News - Indy Man Beer Con

IMBC 18 FRINGE

Here are the IMBC 18 Fringe events happening around the city and suburbs over IMBC 18. View them best in our APP HERE with links to facebook events and maps of the venues.

Follow #IMBCFringe for live happenings around town.

Here we go…

Aged Orval
Tuesday 2nd October // Café Beermoth
Over IMBC we’ve dug into our reserve stock and will be offering 2,3,4,5 and 6-year-old Orval bottles over IMBC as stocks last.

Track Takeover Common
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // Common
10am – late. Great beer from one of Manchester’s greatest, TRACK.

Siren Takeover Port Street
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // Port Street Beer House
Midday – late. Wall to wall cask and keg from Siren Craft Brew.

The Kernel Takeover The Pilcrow
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // The Pilcrow
Midday – late. The seminal KERNEL pour their beer at The Pilcrow.

North Takeover The Beagle
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // The Beagle
Midday – late weekdays. 10am – late weekends. Cask and keg supreme from Leeds baes North.

Deya Tap Take Over
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // Station Hop
Six lines of glorious fresh Deya at Levenshulme’s great Station Hop

Other Half x The Veil Tap Takeover
Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 7th October // Bundobust

From 4pm Wednesday, Other Half and The Veil lock horns at Bundobust to pour that fresh fresh throughout IMBC.

Cloudwater JPA Launch
Wednesday 3rd October // Port Street Beer House
6pm – Midnight. West Coast IPA Cloudwater x Bagby x Full Fat launch. A beer brewed in memory of John-Paul Cassidy.

Amundsen Tap Takeover
Wednesday 3rd October // 57 Thomas Street
From 7pm. 4 line tap takeover from Oslo’s Amundsen plus cans ahoy.

Vibrant Forest Tap Takeover
Wednesday 3rd October // Reasons To Be Cheerful
Reasons To Be Cheerful on Fog Lane host a tap takeover from Vibrant Forest kicking off on Wednesday 3rd October

Black Iris Tap Takeover
Wednesday 3rd October // Sandbar
From 5pm. 8 taps of Black Iris and a charity raffle (with boozy prizes) in aid of Mad Dogs Street Project at Manchester’s seminal Sandbar.

Magic Rock Tap Takeover
Wednesday 3rd October // Prairie Schooner Taphouse
From 7pm. Meet The Brewer + Cask, Keg and Cans.

Cascade + Wild Beer Aged Bottle Tasting
Wednesday 3rd October // Beermoth
TICKETS. 6.30pm – 8.30pm. We’re delighted to be welcoming both Cascade Brewing and Wild Beer Co. to the Beermoth cellar for a vintage bottle tasting. We’ll be drinking six beers that have been aged up to five years each.

Expect a range of incredibly complex beers from both breweries.

Your ticket also gets you 20% off bottles and food at Café Beermoth, and 5% off draught beer, as well as 10% off bottles to take away from the Shop.

Extremely limited ticket availability, so get in fast!

Garage Mini Tap Takeover
Thursday 4th October // The Assembly
From 5pm. Garage (Barcelona) drop a fresh haul at The Assembly in Urmston.

Siop Shop x Square Root Refresh Yourself Hangover Special
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // Siop Shop
From 8am. Limited release of Siop Shop x Square Root’s SALTED COCONUT LIMEADE soft drink, Refresh Yourself. We hear Siop Shop will be pairing the bottle with one of their incendiary breakfast muffins. A must for those in need during IMBC.

Wild Beer Millionaire Shortbread Pie
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // Idle Hands
Idle Hands signature pie crust filled with Wild Beer’s salted caramel milk stout custard, topped with whipped cream, crumbled shortbread and salted caramel drizzle. PLUS look out for a roast beef special braised in Millionaire Stout. Oh, and Millionaire Stout on tap too. Obvs. Brunch, lunch and coffee galore. 7.30am-7pm Thurs / Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun.

Fourpure Growler Fills
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Epicurean
20% off all Fourpure growler fill takeaways at The Epicurean during IMBC + Fourpure merch giveaways!

Squawk Barrel Aged Showcase x Meet The Brewer
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Hillary Step
Meet the Brewer Sunday 7th October 7-9pm + from Thursday Squawk launch four BA beers: BA Chocolate Milk Stout, Whisky Aged Corvus Stout, Red Wine Aged Dubbel, and Whisky Aged Chocolate Milk Stout.

Squawk Barrel Aged Showcase
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Smithfield
Squawk launch four BA beers: BA Chocolate Milk Stout, Whisky Aged Corvus Stout, Red Wine Aged Dubbel, Whisky Aged Chocolate Milk Stout.
Lervig Tap Takeover
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // Ply
From 5pm on Thursday. Norwegian powerhouses Lervig takeover the taps of Manchester pizzahouse Ply. Also featuring a special pizza in a box designed by Nanna from Lervig!

Wander Beyond Can Launch
Thursday 4th October // The Knott
7pm – late. As part of the IMBC celebrations Wander Beyond are launching three new canned beers exclusively at The Knott Bar, with special pizza beer & pairings and beer flight board deals all weekend.

All Girl Tap Takeover
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Gasworks Brew Bar
Celebrating Women in the Brewing Industry.

Tiny Rebel Tap Takeover
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Magnet
Tiny Rebel takeover Stockport institution The Magnet. Expect 20 beers across cask and keg.

