is an independent British brewery in Keighley, Yorkshire, founded by brewer Timothy Taylor in 1858. Today, the business is the last independent brewery of its kind in West Yorkshire and has an international reputation.

It brews a range of cask-conditioned, classic Yorkshire beer styles including a dark mild, a best bitter, Golden Best—a rare example of a pale mild—and Ram Tam, a traditional winter warmer. Each is notable in its own right. But the brewery’s reputation revolves around the legendary Timothy Taylor Landlord.

Landlord, at 4.3% alcohol by volume, is a strong (by British ale standards) and hoppy pale ale that has won over 70 prizes at international competitions and British real ale festivals—more than any other beer. It inspires reverence among British beer aficionados, many of whom claim it to be simply the best British cask ale of all time. During a television interview in 2005, pop star Madonna declared that Landlord was the “champagne of ales,” an endorsement that helped push Landlord to greater heights, and has even been credited with helping revitalize the British cask ale industry. The beer also had an influence that reached all the way to San Francisco, with Anchor Brewing Company’s Fritz Maytag citing Landlord as an inspiration for his own groundbreaking Anchor Liberty Ale.

Cask-conditioned Landlord is a tricky beer to keep well, but in the hands of a cellarman who truly understands its temperament and treats it properly, it becomes a truly memorable taste experience.