Naylor’s in Cross Hills have produced a new smoked beer. Clive White talks to the micro-brewing Naylor brothers

A brewery has added another “twist” to its stable of beers brewed at its micro-brewery in Cross Hills.

Naylor’s Brewery, run by brothers Stephen and Robert Naylor, who established the business in 2006, is producing its first smoked beer.

Appropriately called Kour – the malted barley comes from The Czech Republic and the Czech for smoke is kour – the first batch is about to go out to the trade.

As well as for sale at the brewery-bar in Station Road, Cross Hills, the 4.5 strong premium ale will also be available at the Cock and Bottle public house in Skipton.

“We have taken a standard beer and introduced the smoked, dried hops into the conditioning tank and left it for a week and a half.

“Other brewers do it in other ways adding the hops directly to the barrel to give extra flavour. We add it directly to the conditioning tank.

“It’s part of our range of beers in which we add a twist of flavour to a standard brew. It will go out to a range of pubs and we will also produce some bottled examples.

“We wanted to see how we could do it in our own way and have been helped by a friend, Roger Baxandall, of Craven Bacon Supplies, who works nearby.

“He has allowed us to put the hops in the smoker he uses to dry cure bacon.”

Smoked beers are not unheard of, with one of the best known being the German brew, Rauchbier.

Kour was the second beer they had produced with a twist, the first was called Aurora and they have plans to do others including coffee flavour and fruits, said Stephen.

The brothers launched their brewery in 2001 at the Old White Bear in Cross Hills later selling the pub and moving into Midland Mills in the village where they now employ eight people.

They have been focussing on producing quality, hand crafted beers for about seven years, during which time the brewery has earned a number of awards.