Beery Food Specials
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // The Marble Arch
As part of IMBC Fringe, across the weekend of the Independent Manchester Beer Convention there will be a rotating series of beery food specials on at the Marble Arch. These will include Beer-basted rib-eye steak, beer and bacon mussels and more. All our dishes will be accompanied by the best selection of Marble and guest beers.

Beer Nouveau Wild Thing
Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October // Beer Nouveau
From Midday (2pm on Friday) Beer Nouveau present beers brewed with foraged ingredients, including Latvian hops.

LUDiCROUS Games Cafe at The Runaway Brewery
Friday 5th October // Runaway Brewery
£10 adv. via Eventbrite. 7pm – 11pm. Enjoy beers direct from the brewery whilst choosing from an extensive library of around 100 great games. There will be a game guru on hand so you can skip the rules and jump straight in to games such as Ticket to Ride, Cash ‘N’ Guns and Camel Up.

If you want silly fun party games or super competitive tactical battles, we will have something for you.
Ticket price of £10 (+ Eventbrite fee) includes:
– 1 pint or a flight of 3 beers
– Snacks and nibbles
– Access to a library of 100+ games
– Expert game guru on hand

Odyssey Tap Takeover
Friday 5th October // ÖL Brewery and Bar
12pm – late. Herefordshire’s Odyssey takeover the taps at ÖL

Cloudwater Barrel Tasting
Friday 5th October // Cloudwater Brew Co
TICKETS. 2pm – 3pm. Cloudwater might be famous for their joose but they’re currently putting a lot of work into their barrel programme as they delve even deeper into aged, wild and mixed-fermentation beers.

As part of this year’s Indy Man Fringe, they’re offering a sneak peek into future plans and the exciting releases that are coming up.
Join barrel manager Jeremy and brewer Al at Cloudwater’s Unit 9 barrel store, where they’ll give you samples of beers from other brewers that inspire them, let you try unreleased beers from barrels, and give you pours of newly-packaged beer from the barrel programme.

UK Garage Party with Garage
Friday 5th – Saturday 6th October // Northern Monk Manchester Refectory
From 9pm. Garage (Barcelona) basement takeover with UK Garage music and Garage beer until 2am.

Cloudwater Brewery Tour
Friday 5th October // Cloudwater Brew Co
TICKETS. 1pm. Cloudwater have added an extra brewery tour on top of their usual Saturday morning slot for this year’s Indy Man Beer Con.
Join them at the heart of their brewery for an introduction into their work and ethos, a tour of the brewery, and a tutored tasting. You’ll get a sample right from one of their tanks, and a glass of beer at Unit 9, their tap room right next door to the brewery.

The Beer Jesus of America / Film Screening and Q&A with Greg Koch
Friday 5th October // Cloudwater Unit 9
7pm – 9pm. Free entry. Join Stone Brewing Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Greg Koch at Cloudwater Brew Co’s Unit 9 tap room for the UK’s first screening of The Beer Jesus of America – a film by Matt Sweetwood and Sweetwood Films.

Burning Sky Down The House
Friday 5th October // Beatnikz Republic Bar
Burning Sky TT + Mark Tranter playing his favourite punk hits from 9pm. FREE 1/3 of Beatnikz beer to people with an IMBC 18 wristband / ticket.

Mikkeller Running Club
Saturday 6th October // Beer Nouveau
10.30am. The monthly meeting of the Manchester chapter of the global Mikkeller Running Club will be setting off from Beer Nouveau at 10.30am for both 5 and 10km routes to shake out those sore heads ready for the Saturday session!

Left Handed Giant Tap Takeover
Saturday 6th October // Heaton Hops
Bristol’s Left Handed Giant take over the taps at the great Heaton Hops! 10% off all beers drink-in or takeout throughout IMBC 18 for wristband / ticket holders.

First Chop Meet The Brewer
Saturday 6th October // Band On The Wall
4pm – 7pm. Meet Salford’s First Chop in the bar at Band On The Wall!

Electric Bear Tap Takeover
Saturday 6th October // Seven Bro7hers
7pm – Midnight. Electric Bear Tap Takeover + DJs at Seven Bro7hers

Squawk Meet The Brewer
Saturday 6th October // The Smithfield
7pm-9pm. Squawk head to The Smithfield to talk about their new barrel aged beers and more!

Pomona Island Tap Takeover
Saurday 6th October // The Gas Lamp
All day Saturday we will be pouring the four beers brewed by Pomona Island for Indy Man which were pouring Thursday and Friday. Alongside these we will have two super special beers as yet to be confirmed. So if you missed out or weren’t there the first 2 days and want to try some DDH beasts from Salford’s best, then get yer backside down Saturday afternoon. Why not make the trip in-between the afternoon and evening sesh, there’s definitely time!

Late Night Runaway Casks
Saturday 6th October // Café Beermoth
9pm – 2am. Our friends at Runaway Brewery have been incredibly kind and filled casks with their beer for this special event!

Runaway Brewery is usually only available on keg, except for very special releases. However, here you will be able to try some of their core range alongside specials. Starting at 9PM and going on until late with our extended opening hours over IMBC. Free entry.

Beer More Social Takeover
Sunday 7th October // Reasons To Be Cheerful
From 3pm. Manchester’s most organised bunch of drinkers present their pick of the best IMBC 18 breweries as they takeover the R2BC taps.

