Press Releases

For Immediate Release:

Northern brewers join forces to create special festival ales…

Not content with lining up an incredible line up of some of beers from some of the best breweries around, Manchester Beer & Cider Festival 2015 (MBCF) will feature a number of collaboration brews with top brewers coming together specially to brew new beers for the festival.

MBCF teamed up with Real Radio XS to produce a special festival ale on Wednesday, January 7 with BlackEdge brewery in Horwich.

In commemoration of 100 years since the great war, brewers Shaun and Wayne produced a golden session ale combining hops from Britain and Germany. The station’s Steve Berry headed to the recently expanded brewery to help out with the brew while listeners of the classic rock station on 106.1 FM will have the opportunity to name the beer by entering a competition.

The first in an incredible line up of collaboration brews saw the hand of friendship extended in the War Of The Roses with Yorkshire’s Ilkley Brewery coming over to Manchester in December to brew with brewer Rich Andrews at Blackjack Beers.

Their beer, Betting Cap, is described as a very hoppy amber ale made with the Belgian yeast which is becoming a signature of Rich’s Blackjack brews and Galaxy, Chinook, Belma and Columbus hops.

This week, more collaborative brews got underway in East Yorkshire on Monday when one of the most exciting new names of Scottish brewing, Edinburgh’s Elixir Brewing Company, joined up with Hull’s Atom Beers which has grown massively after only launching just over one year ago.

The resultant beer named Devil’s Bilge Water is a bit of a beast, weighing in at 7% ABV. A smokey porter style beer, a special secret mix of spices has been added to give a unique flavour. Despite the heritage of the beer, it will make its debut on the right side of the Pennines and Hadrian’s Wall at the festival.

Tuesday, January 6 was a big day for special brews with no fewer than three being completed in one day. The day began when one of the festival’s bar managers, Caroline O’Donnell, headed to Rochdale’s Pictish Brewery for a 5am ‘mash in’ with owner and brewer, Paul Wesley.

The beer they came up with is the appropriately named ‘Tandem,’ a 4.2% pale and hoppy brew featuring two malts and two hops – Pacific Gem from New Zealand and Cascade from the USA.

As Paul and Caroline mashed in, Matt Clarke, head brewer of the multi-award winning Hawkshead Brewery was setting off from his Lake District home heading to Manchester to meet up with his counterpart, Matthew Howgate, at Marble Beers, for what is set to be one of the most highly anticipated beers brewed in Manchester for some time.

The brewers were being tight lipped about exactly what they were brewing up, but Hawkshead’s twitter feed let slip, tweeting “Think a mash up of Lagonda IPA and Cumbrian Five Hop…. lots of hops!” Given that Lagonda has a string of awards to its name and Cumbrian Five Hop was voted ‘Champion Beer Of The North West’ last year, beer fans are in for a treat.

The third brew of the day took place in Bury when Amanda Seddon from Middleton’s Wilson Potter Brewery joined up with Alex Lord of Outstanding Beers to brew up the intriguingly named ‘Honey Badger.’ Fresh honey will be added to the brew during fermentation to produce a beer which the brewers describe as “Pale amber coloured with aromatic malt, light hops and sweet honey.”

The final ale of the week was brewed on Thursday, January 8 when brewster Michelle Kelsall from Crewe-based Offbeat Brewery teamed up with Dan Tasker from Hebden Bridge’s Bridestones Brewing Company to create a dark and fruity beer called Sprocket Wort Orange which is 4.6% featuring chocolate, orange, juniper and sorachi ace hops.

Another collaboration is planned this Saturday, 10^th January at 10am when Rik Garner, owner / brewer of First Chop Brewery will join forces with Andrew Rodbourne – festival hospitality manager and CAMRA Regional director and Mark Reeves – Trafford & Hulme Branch committee member and keen home brewer to produce their own take on the classic “Manchester Bitter”.

Photographers are invited to First Chop Brewery to take photos of this special bitter being brewed. For mroe information.

For further information and images contact:

Clare Barber
0151 255 0152

Notes to editors:
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 and , cider & perry. The 2015 festival will have another 17,000 pints available.

