Knowl Club is officially among the country’s top real ale clubs after winning CAMRA’s Yorkshire Club of the Year title.
The former Mirfield Liberal Club, on Knowl Road, has been chosen as one of 14 regional winners in the Campaign for Real Ale’s 2026 Club of the Year competition.
The award is a first for the club after it was Yorkshire runner-up in 2024 and 2025.
Stewardess Sarah-Jane Moon said: “When we became runner-up, we never thought we were ever going to get anywhere near it, so that was a bit of a surprise for us.
“We kind of accepted that we were going to be the bridesmaid, so to actually be the bride this time was great.
“It was brilliant – a bit of a shock, but brilliant.”
The competition, run by CAMRA in conjunction with Club Mirror magazine, looks at the quality of beer as well as facilities, atmosphere and the club’s role in its community.
Judges make unannounced visits and Sarah-Jane said the club had been visited several times.
She said: “They’ll just turn up randomly. You don’t know when they’re going to turn up, although because we’ve been doing the job quite a while, you know who they are.
“We have two beer festivals here, so they tend to pop in then as well.”
The club has 400 members but is also open to the public.
It usually has four real ales on the bar during the winter, dropping to three during the summer months.
Timothy Taylor is a regular fixture along with Daleside Blonde, with guest ales completing the line-up.
Sarah-Jane said: “We always have different guest ales from various local breweries. We try and support small local breweries.”
The Knowl Club has built up an impressive collection of CAMRA honours in recent years.
It was Heavy Woollen CAMRA Club of the Year in 2024, 2025 and 2026 and has featured in successive editions of the Good Beer Guide from 2020 to 2026.
Its certificates have pride of place on the walls.
Sarah-Jane said: “We’ve got quite a few from when we’ve won Club of the Year and Club of the Season with Heavy Woollen and when we’ve been runner-up.
“You get them for the Good Beer Guide as well, so they’re all on the wall in the club.”
The club has a function room and pool table downstairs, a snooker room upstairs and a small beer garden. It also stages beer festivals in May and November.
Its latest success means representatives will travel to the Club Awards in Leicester in November.
The 14 regional winners will be reduced to four Super Regional Finalists at the event. Those four will then undergo mystery judging to decide the CAMRA Club of the Year for 2026.
Before then, Knowl Club is due to host CAMRA’s quarterly Yorkshire regional meeting in September, bringing representatives from branches across the county to Mirfield.
And there could be another reason to raise a glass that day, with the club hoping its Yorkshire award may also be formally presented during the gathering.