Little Earth Project TTO at Plant Powered Sundays
Sunday 7th October // GRUB, Fairfield Social Club
Midday – 6pm. Vegan food vendors with a tap takeover from Suffolk’s sustainable brewing heroes Little Earth Project. 6 lines including cask and collaborations with 6 Degrees North and Fyne Ales.

Posted on 26th September 2018

IMBC 18 Talks and Tastings

Here are this year’s IMBC talks and tastings at Victoria Baths. Book your places in advance to avoid disappointment (all but one tasting have tickets linked below) – there may be tickets available at each session for tastings. But maybe not.

There will be free pop-up tastings throughout Victoria Baths during IMBC 18 as ever.

REMINDER: If you do not have a ticket to the relevant session, you cannot attend the tasting.

TALKS AND TASTINGS

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Thursday 4th OCTOBER 2018

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WHAT IS INDEPENDENCE? Paul Jones and friends explain beer!
Thursday 4th October | Pineapple Room | 6.30pm | 45 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Kicking off IMBC 18 we host a panel discussion on independence in the industry and what it means as we move towards UK craft 3.0. Keynote from Paul Jones of Cloudwater and featuring Alex Troncoso of Lost and Grounded, Jen Ferguson of Hop, Burns and Black and Sam McMeekin of Gipsy Hill.

WYLAM WOULDN’T YOU?
Thursday 4th October | Warehouse | 6.30pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
IndyMan Room 3 sponsors Wylam have a lot to shout about – brewery in an actual palace of arts? Tick. Super tasty beer? Obvs. Brewpub project by the river? Bingo. Join team Wylam for a tasting of some brand new beers AND maybe something from the archives too ;)

BURNING SKY | BLACKBERRY PROVISION
Thursday 4th October | Warehouse | 7.30pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Burning Sky have been quietly working away over the last 5 years producing beer that takes TIME to be perfect. This is a tasting of a beer created especially for IndyMan – a Blackberry version of Saison Provision!

JESTER KING | TASTING
Thursday 4th October | Warehouse | 8.15pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Texan farmhouse legends bring the heat for an intimate tasting in the warehouse of their 3 year SPON blend created from 1, 2 and 3 years old beers created following the methode gueuze…

WILD BEER | A-Z OF MODUS
Thursday 4th October | Pineapple Room | 8.30pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
A talk and guided tasting with Brett and Andrew founders of Wild Beer Co. Focusing on the journey of Modus Operandi, from being the first beer conceived by Wild, then progressing through the various blends, and onto the Beyond(s) and finishing with Iced Modus.

Photograph by David Bailey

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Friday 5th October 2018 DAY SESSION | 11am-4pm

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WYLAM WOULDN’T YOU?
Friday 5th October | Warehouse | 12.30pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
IndyMan Room 3 sponsors Wylam have a lot to shout about – brewery in an actual palace of arts? Tick. Super tasty beer? Obvs. Brewpub project by the river? Bingo. Join team Wylam for a tasting of some brand new beers AND maybe something from the archives too ;)

IN FOR THE DURATION. HOW TO BUILD A FARMHOUSE BREWERY.
Friday 5th October | Pineapple Room | 1.30pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Duration have been making a name for themselves despite not quite having a brewery yet, if you been following the insta though you’ll know they’re almost there. Miranda and Bates are here for a talk and a few beers to throw light on this exciting project.

6 TYPES OF LAGER with the CRAFT BEER CHANNEL
Friday 5th October | Pineapple Room | 2.30pm | 45 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Surprise 2018 trend or last refuge from pastry beers for anyone who knows anything about beer, Jonny Garrett returns to IMBC to set the record straight with a foray into the world of Lager styles.

BLACK MALT BOTTLE CLUB
Friday 5th October | Warehouse | 2.45pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Black Malt = London’s dark beer bottle share club. Educating people about dark beer with discussion, tasting and sharing. Join Alex Sewell for beverages and chats about how we achieve a more diverse beer industry in the UK. POC | WOKE MEN & WOMEN | NON-BINARY FOLK | LGBTQIA+ | EVERYONE IN BETWEEN.

Photograph by Jody Hartley

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Friday 5th October 2018 EVENING SESSION | 5.30pm-11pm

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6 TYPES OF LAGER with the CRAFT BEER CHANNEL
Friday 5th October | Pineapple Room | 6.30pm | 45 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Surprise 2018 trend or last refuge from pastry beers for anyone who knows anything about beer, Jonny Garrett returns to IMBC to set the record straight with a foray into the world of Lager styles.

ALEFARM | TASTING
Friday 5th October | Warehouse | 7pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Alefarm have been making waves for some time and now we’re seeing a lot more of their well judged sour beers, saisons and IPAs out in the wild. Here’s a sneaky little tasting of some of the best of their range.

WILD BEER | A-Z OF MODUS
Friday 5th October | Pineapple Room | 7.45pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
A talk and guided tasting with Brett and Andrew founders of Wild Beer Co. Focusing on the journey of Modus Operandi, from being the first beer conceived by Wild, then progressing through the various blends, and onto the Beyond(s) and finishing with Iced Modus.

BEER INDEPENDENCE
Friday 5th October | Warehouse | 8pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
A break out from our discussion on what independence in the beer industry really means. Join Paul Jones of Cloudwater, Adam Robertson of Verdant and Bruce Grey of Left Handed Giant for a couple of beers and some chat.