4) For more information about the festival visit www.mancbeerfest.uk
Information on Breweries

*Pictish Brewery was one of the pioneers of the microbrewery revolution in Manchester whose unashamed hop forward beers provided inspiration to brewers such as James Campbell (ex Marble, now Cloudwater) and Colin Strong (Buxton).

*This will be the second time Hawkshead Brewery and Marble Beers have collaborated, the previous occasion being in 2012 when Matt Clarke and Marble’s then head-brewer, James Cambell ,produced Little Evelyn, a 7% American IPA named after Matt’s daughter.

Contact details:

Pictish Brewery 01706 522 227

Home

Blackjack Beers 0161 819 2767
http://www.blackjack-beers.com/

Ilkley Brewery 01943 604604
http://www.ilkleybrewery.co.uk

Offbeat Brewery 07502 096438
http://offbeatbrewery.wordpress.com

Bridestones Brewery 01422 847104 / 07921 211870
http://www.bridestonesbrewing.co.uk

Marble Beers 0161 8192694

Home

Hawkshead Brewery 01539 822644
http://www.hawksheadbrewery.co.uk

Outstanding Beers 0161 764 7723
http://www.outstandingbeers.co.uk

Wilson Potter Brewery 0161 654 6446
http://www.wilsonpotterbrewery.co.uk

For immediate release:

MANCHESTER’S TOP BEER FESTIVAL WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

MANCHESTER Beer and Cider Festival (MBCF) is not only causing a stir amongst local real ale fans who can’t wait to fill their tankards with the finest brews but is attracting attention worldwide!

Travellers from overseas have been contacting the beer festival organisers, CAMRA, to get their hands on tickets in advance.

Beer festival enthusiasts Mike and Maggie Nolan from Canada are eager to sample some British brews when they visit the UK next year.

And after they contacted festival organisers anxious to guarantee their entry to the event which will be held in January 2015, organisers kindly decided to offer the couple a pair of tickets free of charge.

Festival organiser Graham Donning said: “As a gesture of goodwill we decided to offer our international visitors free entry and have put their names on the door. We look forward to meeting the Nolans and hope they will enjoy our range of traditional British cask conditioned craft ales including Manchester’s own Marble Beers and the popular Hawkshead Brewery.”

“They can also try our massive range of ciders and perries plus some of the best imported beers from around the world including German, Belgian, Dutch, Czech and American beers.”

The couple were delighted with the response saying: “We are very much looking forward to the festival! We have been to several beer fests in and around Ottawa but are excited about attending one in Manchester!”

The MBCF takes place in the National Cycling Centre’s Velodrome from January 21-24 2015 and will feature over 500 beers, ciders and perries over two levels.

Robert Wessel, from California, is also looking forward to the festival. He says: “British beer, in particular cask-conditioned beer (real ale) offers a much better sensory experience when properly served and enjoyed at cellar temperature and in good condition.

“Granted, I could enjoy a bit of the same in California, but to date, it never has really compared, hence my returning several times a year to enjoy real ale as it was intended.”

Rob travels all the way from Redondo Beach to Manchester each January for his fix of Northern nectar.

He explains why: “The MBCF is enjoyable due the wide range of beer styles on offer, from refreshing golden ales to beers a bit more appropriate to the season, such as winter warmers, stouts, old ales and barley wines.

“The ability to sample these fine ales, properly served and in excellent condition, be it in a proper pint or a nip (a rather appropriate measure when enjoying the stronger and very warming beers), makes for an enjoyable, flavourful and palette-expanding evening.”

Indeed the MBCF website has been visited by people from 29 different countries to date including 35 hits from Italy, 33 from Brazil, 17 from Germany and much more. It has also gathered Facebook followers from as far as Denmark, Pakistan, Argentina and Russia.

For tickets and more details visit www.mancbeerfest.uk

For further information contact:

Clare Barber

07545 600 825

17th December, 2014

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival is organised by the Greater Manchester branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
2. The 2014 festival attracted over 10,000 visitors who drank over 40,000 pints of beer, cider and perry. The 2015 festival will have another 17,000 pints available.
3. The event will be held in The Velodrome in the National Cycling Centre, home to Team GB’s fantastically successful Olympic cyclists.
4. Advanced tickets are available from £3 for entry during Wednesday, Thursday and Friday daytime and £6 for Friday evening after 5pm (all prices plus 10% booking fees).

