First Chop / IMBC collaboration


We’ve gone collaboration crazy! Along with our brews with Quantum and Ilkley, we’ve also teamed up with one of the area’s newest brewers, Ramsbottom’s First Chop, to create ÖTM, an old fashioned brown ale with a twist of hops.

First Chop ales are currently brewed at the Outstanding Brewery in Bury, and the guys there were exceptionally friendly and accommodating hosts for our day. They also know their beer, as you’d expect!

The day was spent brewing, chatting and (of course) sampling beer, and the brew is currently looking and tasting great! It’ll be available at IMBC, and in limited amounts afterwards, so keep your eyes peeled!

Many thanks again to the fine men of First Chop and Outstanding for their hospitality.

www.thefirstchop.co.uk/

Collaboration with Ilkley Brewery


In a week filled with collaborations, IMBC traveled to Ilkley yesterday to brew Wit Marie with Ilkley Brewery Company. It’s a Belgian wit beer, but with a twist or two, which will not be revealed here!

Luke, Harriet, Chris, and the rest of the Ilkley team were fantastically gracious hosts and we had an amazing day rubbing hops and chatting beer. Plans are afoot to have two versions of the brew on at #IMBC2012, which should be a great opportunity for a direct comparison. We’re excited to taste and share the results. Here a few snaps from the brew day. Thanks again to Ilkley for having us!

IMBC / Events, talks and tastings…

We proudly present our event schedule for IMBC, specially selected for the weekend:

 

Friday 5th October / Talks Room (Female pool)

7pm : Red Willow presents ‘What’s yeast got to do with it?’

Red Willow will take one of their core beers and pitch with the following yeast strains: Saison, Wheat Beer, Belgium, House and Safale S04. All the beers will be available to taste throughout the talk as Toby Mckenzie shows how different yeast strains affect the beer / 45 minutes – Tokens required for entrance

8.30pm : What The HELL is craft beer?

Featuring James Watt (Brewdog), Zak Avery (beer blogger), John Clarke (South Manchester CAMRA), Toby Mckenzie (Red Willow) and Peter Alexander (Tandleman)

We intend to have a well informed, well mannered and constructive discussion about the merits or otherwise of using “craft beer” as a term to categorise beer / 45 minutes – FREE ENRTY

 

Saturday 6th October / Talks Room (Female pool)

7pm : Summer Wine Brewery ‘Hops & Heresy’

The main focus will be on hops and then beer manipulation / beer alchemy. A hybrid, one-off tea-infused Diablo IPA keg will be used along with one or two beer cocktails involving Summer Wine beers / 45 minutes – Tokens required for entrance

8.30pm : Nogne Ø present / Meet The Brewer with Kjetil Jikiun in association with James Clay.

The words “We do not aim to become much bigger, but we always focus on being better!” perfectly sum up the relentless pursuit of perfection that takes place at NØGNE Ø. Head brewer Kjetil Jikiun (AKA ‘The Bearded Giant’) will be hosting an exclusive Meet The Brewer just for IMBC / 60 minutes – Tokens required for entrance

 

Pop up tastings throughout the evenings :

Schneider

Aventinus, Aventinus Eisbock and then the two barrel aged beers (Cuvee Barrique – a blend and Eisbock Barrique – aged Eisbock). Using the Schneider beers to explore the effects of barrel ageing in a back to back tasting.

Nogne Ø

Kjetil Jikiun and James Clay will be hosting some secret tasting events around the building.

Brewdog

Based in the turkish baths, Aberdeen’s favourites will be holding sponteaous tastings throughout the weekend.

* Look out for the meeting point and signs as to when these will happen.

A special brew day collaboration: Quantum Brewing Co. and North Tea Power

On a beautiful summer/autumn Sunday morning, Jay, Quantum’s head brewer, Wayne and Jane from North Tea Power, and IndyManBeerCon descended upon the brew house in Stockport to brew up a special beer for #IMBC2012.

