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Beer Here Now: New brewers and festive events

Written by
Kaleigh Watterson
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The railway arches near Piccadilly Station are already home to a number of breweries, but two more will be joining them shortly. Here’s what you need to know about them – and a look at some of the festive beer events taking place over the coming weeks.

Railway arches and brewers seem to go hand in hand these days with many of the new additions to Manchester’s brewing scene choosing them when they’re looking to start up or move to a larger site. The latest brewery to sign for a spot under the railway tracks is led by Paul Mellor and his best friend Andy and will be moving into 66 Temperance Street. Paul previously worked for Titanic Brewery while dabbling in homebrew and has now decided to make the leap into brewing full time.

It’s been two years in the making – with the biggest challenge seeming to be choosing a name. Paul says they went through about 500 different names before settling on something simple – Manchester Brewing Co.

With the sheer number of breweries operating in the area, it’s a surprise no one has already gone for this name. Paul says he found there was once a Manchester Brewing Co but it closed in 1914, and there is also a brewery with the same name in the US who solely trade and distribute in the area of Manchester, New Hampshire.

They’re expecting to be up and running in February and will focus on a core range of five beers along with seasonal specials. The simple brewery name will allow them to be more playful with some of their beer names, Paul says.

The range will start off with 3.8 percent bitter ‘King Cotton’; a 4 percent pale using mainly New Zealand hops named ‘Factory Pale’ in homage to both Manchester’s manufacturing heritage and the world famous record label; a 4.5 percent American Pale Ale ‘Shut The Front Door’ which has more tropical aromas (‘we wanted to make a beer that smells as close as possible to Um Bongo’, Paul says); a 4.5 percent porter based on a Manchester Tart with coconut and raspberry flavours named ‘Dark Eyed Sailor’ named after a song by his dad’s favourite band Steeleye Span; and a 6 percent IPA called ‘Mad Carew’ which takes its title from Lancastrian performance poem ‘The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God’.

They’ll be very much cask-led, although they are planning on kegging some of their beers later on. Bottling and canning will also be planned, depending on the beer style, and a souring room will also be set up in the brewery.

But the main focus of Manchester Brewing Co is to keep it simple. ‘There’s no mission statement,’ Paul says. ‘We’re just going to have a lot of fun and not take ourselves too seriously.’

Another new face to arrive at the arches in the coming months is Carbon Smith Brewing. Unlike Manchester Brewing Co, they’re not brewing newbies and are instead relocating from their current site up in Edinburgh. The strength of Manchester’s brewing scene is cited as one of their main reasons for the move and they expect to be settled in their new home by mid-December.

Meanwhile, in Christmas news:

Blackjack are known for their regular brewtap events but for the last one of 2015, they’ve decided to join forces with neighbours Runaway for a joint event. Taking place at Runaway’s site (which is just across the road from Blackjack in the Green Quarter) on December 11 and 12, the event will feature food curated by the team at Grub along with plenty of beer and music from Goff.
Runaway Brewery, Unit 4, Millgate, off Dantzic Street.

Two other breweries will also be teaming up for a festive event – which will also take place on December 12. Track and Squawk, who are both based near Piccadilly Station, will be hosting a Christmas Fair at Track’s brewery with ten taps of beer on offer along with 20 stalls selling handmade goodies, food and cakes for all your present buying needs.
Track Brewery, 5 Sheffield Street.

See Time Out's guide to Manchester's best craft beer bars.

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