Hello there my fellow beer lovers,
Fresh off the buzz of our triumphant 2025 Ale Train (still nursing a few hazy memories), I managed to coax a few brave colleagues on a whopping 20 minutes walk from work to check out Pig Love Brew Co’s riverside taproom. Nestled in Leeds’ increasingly green and trendy city centre zone, this outdoor haven offers something refreshingly different from your usual post-work pint.
As we arrived, the clouds parted like a scene from a feel-good film, bathing the picnic benches and scattering tables in golden light. The beer flowed from a modest outbuilding, while next door, the smoky scent of sizzling kebabs (both meaty and meat-free) drifted through the air from a charming veg shack, complete with crates of fresh produce. The whole setup had the relaxed, rustic charm of a weekend retreat, on a weekday.
Since it was a school night, there were no plans to paint the town red—just a casual pint or two in the evening sun. We grabbed a bench, picked out a couple of brews from the board.
Here is what we thought.
Name: Spirits Arise 7.4% ABV
- Brewery: Piglive Brewing Co
- Hops : Citra, El dorado, Strata hops, and Achiote
- Aroma : Citrus forward with a hoppy backing, it also has a slight unusual scent that I cant quite place
- Appearance : Opaque, marmalade orange in colour with a closed white head when poured.
- Body : Medium to full bodied, good level of carbonation and good head retention.
- Taste : Dank, and juicy at the forefront with a lot of citrus, followed by a wash of hops giving it a bitter slightly drying finish.
what a bitey mouthful this one was, some serious wake up juice after a long day of work, at first it seemed to go down easy but about half way through the 7.4% was making itself known, lovely drop though.
Our overall rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Name: Sabana 4.7% ABV
- Brewery: Piglove Brewing Co X Drunk Planet
- Aroma : Sweet, Flowery and Malty
- Appearance : Clear golden nectar with a thin white film head when poured.
- Body : Refreshingly light, high carbonation but surprisingly smooth for a lager.
- Taste : Honey-like sweetness followed by the usual tones of a malty lager.
as its well known by this point I am not a lager drinker, but I could manage one of these it was refreshing and a little different from the norm, and I was a hit with the two lager drinkers we brough with us on this visit.
Our overall rating: 3.4/ 5.0
Name: Hema 2.8% ABV
- Brewery: Piglove Brewing Co
- Hops: Citra, Hallertau
- Aroma : Malt forward, with a light scent of hops
- Appearance : Slightly hazed to opaque golden beer with a thin white head when poured
- Body : Light, refreshing with a good level of carbonation, no head retention.
- Taste : Very light easy drinker, very malt forward with a slight hoppy tang at the end, surprisingly morish.
As my colleague said “this is Kids training beer” and there is nothing wrong with that, if you are wanting a nice mellow pint this is the one for you, its better than most alcoholic free faire but its not as punchy as a full blown pint.
He actually had two of these and then went for a run, not something that I would do, but I can imagine is quite a nice afternoon tipple for those who are more sports orientated.
Our overall rating: 3.5/ 5.0
Name: Kaan 4.4% ABV
- Brewery: Piglove Brewing Co X Ridgeside
- Aroma : Lemons, Cirtus with a grassy hoppy backing.
- Appearance : Hazy golden pint with a medium white head when poured
- Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated with a decent head retention
- Taste : a morish mouthful with sharp hop and a wash of grass with a delicate biscuity undertone.
Our overall rating: 3.6/ 5.0
It was around this point in the evening that we took a look at what the greengrocers hut had on offer to quell our growing appetites as the smells and the beer were doing their work.
As all silly drunken men would, we noticed the “happy endings” noted under the icecream section, had a little giggle and then enquired to what they were..
Turns out they are a small ice-cream sandwich company that specialize in some very interesting and tasty flavours.
We saved this information for later as first we wanted the main event, the Chicken Kebab…
shortly after ordering a pits on fresh veggies loaded with a generous amount of marinated chicken covered in Tzatziki appeared with what for me was the star of the show on top.
Pickled red cabbage, pickled in house and this had a really good zing to it.
It is a little pricey at £11, but for a brewery in a large city centre, that’s to be expected, I certainly would have one of these again.
But did we get a happy ending?!?!
of course we did!..
They had a variety of flavours and we chose these two; Left “The Naughty One” ; a Guinness ice-cream sandwich where as the left “The Gay one”; a Caramel Parfait ice-cream sandwich.
Both of which were eaten at speed due the heat of the afternoon, but they were gooey and delicious, and the packaging opens up into a little picnic blanket so perfect for one of those instagram-able moments.
So… Would I go to another open day at Pig love (brew co) by the River?
Definitely…
I had a great evening out, great beer, and some nice Kebabs and “Happy Ending Ice Cream” We 100% will be doing an after work outing there again, we just need the weather to be good!
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 