Water & Soil

Where does the water for Yorkshire beer come from? At the traditional breweries, often from their own wells and springs directly beneath the brewery. The old well at the Samuel Smith Old Brewery was drilled in 1758 and, according to the brewery, is still in use today. The brewing water is pumped from a depth of around 85 feet, roughly 26 metres.

Timothy Taylor in Keighley also sits above a spring, from which the brewery draws all of its brewing water. According to the brewery, it comes from the Pennines and flows through layers of black rock and limestone. The Pennines are the range of hills that runs the length of northern England.

What does water do to beer? It introduces dissolved minerals into the wort, the sugary liquid before fermentation. A high sulphate content, such as that found in the water of Burton upon Trent, makes the bitterness taste dry and sharp. The hardness levels of the Yorkshire wells aren't disclosed by the breweries, so none are given here.

Modern breweries treat their water anyway. The idea that terroir shapes the style mostly applies to history, then. What has remained is something else: a sense of identity. Having your own well is a point of pride in Tadcaster and Keighley, even if the water in the glass has long since simply been called brewery water.

The beer is no longer stored in rock afterwards, but in the pub cellar. There it lies in the cask, cool, but not ice-cold.