From 8am today, beer fans can snap up tickets to the region’s biggest beer festival.

The Manchester Beer & Cider 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.

The inaugural event held last year was an unprecedented success with almost 30% more visitors than anticipated meaning that, despite a capacity of over 2,000 people, thirsty drinkers had to queue outside at peak times.

For 2015, the event is expanding to take over the whole of the Velodrome concourse and floor and is making tickets available in advance so eager fans of the booming craft brewing scene can guarantee their place.

Visitors to mancbeerfest.uk can book their tickets from today with prices for most sessions being just £3 (plus a modest booking fee). To celebrate the launch, an early bird discount of 50p a ticket is available until 20th November by entering code “MBCFEarly” at the checkout.

Festival organiser Graham Donning said:

“We got lots of enquiries for advance tickets last year, but we thought we had capacity for everybody who would want to come so didn’t make them available. With the continuing growth in the craft beer market, we are expecting even more visitors in 2015 so it makes sense to let them guarantee their place by selling tickets in advance.”

The 2015 festival will see around half of the beers & ciders on brand new bars around the concourse of the Velodrome. As well as two new cask beer bars with a choice of almost 200 beers between them, the concourse will host four brewery bars and a new cider & perry bar majoring in locally produced ciders. A new “Rest of the World Bar” selling craft beers from Holland, Spain, France, Czech Republic and the USA will complement the German, Belgian and Budvar beers available on the floor’s Bière Sans Frontières bar.

From the concourse, visitors will be able to grab a beer and sit in one of the 3,000 seats overlooking the cyclists on the track.

On the Velodrome floor (via the stairs or the step free route of lift and ramp) there will be another 200+ beers on another two cask bars, another cider and perry bar, the Real Ale in a Bottle bar and a plethora of brewery bars including Manchester’s own Marble Beers and the enduringly popular Hawkshead Brewery.

Tickets go on sale from 8am on 14th November from www.mancbeerfest.uk

For further information contact:

Clare Barber 07545 600 825

Notes to Editors:

1) The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival is organised by the Greater Manchester Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). 2) Advance tickets are priced at £3 for entry during Wednesday, Thursday and Friday daytime and £6 for Friday evening after 5pm (all prices plus 10% booking fees). Early bird discount code will be active until midnight on 20th November.

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

Mint Umbrella is toasting its new media partnership with Manchester Beer and Cider Festival.

The North West marketing agency is excited to be supporting the annual festival which is organised by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) volunteers.

The first festival, held in January this year, was an unprecedented success. More than 10,000 people attended the festival in The Velodrome at the National Cycling Centre with all 16 bars being drunk dry by the Saturday afternoon.

Now work is well underway on the second event which is set to be even bigger and better. The festival will take over the whole of the Velodrome in January 2015 adding at least three brand new bars including two mixed cask ale bars, a second cider and perry bar and a number of brewery bars.

Shortlisted in the Prolific North Awards 2014, Liverpool-based Mint Umbrella offers Manchester Beer Festival the perfect cocktail of marketing, PR, branding and design advice to ensure even more real ale and cider conoisseurs attend the event.

Organisers will also make sure there’s plenty to go round this year. Overall there will be almost half as much beer again as in 2014, so more choice with at least 500 beers, ciders and perries available.

Mint Umbrella Director, Nicky Rigby-Smith said:

“We’re delighted to be working with the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival 2015 as the official media partner! The festival was a huge success last year and will once again feature some of the very best cask conditioned craft beers available selected from hottest names in British beer.”

The Festival will take over the whole of the Velodrome from January 21st–24th 2015. The expanded festival bars will be spread across the Velodrome concourse and floor. The iconic National Cycling Centre is home to Team GB’s fantastically successful Olympic and Paralympics cyclists.

The Velodrome track remains in use throughout the festival by Team GB who train every day. As pints are enjoyed, there is every chance that medal winning cyclists such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny will be whizzing round as they train for the 2015 World Championships and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

For more information about the festival, how to attend and what packages are available go to www.mancbeerfest.uk

For further information contact:

Clare Barber
07545 600 825
clare@mintumbrella.com

October 30th 2014