There's no escaping it.

As unlikely as it sounds, Harrogate is rapidly becoming one of Yorkshire's best towns for beer lovers.

In recent years, its collection of timeless and homely pubs has been joined by a flurry of exciting newcomers.

Market Town Taverns developed The Old Bell Tavern and The Swan on The Stray. Then The Harrogate Tap opened at the station last year, selling some of the best beers from Britain, mainland Europe and the US.

Regular readers may recall our euphoric visit in the summer to 10 Devonshire Place, where a traditional pub has been restored and relaunched as an exciting new venue, selling tremendous beers from up and down the country and around world at irresistible prices.

And now, we are back in the spa town once more, for yet another exciting venue: Major Tom's Social.

York Press:

This definitely isn't a pub. It doesn't really feel like a bar either. So what is it?

Well, on its twitter profile, the staff call it a "youth club for grown ups" and say: "We are a cafe/bar bringing craft beer, real ale, coffee, pizza, music, art, fun & weirdness to the good people of Harrogate." What's not to like?

York Press:

The Social is above Space, a vintage homewares and clothing shop in The Ginnell, off Parliament Street. The decor is quirky and indeed fun, with film memorabilia dotted around, an arcade game table, off-the-wall artworks and an eclectic selection of collectibles and curios for sale from the shop, including bits and bobs of vintage furniture and a couple of old iMac computers.

York Press:

All of this combined to create an ultra-chilled, je ne sais quoi randomness far too hip for the likes of me, but they're very serious about providing tremendous beer. So I pretended my long-weekend stubble was a hipster beard in the offing, and hung around for an hour or so.

On the tables were a couple of copies of Original Gravity, the excellent young craft beer mag, on the walls were a couple of weird and wonderful beer artworks, and on sale on (or behind) the bar were some blindingly brilliant beers.

York Press:

On cask when I visited a few weeks ago were Rooster's High Tea, their collaboration with Taylor's of Harrogate; Blackheads Mild by Driftwood Spars, a smooth and rounded Cornish mild; Road to El Dorado by Arbor, a tropical, American-style pale ale; and Devil's Bedpost by Blackjack, which is where I began.

The name of the brewery and the beer might indicate this would be dark and domineering, but it's a beautiful pale ale, and hugely enjoyable.

I took my half and found a seat, and crashed out as the sun blazed through the lettering on the window then on through my pint, casting enchanting shadows along the long table.

York Press: I mused over the menu, tempted by the long list of pizzas, the charcuterie board, the lighter nibbles and even the large ice-cream selection, but counted my change and decided instead to stick to the beer.

The canned and bottled range merited attention, bottles from excellent breweries in the UK and the US available in fridges behind the bar. But I went instead for the house beer, Awaiting Communication, brewed with the superb and innovative Bad Co in Dishforth.

York Press:

This is a West Coast pale ale, with an ABV of 5.6 per cent, a beer that seeks to emulate the fantastic American west coast beers such as Sierra Nevada's Torpedo, and which does a very decent job at doing so. It's rasping, hoppy and full of flavour and has gone down so well that it has also been sought by a few other venues, and made well-received appearances at the York and Leeds beer festivals. Cheers!