Monthly archives: January 2015

For Immediate Release:

THE BIGGEST PUB CRAWL UNDER ONE ROOF!

MANCHESTER Beer & Cider Festival was an even bigger success than last year’s sell-out event with a whopping 38,876 pints of cask beer drunk over four days!

A total of 11,286 cask ale fans from as far as Canada attended the event held last week at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester eager to quench their thirst with the finest beers the UK has to offer.

After the inaugural event in 2014, when the bars were drunk dry on the Saturday afternoon, festival organisers from CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) ensured a plentiful supply of beers this year, as well as traditional ciders and perries.

A total of 437 beers were available to festival-goers at 19 different bars from cask conditioned craft ales including traditional British bitters, stouts, porters, milds and old ales and the very best of Manchester’s brewers, such as Marble, Brightside, Blackjack and Wilson Potter, to imported beers from around the world in the Bière Sans Frontières bar.

The first beer to sell out was Pied Bull Black Bull Porter until a new supply of this champion beer arrived.
The best selling beer was Hawkshead Windemere Pale, selling 500 pints, closely followed by the Marble/Hawkshead collaboration Beer Matts’ just 30 pints behind.

Meanwhile, cider bar manager, Mike Robinson, reported the highest sales of cider and perry than at any previous event with scrumpy drinkers supping 3,815 pints of cider at the two cider and perry bars which featured the likes of Manchester’s Moss Cider Project, Bolton’s Red Bank Cider Company and Dunham Massey Press.

The fastest selling cider was Biddendens Strong Kent Cider 8% abv with Sheppys Sweet Cider 6% abv coming a close second. The fastest selling perry was Gwynt Y Ddraig Two Trees Perry 4.5% abv. which was also the fastest seller overall.

The festival organisers also recorded the best ever sales at the festival with consumption up 20% on last year.
Of the 11,286 people who came through the door, 2,649 were CAMRA members and there was an army of 320 CAMRA volunteers helping out at the event. Plus CAMRA recruited 104 new members at the event.

Customer Beer of the Festival was awarded to:
1.       Stockport Brewing Co. Stockporter
2.       Marble/Hawkshead (a collaboration beer) Beer Matts
3.       Bridgehouse Cherry Chocolate Stout

Customer Cider of the Festival was awarded to:

1.     Manx Jimmie Kickstart Cider
2.      Marcher Marcher Man Cider

Perry
Joint 1st: Gywnt Y Draig Two Trees Perry and Troggi Perry

Festival organiser Graham Donning said:
“The event went better than expected with visitors from all over the UK and abroad enjoying the fare we presented to them. We had lots of positive views about the choice and selection of beers, so many thanks to John O’Donnell our beer orderer. Many enjoyed the fact that we had beers on both levels and many described the event as ‘the biggest pub crawl ever under one roof!’ Work now starts on the 2016 event!”

For further information contact:
Clare Barber
0151 600 5482
Jan 30^th 2015

LABOUR OF LOVE FOR COUNCIL LEADER

Sir Richard Leese to officially open Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2015

The leader of Manchester City Council is set to officially open the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2015. Sir Richard Leese CBE will attend the Press & Trade session, hosted by LWC Drinks and the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), at the first day of the festival on Wednesday 21 January and will declare the festival officially open at 3pm.

Sir Richard, who has been the leader of Manchester City Council since 1996, will also be announcing the winner of the Champion Beer of the North West competition, as well as announcing the North West’s entrants into the finals of the Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition.

Sir Richard said: “The festival will be a celebration of Manchester’s thriving craft beer and cider industry and a wonderful opportunity to discover a huge range of products, ranging from those made locally to others from right around the globe.”

Following the trade session attended by invited brewers and publicans, the festival will open its doors to the public at 4pm.

Festival organiser Graham Donning said he was looking forward to welcomingSir Richard to the event. “It gives the branches of Greater Manchester’s Campaign for Real Ale great pleasure to have Sir Richard Leese open our event. The Manchester Beer and Cider Festival has fast become the most prestigious beer festival in the North West of England that welcomes visitors from all over the country and Europe as well as from far flung places across the globe.”

“Manchester is a great city to visit for the shopping, entertainment and the classic pubs and modern bars that are dotted around the city and the region.  We hope that Sir Richard and fellow councillors from Manchester City Council enjoy our event and realise how much business such a beer festival brings to the city with a dramatic increase in footfall for the pubs, restaurants, hotels and all other businesses.”

“This event is now the number one event for ‘Things to do in Manchester’ this week and many more thousands of people will realise what a good venue the Manchester Velodrome is with its marvellous facilities and staff. It almost makes me want to get my bike out and ride around the track!!” For more information about the festival visit www.mancbeerfest.uk

For further information contact:

Clare Barber
0151 255 0152

Notes to editors:

Sir Richard Leese

Sir Richard Leese was Manchester City Council’s Labour leader whose first act in charge was to revive the city following the 1996 IRA bomb, ultimately winning him a knighthood. A former teacher, he was first elected as councillor in 1984 and has led the city through over 15 years of major regeneration since his election as leader in 1996.

Manchester Beer & Cider Festival
1) The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival is organised by the Greater Manchester Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

2) The festival takes place in the National Cycling Centre’s Velodrome from 21st – 24th January 2015 and will feature more than 500 beers ciders & perries over two levels.

3) The 2014 festival attracted over 10,000 visitors who drank over 40,000 pints of beer, cider & perry. The 2015 festival will have another 17,000 pints available.