it, and a new owner had taken over, and so of course yours truly had to investigate. There was a brightly illustrated chalk board A-frame outside the alley where it's located, with highly seductive aromas from the next-door restaurant wafting in the evening air. I walked in to the pub, which was quiet, a girl with dark hair smiling pleasantly from behind the bar, which I had originally visited when it first opened around 8 years ago as the first micropub in Calderdale. Over the years I became friends with Alan and Alyson who were the original owners and then Nadine and Damian who succeeded them and now run the Lake House in the lovely Yorkshire Dales village of Clapham. Partly due to the lockdowns I'd never really built up any affinity with the 3rd incarnation of the place as The Pub, which had been acquired by the guys who run the place with the same name a few miles away in Todmorden. Apparently the acquisition of a former restaurant in Todmorden led to their decision to divest themselves of the Hebden Bridge bar, and so Paige, the 23 year old behind the bar tonight who'd worked here has stepped in and taken the place on.

Paige at The Hebden

And I have to say the welcome I got was warm and friendly, and I enjoyed my pint of the 4% Anaconda Pale from the resurrected Salamander Brewery from Bradford. (NBSS 3). The other 5 handpumps featured on this occasion a choice of beers from Craven, Bosuns, and Wilde Child. Paige told me the name of the place is changing to The Hebden, although the sign outside doesn't reflect this yet, but her self-confessed love of chalk marker pens means there is plenty more signage to guide customers. As we chatted, more people came in, but with my gig at the Trades Club coming up, I couldn't stay too long. But it was a pleasure to meet Paige and re-visit this place, and I wish her all the very best as she brings The Hebden to life. And if you are in town, do call in.

And then it was the short walk over to the Trades Club (opening image). I pulled open the heavy red door, walked up the stairs, and into the bar, where several of the tables were taken, some of the occupants tucking into the excellent home-made Thai food from the tiny kitchen here. There was the crack of break-off from the pool table at the far end of the room as I ordered a pint of a typical hazy pale from Big Trip Brewery, who spun off from Nightjar Brewery down the road in Mytholmroyd and ended up in Manchester. A friend acknowledged me from the bar servery in the gig room, but I wanted a sit down first to check my phone, so I headed to one of the few unclaimed tables. Shortly afterwards, he came around to join me, as did a couple of other friends.

The band were due on at 9.30, so we wandered through shortly before then, our wrists duly stamped. I would say the room was about two thirds full as dramatic music filled the air. The band filed on to the stage. And then we were hit by a barrage of noise from two banks of keyboards and drums, as the front man shouted. Benefits are angry, confrontational, challenging, but exhilarating, like an angrier distant cousin of Sleaford Mods with a nod to the intensity of early Idles. They comprise frontman Kingsley Hall and brothers Robbie and Hugh Major on keyboards, with a drummer with them tonight as well. They formed a few years ago in the North East, with Kingsley originally from Stockton, but now based in Saltburn. And it is this background of Teesside with the loss of much of the heavy industry and with some of the most deprived areas in the country, an area where several seats turned Tory in the 2019 general election following the lure of Brexit promises, that informs the music that Benefits make. The songs comprise phrases and statements written often on scraps of paper by Kingsley and then worked into highly politicised songs which are delivered in a scattergun manner over a wall of pulsating electronic waves and drones. It is loud, shouty, and challenging, and won't appeal to everyone, but it is some of the most exciting music around today.

My ears were ringing as I walked back to catch the train. It had though been an interesting and most enjoyable evening....

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