May 2016

“Oh when you’ve been to one brewery, you been to them all…..yaddah, yaddah, yaddah….”

Or so I thought. Until yesterday.

When Connor Murphy (aka “Mr Manchester Beer Week”) got in touch about coming to a brewday collaboration between JW Lees and Cloudwater, I hesitated. I’ve been in a multitude of breweries over the last two years. So, in terms of looking around one, it held no appeal.

But then, I’ve lived in the world of Micros for the last 3 years. I wanted to see something different. To challenge my perceptions of what a brewery is. To do that – and enter the pages of history – around these parts, that means JW Lees.

The Old meets The New. Tradition meets Innovation. History meets Future. Pre-Craft meets Post-Craft. However you choose to phrase it, this was different. And for all the potential nay sayers who might have doubted motives, Connor pulled something off here. I got the sense that this actually mattered. To both breweries. That both had things to learn.

OK. Here are the bare statistics. 4 tons + of malted barley. 1/4 ton of hops. Yes, you read that right. A QUARTER TON OF HOPS! A small amount of EKG and an ENORMOUS amount of Olicana.

Now, as far as new Micros go, Cloudwater started with a fairly big kit. But think bigger. Because the scale of this brew was mind boggling.

With well over 100 pubs to keep in beer and with 140 staff, this – in the beery scheme of things – is big business.

With 2 x 300 bbl Mash Tuns, 5 x 200bbl & 4 x 100bbl fermenters (and that’s just for the real ale!) this is on a scale that I hadn’t imagined, to say the least

Being the shy and retiring type (whatever Connor might say to the contrary) there were times when I just backed up a bit and watched (and listened to) Paul Wood (Lees’ Brew Manager) talk to James Campbell & Paul Jones from Cloudwater. There was a lot of respect there and a lot being learned on both sides.

(Paul Wood, Michael Lees-Jones – Head Brewer at Lees, Paul Jones & James Campbell)

I asked Paul W how long he’d been with Lees. 44 years. And – as he said himself – he has seen plenty of changes in that time. There was a calm around the team at Lees. Calm borne of experience. Time served, you might say.

There seemed no rush. No panic. This is – in no small measure – due to a mastery of the brewing process. Something that I was in awe of. Or maybe it was Swan Syndrome! Whatever it was, it was impressive. And whatever you may think of Lees’ beers (and I really do love their dark stuff), when you have to service the number of pubs they do, consistency is paramount. And that mastery of process is key.

This is a modern brewery. In old buildings. Old buildings that seem to stretch as far as the eye can see.

I never expected to be this boggled. But just everything about this place…… Each turn you took there was a whole chunk of the brewery as big as some micros.

(This one’s for Connor!)

Walking into the QC/lab, the attention to detail, the kit, the things that some dream of. And all of this kit goes in to producing that sheer consistency of beer that maintains that estate of pubs. And sells beer on a scale that only Brew Dog can imagine.

This picture does not do this whirlpool copper the justice it deserves. I looked in and I could swear that I could see the bottom. Of a 3 storey high vessel. Just think about that power. I saw Paul from Cloudwater gazing into it, mesmerised. I could almost hear the Will Smith line from Independence Day “I gotta get me one of these”!

But it WAS hypnotic. As was watching 160kg of late hop Olicana going in (just before that pic was taken)

The power of the pumps meant that the wort was transferred swiftly into the FV (no 8) and then we were done.

Having tasted the post hop wort, this will be fruity and hoppy, that is assured, with a decnt bitterness too. It will be approx 4.8% abv.

Two different artists. Painting with different colours

It will be called MCR Fold.

And you want it.

And, to treat yourself, go to the Manchester Beer Week Events page. There are some fabulous events scheduled. Things you simply will NOT want to miss.

I wasn’t supposed to go out last night. Honestly, I wasn’t. I was primed for East West Fest. But then I saw a tweet from Bad Seed. They had a tap take-over. At my favourite Manchester pub.

I had to go. Didn’t I?

I’ve loved the beers from Bad Seed, ever since I had the IPA and Espresso Stout bottles that I’d bought from Yorkshire Ales what seems like decades ago. Was it 3 years? Really? Stunning beers with the design quirk of a hanging tag draped over the bottle. A nice touch. Made the bottles stand out from the crowd.

But design can be as good as you like, it doesn’t mean squat if the beer is crap. And these beers are as far from that…….