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Saturday 6th October 2018 DAY SESSION | 11am-4pm

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BURNING SKY | 2017 vs. 2018 ANNIVERSAIRE TASTING
Saturday 6th October | Warehouse | 12.30pm | 20 minutes | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
IndyMan Room 2 sponsors Burning Sky have been quietly working away over the last 5 years producing beer that takes TIME to be perfect. This is a vertical tasting of Anniversaire 2017 and 2018 – just to show you what time does to great beer!

Q&A WITH GREG KOCH, CO-FOUNDER OF STONE BREWING
Saturday 6th October | Pineapple Room | 1.30pm | 1 hour | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
IMBC welcomes Greg Koch, Co-Founder of Stone Brewing to Manchester and the Pineapple room for a residency throughout the weekend. On the Saturday Greg will be hosting a Q&A session with participating members in attendance as well as opening questions to twitter using the hashtag #askGK. Ask away, with your questions about Berlin, San-Diego or the upcoming film “The Beer Jesus of America.” This is amazing op| portunity to ask questions to one of the most prominent beer figures in the US, so #askGK away.

WILD BEER AND LOVERBEER | WILD BEER LOVERS
Saturday 6th October | Warehouse | 2pm | 20 minutes | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Loverbeer and Wild Beer have much in common – not least their exploration of what beer can be when you mess with the parameters until they almost break. This is where the genius comes in. This is a tasting of their collab – Ceresa!

THE CRUSHABLE CANVAS
Saturday 6th October | Pineapple Room | 2.30pm | 30 minutes | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Beer has often courted art and the wave of quality beer in cans over the past few years has brought a new way for breweries to interact with artists. The Crushable Canvas is examined by James Ockelford of Refold (North, Zapato), Chris Shearston of Textbook Studio (Cloudwater) and Nanna Guldbæk (Lervig)

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Saturday 6th October 2018 EVENING SESSION | 5.30-11pm

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STONE TASTING
Saturday 6th October| Pineapple Room | 6.30pm | 20 minutes
Stone’s Greg Koch hosts an impromptu tasting of the IMBC collab IPA featuring North, Buxton and Magic Rock, brewed in Berlin! Also on offer will be Stone Enjoy By IPA 31.10.18, Geist Berliner Weisse and Cali Belgique in White Wine Barrels!!

WYLAM WOULDN’T YOU?
Saturday 6th October | Warehouse | 6.30pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Room 3 sponsors Wylam have a lot to shout about – brewery in an actual palace of arts? Tick. Super tasty beer? Obvs. Brewpub project by the river? Bingo. Join team Wylam for a tasting of some brand new beers AND maybe something from the archives too.

6 TYPES OF LAGER with the CRAFT BEER CHANNEL
Friday 5th October | Pineapple Room | 7.30pm | 45 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Surprise 2018 trend or last refuge from pastry beers for anyone who knows anything about beer, Jonny Garrett returns to IMBC to set the record straight with a foray into the world of Lager styles.

ALL PINTS NORTH | North Brew Co.
Friday 5th October | Warehouse | 8pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
North Bar have a long and illustrious history. Their brewery came down the line but now it’s here we’re all so glad – this year has been pivotal for North Brew Co and we celebrate them at IndyMan with this tidy little tasting.

Photograph by Jody Hartley

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Sunday 7th October 2018 | 1-7pm

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BURNING SKY | 2017 vs 2018 ANNIVERSAIRE TASTING
Sunday 7th October | Warehouse | 2.15pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Room 2 sponsors Burning Sky have been quietly working away over the last 5 years producing beer that takes TIME to be perfect. This is a vertical tasting of Anniversaire 2017 and 2018 – just to show you what time does to great beer!

THE VEIL TASTING
Sunday 7th October | Warehouse | 3pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
Oooh the Veil – so pleased to see one of our favourite breweries here this year and that calls for a tasting. How does Braühaüsenweisse Hefeweizen sound? OK then, Master Shredder Wheat IPA and Scorpion Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy, El Dorado and Simcoe? Cool, see you there…

A-Z OF MODUS | WILD BEER
Sunday 7th October | Pineapple Room | 3.45pm | 30 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
A talk and tasting with the founders of Wild Beer Co. Focusing on the journey of Modus Operandi, from being the first beer conceived by Wild, progressing through the various blends, and onto the Beyond(s), finishing with Iced Modus.

THE KERNEL TASTING
Sunday 7th October | Warehouse | 4.15pm | 20 mins | £6 adv. Tickets HERE
An intimate tasting of some very special beer from The Kernel in the Warehouse.

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Tickets are still available for THURSDAY and SUNDAY sessions of IMBC 18 ONLY. Buy them HERE.

Posted on 20th September 2018

Wylam Q&A | IMBC 18

We recently caught up with Dave Stone of Wylam ahead of their steering the good ship Room 3 at IMBC 18 as official room sponsor. Wylam have been all guns blazing for quite the while and big players on the IMBC scene for years now. This year will see them toting more beers than ever at the festival and you will find Wylam pouring beers at ALL sessions in the pool in Room 3. Here’s what Dave has to say about it…

Ahoy Dave. We are excited to welcome Wylam to IMBC 18 as the sponsors of Room 3 AKA the party room. Can you let us in on any plans for the space?

Well we like to party… everybody does ;) So we are looking to make sure that the party room is well served with new brews and classics a bit like a liquid 6music I suppose.

Wylam are no strangers to beer festivals – either attending or putting on your own great spread in the shape of Craft Beer Calling. What makes a good beer festival?

