Brewhemian Hopsody, Broadway, Fulford, packed for York CAMRA

The Saturday presentation was at Brewhemian Hopsody, in Broadway, Fulford, which only opened last September in a former shop.

Karl Smith, presenting the award, praised rookie couple Katie and Amanda, who have made such a success of the venue, with it also receiving rave reviews online, including five stars out of five on Tripadvisor.

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Karl said: “Often the pubs we pick are long established favourites of the good beer-drinking community and of course deserving of that support.

“Depressingly many pubs continue to close, particularly those out of the town centres in residential estates, but there are some new ones being opened like this one.

“New people are the lifeblood of the Trade and it’s fitting that Brewhemian Hopsody, although open for less than a year, has won this accolade. With their passion and enthusiasm, they have established a gem of a pub in an area not well served.”

“It has a friendly welcome, great ambience, good quality real ales and keg beers and a large range of cans and bottles so whatever your tipple, you can find it here. Fulford you lucky people!”

Receiving the certificate, Katie thanked Camra and customers for their support, saying without them it would not have been possible.

Katie said afterwards that presentation night saw both the pub and its garden full, with both CAMA members and regulars.

She told the Press: “We feel really honoured and privileged to have been nominated, let alone won. We’ve put a tremendous amount of hard work in, both in front of house but behind the scenes too. There’s a lot that goes on that people (understandably) don’t see and it can be exhausting. So to know we’re doing things right means the world to us.”

“We’re also passionate about good quality beer and have extremely high standards and it seems to be paying off, in what let’s face it is an extremely tough industry.”

Since the award was announced in May, and being part of the Ale Trail, Brewhemian Hopsody has received a boost from extra CAMRA members popping in.

Katie continued: “We’d love to seen some more people coming to visit us from accross the city. We’ve got excellent bus links with buses from Acomb, Derwenthorpe and the University stopping right outside the door. The 415 from Selby and the 7 park and ride stop on the main road so it’s just a couple of minutes walk. 

Katie believes what makes the pub special is that she and Amanda work the ‘vast majority’ of hours themselves, to “make sure we add that personal touch, the friendly welcome and the specialist knowledge craft beer requires.  We also have a couple of amazing staff who replicate our high standards and values.”

“We are very selective about the beer we put on. We get sent a lot of samples that simply don’t make it through our selection process. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad beer, it’s just not for us and what we want to sell.”

She continued: “We love what we do and I think it shows. I left my corporate job to open the business because I wanted to have more interaction with people.

“Hospitality is all about people and if you don’t have people, you don’t have a business and therefore a grunt from an unenthusiastic staff member just isn’t going to cut it! 

“We want people to visit, we want people to sit and chat to us and we want a place where a community can connect and have a place to come.”

Katie added Brewhemian Hopsody will stage a first birthday party on September 19 and an Oktoberfest Weekend during September 25-27. It also runs a quiz every Tuesday at 7pm.