Had four of them last night. All superb. From the 7% abv IPA (£3 a pint?), earthy, fruity, lovely and bitter. Through the smooth Oatmeal Stout which – at 4% – was lovely and smooth. The kegged Farmhouse IPA was just how you’d want it. Fruity and with lovely yeasty spice.

This beer though, was the highlight.

The collab with Wild Weather. Wild Seed (Electric Hopfenweisse). Simply put, one stunning hoppy wheat beer.

It was great to chew Chris’ ear off before he had to retreat home to York. I’m chuffed that we’ve got Bad Seed paired against Track at the Independent Salford Beer Festival EKF 5-a-Side collabs. As are they.

Take my advice. Get to the Crown & Kettle and get some Seeds down you.

You’ll thank me.

And isn’t this just the coolest phone case?

So. Here we are. Year 2. And my favourite beer festival of 2015.

Small. Intimate. Friendly. And full of soul.

I was truly flattered when I heard that the first Independent Salford Beer Festival was part of the inspiration for this celebration of Northern beer in 2015. What was even better was the vault of fond memories that I took away from last year. People who were previously acquaintances, now friends.

Good Beer People doing Good Things for Good Causes – this shit really is simple you know.

Held in Wakefield Labour Club about 5 mins walk from Westgate Station (on the East Coast mainline), this is really a small venue (max capacity 70 people) that lends itself to the noble art of friend making, laughing, joking ans swapping tales and tasting notes.

It’s like a 70 strong Untappd meeting. With real people, not keyboard warriors.

No pretence or artifice. No beer snobbery or arsiness. Just people enjoying exclusively (and exclusive!) Great Northern Beer. A subject that any regular reader of this blog will know is bound to tug at my heartstrings.

And the three of us who came over last year had a bloody great time!

I was immensely flattered to be asked again to choose the breweries from the Manchester area and hugely amused to learn that he wanted just breweries located under railway arches. Something that, as any Brewtap denizen will realise, we don’t lack over here. So, I gladly did my bit and I’m chuffed that each brewery I asked agreed to supply a beer.

What Malcolm has done for the White Rose contingent is HUGELY impressive to these eyes. And – given the beer list for Salford last year – I know how much work this is. He has gone for each of the beers to be collaborations. With himself. Now that – as well as running your own business – is bloody hard work. But when you peruse the beer list below, it looks well worth the effort.

So, you have an intimate venue and Good Beer People. But this is also for a couple of good causes.

Candlelighters

Candlelighters was founded more than 40 years ago by, and is still run by, parents of children who have or have had cancer and the medical staff who treat them. They help and support children who are diagnosed and their families through diagnosis and treatment at the Childrens Hospital in Leeds.

“Candlelighters is a big family. And like any family, we look after each other. Anyone touched by children’s cancer in Yorkshire, no matter how long ago, is considered a member. Our job? To bring this family together and make sure each person can get the support they need, whether that’s a funded holiday, or just a cup of tea and a chat.”

A fine cause

Newton Hill Cricket Club

“Newton Hill Cricket Club was established in 1902 and has played at its Leeds Road ground since 1926.
We are a small club with big ambitions, and pride ourselves on providing a friendly, safe and enjoyable place for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy cricket.”

The club is local to Malcolm and itself supports a number of good causes.

So what else do you need? Beer. And here’s the mouth-watering list.

East : Beer Collaborations Five Towns & (Brewery)

Brown Cow – Mammatus : Orange Wheat beer 4.5%
Cap House Brewery – Kol : Mild 4.3%
Rat Brewery – Rat Out : Rye IPA 5.8%
Brass Castle – Brass Monkey : Banana Pale Ale 4.3%
Revolutions Brewery – A New England : Golden Pale 4.5%
North Riding Brewery – Rum & Raisin Mild : Mild 4.2%
Wharfedale Brewery – Wharfedale Pale : Pale Ale 4.1%
James & Kirkman – Tickers Delight : IPA 6%
Anonymous – Always Mashing In The Same Car : IPA 7%
Clarks – Belleisle Pale : Pale Ale 4.5%

West : Underneath The Arches

First Chop Ale – Pod : Vanilla Stout 4.2%
Alphabet Brew Company – Hey Buddy : Ginger & Mango IPA 5%
Six O’Clock Beer – P45 Archer Pale 4.5%
Black Jack Brewery – May the 4th be Wit You : Black Wit beer 6%
Runaway Brewery – Summer Saison : Saison 4.2%
Track Brew Co – Mazama : IPA 6%
Beer Nouveau – Peterloo Porter : Porter 4%
Squawk Brewing Company – El Dorado : IPA 6%
Tickety Brew – Dampfbier : Steam beer 4.1%

So. There you have it. Intimate venue. Good Beer People. Good Causes and a simply GREAT looking beer list.

