Today sees the start of Manchester Beer Week, something that has taken a lot of planning, organising, and no doubt stressing about!
So I thought I’d join the beer bloggers and put out a list of the events that I personally reckon are the stand out special events. Or rather the ones we’ll be at, or wishing we were at.
Friday
The Royal Brewery is the largest brewery in Manchester, an icon of the Manchester brewing landscape, and this is a very, very rare chance to have a look at brewing on an industrial scale. Heineken don’t usually do tours here, so this really is an outstanding opportunity and a great way to kick off the long week!
Later in the day there’s the Official Launch Party at The Marble Arch. One of Manchester’s best loved pubs playing host to what will almost certainly be a chance to rub shoulders (literally, it’ll be PACKED!) with the great and good (and likely grubby as we’ll be coming straight from working in the brewery!) of Manchester’s beer scene. After the nibbles have run out and the bar’s drunk dry, there will no doubt be a crawl down the road to the Crown & Kettle for the Runaway Tap Takeover as a pit-stop on the way to the Café Beermoth for late night drinking and partying.
Saturday
The Brewer’s Market will see lots of breweries selling their beers direct to members of the public, with a tasting bar so you can try before you buy. We’ll be there selling our bottles either individually or by the case. And we’re offering a 20% discount on cases! Once you’ve stocked up, head over to Carbon Smith for a nosey around and a chance to try beers not seen in Manchester before, then a short trip back towards town for the Track & Squawk Brew Tap to continue the drinking and partying until the earlier hours.
Sunday
An Afternoon of Beer and Food with Melissa Cole, three and a half hours of beer and food pairing brought to you by people who really know their stuff. The food will be excellent, the beer superb, and the curation out of this world! Or alternately Beers Manchester on Manchester Beers will be bringing the curation back down to Earth, the inimitable and wholly knowledgeable Beers Manchester will be talking people through five of his favourite Manchester Breweries (of which we note we’re not one!) in what has fast become a beacon for stocking local beers, The Brink.
Monday
We may be a little biased here, but we love old recipes. One of the reasons we went commercial with Beer Nouveau was to prove that old recipes weren’t as bad as people remembered, but that the brewers knew what they were doing. A Taste Of Manchester’s Brewing Past will see not only four re-brews of long-forgotten beers, but Ron Pattinson will be on hand to speak about them! This guy is the reason that these recipes are still around, and that we’re able to see what people drank generations ago!
Tuesday
There aretwo brewers coming to Manchester during the week who I would say “Go and listen to them!” and the first one is John Keeling from Fuller’s. This chap is revered by pretty much every single brewer in the country, if not the world. If you meet a brewer that doesn’t respect this guy, it’ll be because they’ve not yet heard him talk. The Fuller’s Vintage Ale Tasting at Beermoth will definitely be something to get along to.
Wednesday
I’ve stayed away from the educational events so far, but this is one that is definitely worth going to. If you ever wonder why brewers can drone on for hours about different yeast strains, The Power Of Yeast will explain it. Not only are there four very good breweries involved (Torrside, Runaway, Thirst Class and Tickety Brew) but Professional Yeast Wrangler, Rob Percival will be there to give a talk.
It’s also the cheapest beer you’ll see in a BrewDog bar 😉
Thursday
The second of the two brewers coming to Manchester that I really recommend you go meet, Fergus Fitzgerald from Adnams will be hosting an informal Meet The Brewer event with some of their very good rare casks on the bar alongside their classics at the Adnams Showcase At Piccadilly Tap. The Barrel-aged Broadside is possibly the beer I’m most looking forward to trying next week. If you think Adnams are just a regional brewery jumping on the craft bandwagon, come to this event, meet the team, drink the beers, and you will go away realising they’re actually the ones driving it.
It’s just annoying that Will Doodle For Beer is on at the same time!
Friday
Beer writer and blogger Matthew Curtis has a shear breadth of knowledge and boundless enthusiasm for good beer that you really won’t believe until you meet him. Any event that he hosts is worth going to, and the Post Craft / Post Punk at Beermoth will be no exception!
Saturday
Bars, street food, talks, presentations, discussions and a guaranteed party atmosphere. What a way to almost send off the week! The Big Buzzin Party is not to be missed.
Sunday
Saving the best to last (I may be a bit biased here), the Manchester Homebrew Group are taking over our Brewery Tap for the Home Brew Expo. There will be 35 different beers (including 5 sours!) for people to come along and sample, and give direct feedback to the brewers.
This is a free event, so come along, drink, chat, and give your liver one last bashing before detoxing the following week!