Kirkstall Brewery brings the Great Exhibition of Prize Ales to The Tetley

Leeds has brewed beer for centuries, and Kirkstall Brewery has made a point of honouring that heritage while looking firmly ahead. In 2026 it took one of its best-loved events to a new and fitting home, the historic Tetley building on the south bank of the city.

The Great Exhibition of Prize Ales is Kirkstall's festival celebrating the rich heritage of British brewing. Each year, breweries from across the UK are challenged to recreate historic beers that transport drinkers to a different age, drawing on old recipes and brewing records for inspiration.

For its fourth year, the festival moved from Kirkstall's own brewery into the city centre. It ran from 29 to 31 May 2026 and used the whole of The Tetley, including the outdoor space at Aire Park, with food, live music and bars alongside the beers. The change of venue also made the event dog friendly for the first time.

The list of exhibiting breweries showed how much respect the festival commands. Names included Allsopp's, Anthology, DEYA, Five Points, Northern Monk and Timothy Taylor's, alongside Kirkstall itself and around twenty others.

The setting could hardly have been more appropriate. The Tetley is the former headquarters of Joshua Tetley's brewery, founded in Leeds in 1822, and in recent years Kirkstall has taken on the running of the building, keeping a living link between the site and the city's brewing past.

That stewardship is set to continue. In April 2026 Kirkstall announced that it would carry on looking after the Tetley building through the summer and beyond, good news for Leeds residents who have come to enjoy the space as a place to meet and drink.

Kirkstall's wider approach has been described as preserving the past while backing Leeds and local businesses, from restoring older buildings to supporting the independent producers that make the city's food and drink scene so lively.

For anyone interested in what beer tasted like in centuries gone by, the Great Exhibition offers a rare chance to find out, in surroundings steeped in the story of Leeds brewing.

Kirkstall Brewery shares news of its events and its venues online, and The Tetley at Aire Park is an easy walk across the river from the city centre.