Festival News

Manchester set to welcome ales from across the Emerald Isle

You can always rely on beer to solve the most difficult problems. And if the Prime Minister needs a hand with sorting the Irish border question, organisers of Manchester’s Beer and Cider Festival may have the answer.

After the runaway success of a bar dedicated to beers from the other side of the IrishSea last year, the North’s biggest beer festival has paired up with leading Irish brewer The White Hag and its very own confidence and supply agreement. And an increased number of breweries are heading to Manchester later this month to delight drinkers.

Beers curated from North and South of the border include cask, keykeg and keg examples.  Northern Ireland’s Boundary, Bullhouse, Farmageddon, Knockout and Mourne Mountain are planned to join Republic of Ireland brewers DOT Brew, Kinnegar, Metalman, Porterhouse, Rascals, Trouble Brewing and The White Hag. They will be exhibited on a dedicated Irish bar, one of twenty bars at the festival.

New bar celebrates old craft

The wraps are off the newest bar at the North’s biggest beer festi val. And alongside the mass of modern breweries and beer styles, traditionalists will be delighted that a wall of wooden casks will greet drinkers at Manchester Central in January.

For fifty years or so, breweries have increasingly moved to racking beer into metal casks and these dominate distribution. But there has been a recent surge in interest to return to using wooden barrels. Most of these are made of oak, and many have previously been used to store wine or spirits. But chestnut is also used and is popular with some American breweries.

Organisers of the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival are working with the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood (SPBW) to bring the bar – simply named ‘Beers from the Wood’ – and a host of interesting beers from a wide variety of breweries both large & small are heading to the event – led by SPBW’s current Champion Beer From The Wood ‘Hickey The Rake’ from Newcastle based Wylam Brewery. (more…)

Ever wondered which shortcake to dunk in your stout? Does a digestive go with a doppelbock? Is brown ale is the perfect accompaniment to a bourbon? Wonder no more as the North’s biggest beer festival brings a set of tutored tastings next month including the unique pairing of biscuits with beer.

Building on last year’s sell-out tasting sessions, Manchester Beer and Cider Festival will give drinkers the chance to hear from three of the country’s leading beer experts. They will be running tutored tastings, suitably accompanied by generous samples of some of the 600+ ales on offer. Tickets on sale here.

Kirsty Walker, Roger Protz and John Clarke will be talking about some of their favourite beer styles, showcasing the breadth of taste and history of real ale in the UK and further afield. All three have gathered reputations as entertaining writers and presenters. Their combined expertise will be available to selected audiences on two of the three days the festival opens to the public. Their subjects will range from the story of Belgian beers, the tradition of serving ales from wooden barrels, the mystique of lambic beers from mainland Europe and how beer can best be matched with biscuits.

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