Good times were had, delicious coffee and tortilla española (thanks Jonny!) consumed while waiting for the boil to finish, and the result is now fermenting away. Watch for Jay’s tweets, as he’s promised updates. We won’t reveal here what it is… but here are a few snaps from the day. Thanks to Jay and NTP for taking time out on a Sunday to brew!

www.quantumbrewingcompany.co.uk

www.northteapower.co.uk

James Clay presents special guests Kjetil Jikiun (NØGNE Ø) and barrel aged Schneider Aventinus

NØGNE Ø:

The words “We do not aim to become much bigger, but we always focus on being better!” perfectly sum up the relentless pursuit of perfection that takes place at NØGNE Ø: The Uncompromising Brewery. When the brewery was initially founded in 2002, it was fair to say that most of Norway hadn’t even heard of the beers they were planning on brewing, let alone tasted a Porter, India Pale Ale, Saison or Imperial Stout (thanks in no small part to the country-wide ban on advertising alcohol).

Consequently, the brewery was driven by its export sales in the early going, quickly making a name for itself with a formidable range of beers. 10 years on and things are looking much better for the beer drinking populace of Norway. More new breweries are emerging, and NØGNE Ø’s range of over 20 beers is now being widely appreciated in its homeland. With collaborations spanning the globe, there’s always something new and exciting to look out for from the Grimstad brewery, and their lineup at IMBC will certainly not disappoint! Brewmaster and co-founder, Kjetil Jikiun (AKA ‘The Bearded Giant’), will also be attending in person to pour some beers and get involved with some of the pop-up tastings.

www.nogne-o.com
www.nogne-o.com/kjetil-jikiun-head-brewer.html

 

SCHNEIDER:

The history of wheat beer and the Schneider family are uniquely inseparable. Two hundred years ago, wheat beer could only be brewed by the Bavarian Royal family in their breweries. In 1872, when King Ludwig II decided to discontinue brewing the beer, Georg Schneider I persuaded the King to sell him the exclusive right to brew wheat beers, thus saving this prized beer style from extinction.

Originally based in Munich, the family acquired a brewery in Kelheim in 1927 which has remained the Schneider Weisse brewery to this day. It is the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria, and has continuously produced wheat beers since 1607. Whilst the brewery has built its world class reputation on more traditional beers such as their hefeweizen (‘Original’) and wheat doppelbock (‘Aventinus’), both rightly considered to be among the best examples of their styles available today, Schneider Weisse is increasingly gaining an appreciative fan base around the world with its more progressive and experimental beers.

Perhaps most well known of them all is a collaborative effort with Brooklyn Brewery, Meine Hopfenweisse, the world’s first dry-hopped wheat beer, but in recent years they have also been going it alone with exotic hops from America and New Zealand (almost an act of heresy in Germany, given that they are based so close to the Hallertau hop growing region). Their latest project has involved barrel aging with the aforementioned Aventinus, the fruits of which will be available to taste at IMBC for the first time in the UK (quantities are extremely limited). We will also be pouring the first keg of this year’s Tap X: Nelson Sauvin, an extremely popular special last year.

www.schneider-weisse.de

Food stalls and North Tea Power for IMBC

Fire and Salt BBQ

Marinated meats slow-cooking above hickory and charcoal in their own barbecue pit. That’s what Fire and Salt BBQ Co. is all about. Everything they cook is inspired by traditional Southern barbecue, aiming to bring you the best smokey flavours. Adding some of their own flair as well as their own handmade rubs & sauces to make sure it tastes that little bit special. It’s bare bones barbecue, done right.

https://fireandsaltbbq.wordpress.com/

 

Sindhoor

Launched in 2009, Sindhoor has brought the unexplored realms of South Indian cuisine to Manchester food lovers. One of the most original South Indian restaurants in Manchester.

“At Sindhoor, our philosophy is simple. Our aim is to convey our passion for South Indian cuisine in a way which gives you a perspective on our quest for perfect ingredients, technique, and a deep-seated desire to continue learning and evolving through old traditions and modern tastes.