It starts on Thursday evening. So, if can possibly get to Wakefield, you REALLY should.

It’s that good.

But don’t drink all of that Rum & Raisin Mild. Because if you do, I’ll cry.

I’d better pick up my train tickets…..

Manchester is a city blessed with some truly beautiful pubs. How to choose your favourite? You could quite easily torture yourself with this question. With stunning buildings like The Britons Protection, The Peveril of the Peak, The Lass O’Gowrie, The Hare and Hounds, The Marble Arch? All just lovely places to drink beer.

To get me in the gut, a pub has to have “soul” an almost indefinable quality. Let’s call it “feel”. It should have history. Therefore, it should be reasonably old.

It should also have good beer – obviously.

But, when all is said and done and you list all of Manchester’s really lovely hostelries, it comes down to a question. “Where do I drink the most”?

And that means….

The Crown & Kettle

There has been a pub on the “New Cross” junction of Great Ancoats Street and Oldham Street. since at least 1734, when this part of what we now know as Manchester was within the distinctly separate area of “Ancoates”. I quote…

“An interesting drawing hidden away from the public view in a volume stored in one of our public buildings” (now held at Manchester Libraries!) shows “….an alehouse with the curious designation of The Iron Dish and Cob of Coal”[1]

The image is faint, but the description in the book (a fine read) clearly relates to the view from Oldham Street to Newton Lane (now known as Oldham Road). It is also reasonably certain that this premises would occupy a fraction of the site of the current pub! At that time, “Ancoates” would have been little but a hamlet and not yet swallowed by its near neighbour.

It seems that the current building was built around 1800 and various historical sources have lists of the various licencees of “The Crown Vaults” or “The Crown Inn” in the mid-1800s. Ancoat(e)s at that time was notorious slum area heavily populated with immigrant Irish labourers and their families as was nearby Angel Meadow.

(There is also an image on the Band On The Wall website – dating from 1820 – clearly depicting a sign of a Crown and a Kettle next to market stalls for New Cross market)

The pub eventually became the property of Wilsons Brewery of Newton Heath and was known as very popular with Manchester City fans. An incident in 1989 inside the pub lead to a United fan getting (allegedly) stabbed and lead to the closure of the pub.

For 16 years. A large part of the reason for this prolonged closure being a fire attack on the pub causing extensive damage to the interior.

The pub came into the hands of the current owners in 2005 when – with the assistance of English Heritage (the building was Grade II Listed in October 1974) – it reopened for business.

I only really started going myself about two years ago or so. But in that small time, it has worked it charm and wormed its way into my heart.

Victorian Gothic in style, the pub originally had a central bar for a large open space, but this was restructured internally to create 2 smaller rooms to the rear of the bar. The ceiling in the main room bears the scars of the 90s fire damage, ceilings on both sides having netting in place to protect against any of the ornate plaster work falling onto unwary customers. You can’t help but crane your neck to admire though. Truly beautiful.

The ceiling in the small rear room is intact (although still with protective netting) and another cricked neck is worth risking to admire its beauty.

With the TV now effectively out of commission, this is a great place to indulge in some truly excellent beer and chat with friends – the normally unobtrusive background music is usually right up my street too!

The beers are sourced (mostly) from local Micros both on cask and craft keg – with many of my favourite local Micros like Tickety Brew, Track, Runaway etc – and there is an extensive selection of real ciders to choose from if fermented apple juice be your thing.

This pub just …… sums up Manchester to me.

It’s different. It’s got history. It’s damaged. It’s a survivor.

It has a Mancunian Soul.

And I love it.

[1] “Manchester Streets & Manchester Men” by T Swindells (1908)

(This piece was originally commissioned by  (and published on) Manchester Beer Week – an event created and driven by Connor Murphy.)

Come to Manchester between 10th – 19th June and get involved. It’s going to be special.

Like Manchester.