A beer festival is made by the people who buy tickets and attend the festival. Without them it’s just a room full of foisty beer nerds comparing yeast strains. The reason we dived in to take over the pool this year is that we love the crowd at IMBC and we wanted to be able to pour as many great beers as possible for them.

The Palace of Arts! What a place! Can you tell us a little about the history of the building, how you came to inhabit it and what you guys offer there to visitors?

The Palace was built in 1928 as part of the Great Exhibition of the North which was a World Trade fair designed to stimulate trade during the depression. It lay barren for many years prior to us taking it over and transforming it. We often wonder what the folk who attended the original exhibition would think if they saw how the building has been repurposed. It’s an incredible Grade II listed building in a beautiful park in the City Centre and we are honoured to be custodians of this amazing space.

By The River! We’ve heard rave reports but have yet to dip our beak. What’s going on over there? Sounds wild!

By The River Brew Co is a project that has been developed by two of our Directors. It’s a separate entity to Wylam. It is indeed wild with a 15 barrel brewhouse, tap room, open flame restaurant, custom build bike shop which serves coffee and brunch plus an amazing street food market that opens at weekends. The idea is to brew beers mainly for site so we can ensure they are served fresh and in their best condition. You can find out more HERE.

Wylam have been producing some fantastic beers recently and have been at the forefront of the UK’s quality pale output. What beers are you particularly proud of from the past 12 months?

To be honest there isn’t one particular beer or beers we would say we are prouder of than others. It took us a little time to dial the new kit however once we did we were super proud of all our output.

Collaborations – you have been very busy lately. Your Northern Powerhouse series went down a storm – are there plans for this to become a regular thing? What are some of the biggest positives of collaborating with peers?

The Northern Powerhouse series was a really exciting project to lead out on. It was such a pleasure to bring some of the finest brewers in the region to our home and collaborate with them in this celebration of all thing ‘northern’. Whether it will happen again is still to be decided. The biggest positives from collabs are knowledge sharing, breaking bread together and of course going on the lash after the brew.

Can you tease us with any special beers you’ve got up your sleeve for IMBC 18?

We would love to… but we haven’t designed some of them yet :) There will be a good mix of exclusives, classics and collabs. along with some stuff we keep locked away in Ben our Head Brewers dungeon. If he asks you to go down there by the way just say no ;)

What’s next for Wylam?

What’s next is what is past and present. Continue to make beers the best we can and to get them out to inquisitive pallets. It’s the best time in history for beer… so let’s party.

Lastly, any advice to visitors to the festival on where to head in Manchester before/after their session?

To be honest when we attend IMBC we tend to stay within the festival but there is an abundance of great beer bars in the city so free your mind and your ass will follow.

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Cheers Dave!

Follow Wylam online wherever you can. They have a website! They have a twitter! They have an instagram! Go visit Wylam in Newcastle and come drink their beer in October in Victoria Baths!

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IMBC 18 / 4th-7th October 2018. Victoria Baths, Manchester
Tickets for Thursday 4th, Friday 5th day session, and Sunday 7th October are available HERE.

Posted on 14th September 2018

Stone Q&A | IMBC 18

This year at IMBC we welcome Stone Brewing to the Pineapple Room at Victoria Baths as official IMBC 18 room sponsors. You’ll find Stone holding down their own room and pouring great beers all festival long. We spoke to Stone co-founder Greg Koch and the UK Stone team to find out what’s occurring…

Can you let us in on any teasers on what punters can expect from Stone at IMBC 18?

UK Team: A slice of Stone Brewing Berlin; a sanctuary to sit and relax with your friends and a beer chosen from an amazing selection from Berlin and the US, alongside music from local heroes who will be playing records for us Friday and Saturday night. You’ll have to wait for the festival to find out the rest!

Stone are one of the OGs of the craft beer scene as we know it. Yourselves (alongside Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island and Anchor) were some of the first great US beers I personally recall picking up regularly in the UK in the early 2000s. It’s great to see that in 2018 you are constantly pushing things forward, bringing out specials and keeping that core range stone cold solid. What upcoming Stone plans (beer-shaped or otherwise) are you particularly excited about?

Greg Koch: Well I wouldn’t be in this business if something didn’t excite me every day and there’s a lot to be excited about at the moment. We launched our Stone UNIQCAN program this year in which we have a new packaged special release rotating every month. Our Berlin brewing team is exercising a lot of innovation and creativity in these releases and even after 22 years in the business, they’re really keeping me on my toes.

One of our first UNIQCAN releases this year was Stone Tangerine Express IPA, which is one of my very favorite Stone beers. Next year this beer will join our year-round lineup out of Berlin and I’m personally looking forward to sharing this awesome beer with more of our fans.

Lastly, we have a really cool band collaboration in its early stages in the US right now and next year we’ll be taking it to our fans in Europe. For now I’ll just say that 22 years ago when Steve Wagner and I were just starting out, we never in a million years would have imagined that we’d be partnering with a group this prolific… so we brought our A-game with the beer, it’s definitely something to look forward to.

How do you see the current beer landscape? It seems more bustling and positive than ever.

GK:It depends what region we’re talking about, but in general, I’d agree with you. Especially here in the UK, craft beer is on a really promising trajectory. This is exciting stuff!

Stone are seasoned beer pourers, and I daresay drinkers, at beer festivals all over the world. What for you makes a good beer festival?

