Cavalry charge

WELL, I bet you didn't see that coming, did you? A reduction in beer tax? Surely some mistake!

For years, Budget Day has been dreaded by brewers, landlords and drinkers alike, as successive Chancellors have wrung yet more money out of us. But finally, the beer duty escalator has been not only halted but reversed. Instead of a rise, George Osborne this week announced a 1p cut in duty.

Let's not go overboard with the celebrations. We still pay far more in beer tax than our European neighbours and Osborne hasn’t so much helped the industry as stopped attacking it. But nonetheless, we’ve been spared another blinding punch and pubs up and down the country should this week be happier places than they might have been.

If you are heading out to join the rest of the relieved punters, then let me suggest you try The Lighthorseman on the corner of Fulford Road and New Walk Terrace in York, now under new management.

This has been an under-rated stop on York’s beer scene for years, but is worth a visit. The bar is claimed to be the only intact Victorian example in the city and boasts striking silver-etched mirrors, pictured, along its length. They are engraved with the name Samuel Mason, “Prize Winner”, and if this was his masterpiece, it has certainly lasted well.

A more recent addition is the varied menu from Sardinian chef Salvatore Marci, who moved to England in the 1980s and has been here for the past two years.

My fiancée and I tried his pizzas followed by a sweet ravioli, and were delighted, and there was a wide range also of pasta and meat dishes, a refreshing change from the typical fare offered in many pubs.

New landlord Dan Murphy says the food is one of the things he hopes to push over the coming months as he finds his feet back on old territory.

He was a member of staff here ten years ago and told owners Thwaites that if the pub ever came on the market, he would be interested. When Steve and Janine Robinson announced they were moving on a few months ago, he jumped at the chance, and he is now running the show here as well as at The White Horse in Bootham, also a Thwaites house.

The Lighthorseman's accommodation is more suited to Dan’s own young family and it also offers different potential, with eight B&B rooms instead of four, a beer garden and more space inside.

There are no wholesale changes planned imminently but a few areas will be tidied up, he says, partly to better showcase the pub’s original features, such as its stained glass.

The pub is often popular with sport fans at weekends but the Sunday-Thursday meal deals should ensure a decent trade all week long – and those who do visit will be impressed by the beer.

As well as an extensive selection of big-name brands, there is also a varied range of Thwaites own ales, including the excellent Wainwright and rotating specials.

For the next few weeks, there is also a spring promotion featuring one Thwaites ale and guests from Lancaster, Wharfebank, Prospect and Everards breweries. Buy a pint of all five and you can claim a free pint of Thwaites Original.

• THE Phoenix in George Street, York, began its Easter festival last night and it runs until tomorrow. There are 12 ales, hopefully including Treboom’s new bog myrtle beer, which was launched at The Slip on Thursday.

• CONGRATULATIONS to The Hop Studio, which has won the “best new brewer” title in a national competition.

The Elvington-based brewery, one of four launched in York last year, was awarded the accolade by Castle Rock Brewery, which runs pubs around the country.

Next Thursday, to celebrate its first birthday, The Hop Studio will launch two new beers and showcase four others at the Brewery Tap in New Station Street, Leeds, in a “brewery takeover” event. The new beers are Vindhya, a strong pale ale, and Dark Rose, a dark mild.