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The Manchester Brewers Challenge was launched at Manchester Beer & Cider Festival in 2018, a unique competition to find Manchester’s top beer irrespective of serving format – cask, keg, key-keg, bottle or can.

The inaugural Challenge was won by Alphabet Brew Co with their Type A served from Key-Keg with bottled Karma Citra from Wigan’s  Wily Fox coming second.

MBCF has now laid down the challenge again – inviting every eligible brewery in Greater Manchester to put forward their best beer. With over 70 breweries in Greater Manchester, the only constraint is that brewers can put just one beer in front of the judges next January as the festival opens so brewers must choose the format which they believe best represents their selected beer

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NINETEEN WEEKS TO 2019’s FESTIVAL

The end of the traditional summer holidays sees a step up in activity for organisers of the North’s biggest celebration of traditional and modern beers and ciders.

Planning for the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival starts with a review of the previous year’s event in March. But as the lighter nights fade, many contracts are secured and valued sponsors signed up. Dedicated beer orderers (tough work but someone has to do it) have spent the last few months researching new beers and checking the availability of old favourites.

Organised by the Greater Manchester branches of the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), the 2018 festival featured over 750 different beers and ciders. There was an amazing 14% increase in attendance to 15,478; and those drinkers obliged by downing almost 65,000 pints.

The festival promises the return of firm favourites alongside debuts from exciting new breweries. Almost all of the dozen brewery bars are now signed up for January. Last year’s introduction of the Little Ireland bar was a winner with all the specially imported beers sold out, so an extended range is planned.

The foreign beer bars are always popular, with curated beers from the ‘big three’ European brewing countries of Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic to the fore. And Manchester’s reputation of providing the biggest cider and perry selection in the North will again be fiercely defended. (more…)

Faced with complaints about OTHER food and drink festivals, producers at BBC’s “Rip Off Britain: Food” series wanted to see how a festival committed to customer service and continual improvement is run…

Presenter Julia Somerville and the BBC crew visited MBCF 2018 on Thursday 25th January, conducting interviews with brewers serving on their bars, food stall holders, organisers and of course you, our visitors.

The episode aired on Wednesday 25th April and is now available on BBC iPlayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b0w6j6/rip-off-britain-food-series-5-episode-3

Coverage starts at 16 minutes and 30 seconds in. It will be available on iPlayer until 10am on 25th May. To watch iPlayer you must be a BBC licence fee payer.