GK: It’s safe to say I’ve been to a few beer festivals in my time! Independence is important to us. No matter how much time passes and how well Stone thrives in the face of challenges, I’m still fired up when it comes to the corporate consolidation of choice and the obfuscation of true independent, artisanal beers. So one of the most important elements of a festival for me is that the beers are curated from the artisanal world and that fans can rest assured that they’re experiencing the work of independent breweries.

Other than that, festivals are all about trying new things and getting to know others in the craft community so I like to be surprised! You can’t really go wrong with enough good beer and fellow beer nerds like us.

This is a Q&A exclusive, your main man Greg Koch has a GREAT sounding talk/tasting that festival goers can attend at IMBC 18. Can you give us a tiny peak behind the curtain on that because I think it’s going to be one of the events of the festival…

GK: I’ll definitely bring something special for us to enjoy together, no doubt about that. I can’t give much away here because I’m going to leave this one to those attending. I’ll take questions from the audience and try my best to give some meaningful answers!

Stone are a go to for the West Coast IPA style, hazy NE IPAs are perhaps more prevalent (if instagram is to be believed…) on the current beer scene. Do you find the demand for the former to be as rampant as ever?

GK: There’s no denying an unbridled haze craze. And there are some really great hazy beers out there! Are they more prevalent than West Coast Style IPAs? I don’t think we’re there yet. We’re still finding consistent demand for West Coast Style IPAs.

Go on then, when are Stone Berlin making a lager? The inspiration must be relentless in Germany.

GK: It’s important to me that our fans, no matter what country they’re in, can experience the bold and hoppy IPAs that dominate our menu, but as you said, we’re inspired by what’s around us. We do have a few especially badass lagers in our future.

Beers! Can you let us in on any special brews that you’ll be bringing in October?

UK Team: We have a very special collab that we are launching at the festival, stay tuned to @StoneBrewingUK for more details… our sumputous winter seasonal Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout will be pouring along with some Berlin brewed specialities and we are air freighting some very special US delights to share with you including Stone Enjoy By IPA 31.10.18!

Thanks all! See you in the Stone zone at IMBC 18…

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TICKETS! Buy your Thursday 4th October and Sunday 7th October tickets HERE. All other sessions SOLD OUT.

Posted on 12th September 2018

Cloudwater Q&A | IMBC 18

Cloudwater are back at IMBC for their fourth appearance since first exploding onto the scene in 2015. This year Cloudwater are the room sponsors of Room 1 at Victoria Baths and you will find them pouring them freshies at every session of IMBC 18. We spoke to Cloudwater about upcoming plans for IMBC 18 and more besides…

Your new brewery tap is now open at Unit 9, huzzah! What can visitors to the tap expect now and over IMBC weekend? How does the new tap differ to the barrel store experience?

In Unit 9 we wanted to create a more comfortable space for our customers as well as a more permanent space that we as a brewery can take pride in. The Barrel Store was a great stop gap, but with Unit 9, we have a better environment for people coming in to see what we are all about, as well as to showcase great beer we are inspired by. We had our first tap takeover from Bagby Beer, coming all the way from Oceanside, California, which included freshly air-freighted beers and an evening in conversation with Jeff Bagby, who is a phenomenal figure in the Southern California beer industry and an absolute don of the West Coast IPA.

Plus, Unit 9 has a fantastic dispense system installed by Yvan of Jolly Good Beer, with beer direct from our 3ºC cold store, maintaining temperature until it leaves the tap.

We’ve been in discussion with Linzi, our awesome Unit 9 tap room manager, as well as our new events crew in creating some IndyMan fun in the lead-up to and alongside the festival. We are still finalising these details, but expect some guest beers from friends of ours on the taps, collab brew launches, and some one-off brews alongside some single barrel releases from our Barrel Store and the launch of our new Autumn/Winter range of beers, which will also be integral in our IndyMan offering.

Cloudwater have been holding down Room 2 at Victoria Baths the past two years at IMBC. This year Cloudwater are the sponsor of Room 1 INSIDE a pool. What are you hoping to bring to the space?

We are excited to be dispensing our beers through a direct-draw cold store, which will be a first at the festival. It might be a bit geeky but dispense is so important for presenting your beer in the best possible way, and we are really hoping to take it to another level.

Also, two words: Crispy Corner. (Ed: Lager heads, take heed)

What are the latest developments at Cloudwater HQ?

Aside from the recent opening of Unit 9, we are currently getting the staff and opening sorted for our London tap room at 73 Enid Street in Bermondsey. We are looking forward to joining the wonderful community in beer there, as well as other things food and drink related. We are looking to open not long after IndyMan. Hope you all like pink!

Additionally, we’ve just recently brewed our 500th beer, which will be a hefty little number inspired by parkin. For those of you who aren’t aware of the glory that is parkin, think ginger, treacle and sticky tasty cake vibes.

How was it sitting in on this year’s Thirsty Games qualifying tasting? The 2018 Thirsty Games brewery line-up is one of the best yet but there was stiff competition!

There were quite a lot of interesting entries for the Thirsty Games this year. We hosted this in our Barrel Store, and the competition was pretty close, particularly with how many breweries there were. Claudia and Connor both sat on the panel and tried a lot of beer. It’s hard work for some.

Cloudwater are no strangers to beer festivals. What for you makes a good beer festival experience?