Our menu embodies a unique blend of ethnic and progressive dishes. Our restaurant is renowned as the home of traditional home-style cuisine, but we recognise that the most important way that we can convey our love for what we do, is to have fun whilst doing it. We will always experiment with our combination of modern and traditional. There’s no magic recipe, but we know what works.”

www.sindhoor.co.uk

 

Great North Pie Company

The Great North Pie Co from Stockport have confirmed they will be attending the IMBC. They are widely recognised as one of the best pie makers in the country and definitely one of the most original. They’ve won awards for smoked eel pies – steak, ale and nettles to name a few. The new menu coming in August features a weird but amazing sounding Yorkshire pudding cream pie!

They’re developing a ploughman’s style lunch box for us with a cold cutting pork pie. Sticking to their ethos though I don’t think this will be your traditional ploughman’s, Neil, owner of Great North pie is talking about doing a ‘curry mile inspired ploughman’s’ based on the countless samosa’s and channa chat he has sampled!

www.greatnorthpie.co

 

Dirty Dogs

“Here at Dirty Dogs were really looking forward the IMBC and we’ve already got some beer inspired ideas up our sleeves. Our dog list is ever changing with previous toppings including our special recipe chilli dog, smoked beer onions and beer steeped sauerkraut which was a Port Street #IPAday sell out.

All our toppings are accompanied by our #properdogs, these dogs are the best around and with a beer in one hand and one of our dogs in the other you can’t go wrong. Follow us on twitter @dirtydogsarehot and keep an eye out for what we’ll be serving up at the IMBC.”

 

North Tea Power

North Tea Power is an independent espresso bar and café founded by Wayne Lew and Jane Spindler, located at G22 Smithfield Buildings in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

“We opened in May 2010 and have grown a reputation for providing brilliant coffee and light, fresh food in a relaxed & comfortable environment. We’ve gathered a great team of barista & brewmasters, had good times and made genuine friends along the way.

In August 2012 we were nominated for Best Coffee Bar at the Manchester Food & Drink Awards – the second time in the two short years since we opened! Our aim is to continually improve our knowledge and our standards, and to set the bar higher in terms of both our espresso based drinks & our brewed-by-hand filter coffee.

We’re incredibly pleased to be asked to take part in the inaugural Indy Man Beer Con, Port Street have introduced us to some great beers and their passion and support for all things craft is inspiring.

When people need a break from tasting beer, talking about beer and attending beer seminars, we will be on hand to provide caffeine sustenance: we will be pulling shots of our very own Deerhunter Espresso Blend on a traditional two group lever machine, and making some very special brewed-by-hand filters with our friend and UKBC 2012 Finalist Dale Harris of Has Bean Coffee Roasters – Has Bean roast our Deerhunter Espresso and have kindly agreed to take time out of their busy schedule to come to Manchester and help us out with the Brew Bar.”

We’ll have some special beers brewed in conjunction with NTP available too, more details to follow!

www.northteapower.co.uk

IMBC Max – Aumbry menu announced

We would like to introduce you to our good friends at Aumbry, an absolute gem of a restaurant in Prestwich, North Manchester. Chef-proprietors and husband and wife team, Mary-Ellen McTague and Laurence Tottingham, run what we consider to be Manchester’s finest restaurant along with co-owner Kate Mountain. Set up in a small cottage just off the high street they produce outstanding food served with a light and informal touch. The 2 chefs were schooled under Heston Blumenthal no less, so expect quality and finesse but with a distinctive style all of their own.

We have put together a small tasting menu for you, to give you a glimpse of their wonderful food and to prove that beer can be paired with more than just cheese, chocolates and a Ruby Murray. This is going to be a very limited pop-up affair, only 35 spaces per day, never to be repeated.

“Aumbry may only have a tiny kitchen, but it is packed with talent.” – Guardian

‘Restaurant of the Year 2010’ – Manchester Food and Drink Awards

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Restaurant/Prestwich-M25_1AJ-Aumbry-281150-41102

IMBC Menu

Welsh Rock Oyster
Shallots & vinegar
Flemish Red

Home Smoked Mackerel
Poached rhubarb & mustard cream
Belgian Wit

Cumbrian Wood Pigeon
Braised chicory, grilled grelot & barley grass
Barrel Aged Sour

Grapefruit Posset
Celery granita & sherbet
Pale Ale

Petit Fours
Hazelnut & rosemary chocolates, apple toffee pastilles
Barrel Aged Barley Wine