BBNo x Blind Jack's
Blind Jack's, 19 Market Pl, Knaresborough HG5 8AL
Robyn Gilmour
Saturday 14 December 2024
This article is from
Love Your Pub
issue 112
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BBNo has spared no time making friends near its new home in Masham, North Yorkshire, and while it’s not in the team’s nature to pick favourites, they’ll concede to taking a particular shine to Blind Jack’s. As a veteran of Knaresborough’s beer scene and an almost permanent fixture of the Good Beer Guide, the pub is a venue that breweries are proud to supply, and BBNo is no different.
Blind Jack’s is named after local hero John Metcalf, who was the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution. Blind from the age of six from smallpox, Metcalf had an eventful life as a professional fiddle player and reputed heartbreaker. In 1991 Ian Fozard, original owner of Roosters Brewery, purchased the 400 year old grade 2 listed property in the heart of Knaresborough and turned what was previously an antique shop, into a pub.
“Fast forward to 2017 myself and my wife Alice, having been regulars, found out that the pub was on the market, decided it was our time to take the reins and purchased the pub in October,” says co-owner Christian Ogley. “Blind Jack’s has always been focused on beer and quality, showcasing 1000’s of different specialty beers from the UK and beyond. This year we celebrated being included in the CAMRA good beer guide for 33 years consecutively, something we are really proud to keep up.”
The pub consists of four intimate rooms over two floors, and enjoys beautiful historic period features including huge oak beams salvaged from the Knaresborough Castle ruins, red brick walls, wooden floor boards and antique furnishings. The lack of amplified music naturally invites conversation between guests, creating a friendly atmosphere and has helped harbour long-term friendships over the years. “Blind Jack’s has become the pub it is today thanks to its fantastic loyal customer base, many of our regulars have been coming since opening in 1991,” says Christian.
At the beginning of the year, Alice and Christian celebrated six years at the helm by collaborating with Roosters, North Brew Co, Black Sheep and Turning Point to create four unique beers, brewed by the pub’s team, and which were exclusively available at Blind Jack’s. “It’s important for us to understand the brewing process and the many different styles of beer available so that we can share that insight with our guests,” says Christian, adding that the experience solidified the special bond shared by brewery, pub and customer.
“It was a lot of fun creating recipes and choosing the hop profiles for our team and really good to see our customers enjoying the unique beers we created,” he continues. “We also regularly host different events, including tap takeovers, Beer tastings and an annual Oktoberfest. These events are always rewarding and we find that it opens an opportunity for customers to try something that maybe they haven’t had before. Another incredible moment this year was in August when we won “favourite place to drink” in the Knaresborough business awards voted for by the public. Recognition made us feel that we had made a real impact on the community”
In a bizarre and serendipitous turn of events, over the course of this collaboration BBNo discovered that a member of its brewing team, Fergus Metcalf, is a distant relative of John Metcalf. “That’s gotta go in the magazine!” says the brewery’s head of group off-trade, Craig Brackett, who’s long been a regular patron of Blind Jack’s. “We knew as soon as we heard about this issue’s ‘Love your Pub’ concept that Blind Jack’s was one place we really wanted to champion, as they themselves champion great beer! We are thrilled to tell their story and have their pub feature in lots of people’s fridges across the country. We hope that whenever they visit Knaresborough, they will be sure to drop in and sample the amazing array of beers on the bar.”
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