The best beer festivals we’ve been a part of have been those that have a welcoming atmosphere. As breweries going to places near and far, it’s great to feel welcomed by the festival hosts as well as the attendees. We recently had a wonderful experience in the town of Hammerfest in the very north of Norway–within the Arctic Circle! The bar, Jernteppet, and its owners and staff really looked after all the breweries attending and were exceptionally kind, and that put us all in a great mood that was passed onto the attendees, which sort of fed back to us. It was a welcoming festival in a welcoming town, and we couldn’t have asked for much more! IndyMan has been amazing in that respect in showing Northern hospitality to attendees coming from all over.

We are really privileged to be involved in so many events with such positivity. Events surrounding beer should be positive, and ones that everyone should be able to enjoy! We shouldn’t miss out on the experience of meeting and connecting with people at festivals just to tick a few beers off a list. Beer festivals such as IndyMan don’t just bring great beer all in one place, but they also bring in a fabulous community of brewers, enthusiasts, industry folks and people just curious about what this whole beer thing is about and what DIPA stands for.

Also, if you don’t know what DIPA stands for, please come to the Cloudwater room, where we will likely have one on draft!

Any favourite memories from IMBC 17?

Big fans of the Blawd Doughnuts, particularly paired with impy stouts. Recommended food and beer pairing action right there. We also can’t forget the masses gathering around the huge wheel of cheese in the Wild Beer Co. tent, chanting “CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE” then animalistacally grabbing fist-fulls, bare handed, eating it plain. Plus, the beer from our friends Forest & Main were sublime. It was great having them pour with us!

CHEERS!

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Tickets for IMBC 18 are available for Thursday 4th October and Sunday 7th October sessions HERE.

Posted on 4th September 2018

IMBC 18 Supporters

Alongside our room sponsors, we have gladly linked arms with the following to bring you IMBC 18.

MAGIC ROCK x BEER MERCHANTS
Glass sponsor

These two know a thing or two about good beer in glasses so we are excited to have Magic Rock and Beer Merchants on board as joint sponsors of the official IMBC 18 glass.

SIMPLY HOPS
Official Brewers Supporter

Simply Hops… Simply the highest quality hops and hop derived brewing aids around. Whole Hops, T90 Pellets and much more. Everything you need to make great beer! Simply Hops join us at IMBC 18 to look after the brewers with their signature brand of hop-forward hospitality.

KEGSTAR
Official Keg Supporter

Kegstar specialise in the rental of stainless steel kegs to the brewing community. Simplifying the keg value supply chain with the aid of technology, Kegstar offer a great service both to breweries and to venues – using apps and scanning, it has never been easier to arrange kegs for collection or for the delivery process. Read more about what Kegstar offer HERE and look out for Kegstar at IMBC 18.

THE BREWER’S EYE
Beer Mat, Wristband and Festival Supporter

The Brewer’s Eye is an all-new app that will be launching at this year’s festival. Geared towards both the drinker and the brewer, The Brewer’s Eye looks to be the must have beer accessory of 2018. We spoke to Peter from The Brewer’s Eye about what to expect from the app HERE.

TELCOM

Suppliers of WiFi

God gave rock and roll to you but Telcom gave the internet to us. Literally. Telcom are supplying the WiFi for IMBC 18 at Victoria Baths. Telcom are a Manchester-based internet provider. They can boost your WiFi potential no end. Check out their website for various case studies of what Telcom can do for you.

LALLEMAND
Thirsty Games Supporter

Lallemand return to back The Thirsty Games, our competition to find the best new brewing talent in the UK, for the third year at IMBC 18 having supported The Thirsty Games since its inception. What Lallemand don’t know about yeast isn’t worth knowing. They specialise in the research, development and production of yeast, bacteria and related products and have been a mainstay of the brewing industry for decades.

SIMPSONS MALT
Pencil Supporter

The IMBC pencil is back, baby! And who better to support it than Simpsons Malt, family business and the preeminent name in malt – if you’ve ever been to a brewery, you’ll likely to have seen sacks of Simpsons Malt stacked up ready for the magic to happen. Learn more HERE.

AWESOME MERCH
Official T-shirt and Merch Supporter

Leeds powerhouses Awesome Merchandise have got your back for ALL possible merch needs. Watch out for our IMBC 18 t-shirts and merchandise that have been printed by Awesome Merch. Awesome Merchandise is one of the UK’s fastest growing print & merch companies. So far they’ve made more than 65 million items for 70,000 customers worldwide. They’re currently crowd funding to open up an Awesome Merchandise in the USA. Take a look at that HERE.

BEER ADVENTURES
Festival Supporter

After launching at Indy Man 2017, Manchester based global beer tourism app Beer Adventures is back to support this years festival. Since we last caught up they’ve expanded from 10 tours to 150 and from 10 cities to 85. You can now use their interactive city guides to explore the beer and food scene in 25 US cities, 40 cities across the UK and Europe and in places such as China, India and Russia.

Having recently seen the 10,000th global Beer Adventurer sign up to their app, they are ready to expand to even more cities and want you to be part of their next exciting chapter. In partnership with Crowdcube they are offering a limited amount of shares in their company with some pretty sweet shareholder benefits on offer. Shares start from £10 and are the perfect gift for any Beer Adventurer across the world!

Check out their investment page and tell your beer loving friends to get onboard in owning part of your own global beer tour company: http://adventureswithbeer.com/invest/

KEYKEG
Keg Management Supporter

KeyKeg offer lightweight one-way disposable kegs and have been a boon for the modern beer industry. KeyKeg will be at IMBC 18 to organise the recycling of their single use kegs.

Posted on 31st August 2018

Burning Sky Q&A | IMBC 18

This year at IMBC, Burning Sky sponsor Room 2 – the central space at Victoria Baths. This Burning Sky’s first year as room sponsor and this means you’ll find Burning Sky at the helm of Room 2 with a host of their beers pouring at each and every session. We spoke to head brewer Mark Tranter about their plans for IMBC 18 and Burning Sky goodness in general…

Hello Mark! We are very excited to have Burning Sky as the sponsor of Room 2 at IMBC 18. What are you looking forward to bringing to the space? And can you can give us any teasers on any special beers that you will be bringing?

Obviously we are super excited to be sponsoring IMBC this year – it ties in nicely with our 5th Birthday celebrations. We will be bringing a snazzy bar with a nice café vibe for people to be able to relax in and around. We will be pouring some special beers, including our first coolship release, vertical tastings of Anniversaire, the only keg ever of a single barrel Blackberry aged Provision and the debut of a couple of brand new beers. Amongst other things…

You’re coming up to your 5th birthday (only 13 more years before you can drink your beer!) – congratulations. Time flies but also Burning Sky have put out so many great beers in that duration, it’s hard to think of a time that Burning Sky weren’t on the UK scene. You’ve got a birthday shindig at the Prince Albert in Brighton – what’s happening?

I guess we started brewing just as the UK beer scene was really stepping up a notch – so in some ways it does seem like we’ve been around that bit longer than we have. For our Birthday, we are organising a small party/ beer festival at our favourite pub in Brighton, The Prince Albert. It’s a thank you to them and to everyone who has supported us over the years – so it’s a free event. Here there will be some extra bars in the pub, serving beer from some of the best UK brewers, friends and people that inspire us, the full details can be found here.

As you move into the second half of your first decade, what are your hopes and dreams for the future of Burning Sky?

That’s a tough question! Time moves so fast – and nowhere faster than in this ‘craft’ beer world. I guess I just want us to continue down this path that we have started forging, being true to our ethos, whilst continuing to improve our beers through constant learning. Obviously, as we get older, our barrel library expands, which in turn allows us to release more things.

As you are so renowned for your saisons, blends and wilder ales, I think sometimes people forget that Burning Sky also produce some outstanding IPAs and pale ales. Do you ever feel that or are your pales (cask, keg, bottles) actually right up there in terms of actual real-life demand?

That’s kind of you to say! Obviously we are so proud that people like our saisons etc – we certainly do! I think that people who know about our pales and IPAs, love them for the same reason that we do they are full flavoured in terms of being hop forward but also balanced and really drinkable. We love pales that leave you wanting another, rather than them being a chore to get through. Are they up there? Well we never have any stock, so I guess they are!

Are there any particular styles you are focusing on expressing in the future? What’s left for Burning Sky! Tell us about your coolship…

We will continue in our way – I feel like there is so much variation and nuances in the beers we do, so it will be more exploration of these with our ‘house style’. With the coolship, we are releasing our first beer from this on the 5th anniversary of our first ever brew, 29th September. There will be a small National launch on that day with the beer pouring in Manchester for the first time at IMBC (bottles will be available at the Beer Merchants shop there too).

So now we are happy with the results we are seeing, we can step it up a gear in terms of production. This will be made easier insofar as we will be taking on another building next year, to house all our barrels. Big enough for us to really grow into.

Burning Sky resides in Firle – midway between Brighton and Eastbourne – how is the brewing scene down there? Any peers blazing a trail that we should watch out for?

Historically, there hasn’t been much action in terms of modern style breweries but that is changing slowly with the likes of Gun Brewery (who have been going a couple of years now), some others are starting up, like ‘Good Things Brewing’, ‘Lost Pier’, ‘Lost and Found’ etc. Then obviously we have Harveys, who we all love and are finding new favour with modern beer aficionados.

What makes a good beer festival?

Good people – obviously! Good beer – obviously! Organisation – I think it’s easy for people from the outside looking in to underestimate how much goes into these things. A nice venue always adds to the attraction – gone are the days of a municipal hall!

Any favourite memories from IMBC 17 / Burning Sky’s fringe takeover at Port Street Beer House? Unfortunately we couldn’t duck out of Victoria Baths to check that out but heard it was top notch!

We were really pleased with the beers we managed to rustle up for that! I think my favourite moment was getting the Barrel aged, bretted IPA that we brewed with Harveys on the bar – it tasted amazing and was a perfect marriage of old and new!

Thanks Mark!

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IMBC 18
4th – 7th October 2018
Tickets for Thursday and Sunday sessions remain. Buy yours HERE.

Posted on 31st August 2018

IMBC 18 ROOM SPONSORS

What ho. This year at IMBC 18 we have partnered with some absolute beauts to help bring the best festival possible to Victoria Baths.

IMBC 18 ROOM SPONSORS

Brewery room sponsors will be curating the aesthetic of each of their chosen spaces – as well pouring their beer to the max at every session of IMBC 18. Here’s who you will find and where…

BUXTON BREWERY | The Green Room

VERDANT BREWING CO. | Turkish Baths

STONE BERLIN | Pineapple Room

CLOUDWATER | Room 1

BURNING SKY | Room 2

Photo from Total Ales

WYLAM | Room 3

WILD BEER CO | Food Village 1

LERVIG x BEER MERCHANTS | Food Village 2

Posted on 30th August 2018