Meet Beer Merchants / IMBC 17

I’m sure you need no introduction but allow us to introduce you to BEER MERCHANTS, our glass sponsor for IMBC 17. Beer Merchants will also be bossing a bottle shop at Victoria Baths for all your takeout needs. They’re always busy blighters, check out who they are and what they do below…

Hello Beer Merchants! Who am I speaking to?

Jonny Garrett, marketing manager at Cave Direct and Beer Merchants. And the Craft Beer Channel, for my sins.
Beer Merchants are our glass sponsor for IMBC 17. You’ll be in everybody’s hands in Victoria Baths. Can you tell us a little about Beer Merchants?

We’re one of the oldest online beer shops in the UK, specialising in beautiful British and Belgian beers, but with delicious stuff from all over the world too. Usually we’ve got over 1,000 beers (and the odd gin!) live at any time and we try to have the widest, most eccentric list on the internet. And thankfully being an importer too means we get the best prices too.
You’ll be operating a bottle shop at IMBC 17 for all our takeaway needs. What can punters expect?

An absolute whale fest. Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen and some incredible Belgians you’ve never heard of but have to try; loads of carefully selected bombers from the US plus the absolute best the UK has to offer next to beers from all the brilliant breweries at IMBC. On top of the rare bits we’ll also have everything you need to keep the party going at home (road beers!) and lots of amazing merch from breweries too.

Are you looking forward to locking horns with Lervig at IMBC this year?

If by locking horns you mean pouring ourselves all the 3 Bean and Tasty Juice then hell yeah. We import their beers so we’ve worked really closely with them to create an experiential space that will be unlike any sponsored room has been at IMBC before – but that will pale in comparison to the beers they have on. We’ve always thought Lervig were world class and that’s why we partnered with them 3 years ago, but what they have put out in the last 12 months has been nothing short of show-stopping. It’s going to be a great event for them.

You lot are doing a couple of talks / tastings at IMBC 17. Lip smackingly titled “So much more than sour”. Can you give us a spoiler as to what that might entail?

I’m going to try to end this awful term “sour beer” as a catch all for a whole bunch of styles. Like the term “lager”, it just doesn’t do justice to all the amazing sub-styles within the category – geuze, kriek, wild, berlinerweiss, oud bruin, gose – that are as distinct from each other as IPA and stout. It’s not all my own personal mission though – we’re gonna be trying some seriously rare and exciting beers while I get ruddy in the face and tell you all about them and the adventures we’ve had with the Craft Beer Channel and Beer Merchants discovering them.

What have Beer Merchants got in the pipeline? I know there’s exciting plans underfoot with Unit 101. Amazing that you guys are doing the Zwanze Day this year!

There is so much in the pipeline with Beer Merchants I don’t know where to start. We’re launching an aged beer section soon, with lots of stuff we’ve been cellaring for years, our beer club has relaunched to be better than ever, and we’re doing events up and down the country to get rare beers into the hands of people that don’t usually get a chance to try them. Meanwhile our pub pop-up Unit 101 in Manchester has been great since it opened and its an honour to host such an iconic event in Zwanze Day. People should keep their eyes and ears open as we have a HUGE bit of news about a new venue coming soon.

Where should visitors to the city hit during the festival? (Asides Victoria Baths, obviously)

Oh my well we’ll be holing ourselves up in Café Beermoth or Port Street every chance we get but we’re also big fans of Cane & Grain and Cottonopolis – maybe some vegan food at V Rev to balance the bad out. Then obviously we’ll be at our Unit 101 afterparty on Friday for some crafty beer pong. This time around we might not do it with Lervig Sippin’ into Darkness. No one wins when you do that.

Lastly, where is best to keep up with what Beer Merchants are up to?

Follow us on twitter @beermerchants as that’s where we get involved in fights and pedantry. Oh and news, sometimes we do news. It’s also worth following @cavedirect our trade arm, because most things go through there first so you can get the skinny on the rare stuff before it hits the site.

Thanks Beer Merchants! We all look forward to drinking from your cup at IMBC 17.

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Not got your ticket for IMBC 17 yet? No challenge! Thursday and Sunday tickets remain. Pick up your ticket for the opening Thursday 28th September or closing Sunday 1st October sessions HERE. 

Posted on 1st September 2017

Meet Fourpure / IMBC 17

MEET FOURPURE
IMBC 17

We’re sure you’ve already met many many times but allow us to introduce you to Fourpure as Adrian Lugg shines a light on what Fourpure are up to and what to expect from them at Victoria Baths for IMBC 17. Last week we travelled to Fourpure to brew a collaboration beer that will be available nationwide mid to late August 2017. Look out for Bath Bomb in the very near future.

Fourpure are the sponsors of Room 1 at IMBC 17. You’ll find Fourpure at every session of IMBC 17. We asked Adrian a few questions…

You’ve just brewed an IMBC collaboration beer at Fourpure – thank you kindly – can you tell us a little about Bath Bomb?

It’s a tropical pale ale, it’s going to taste amazing. We hope. No pressure.

Sneaky peek of the Bath Bomb can artwork by Steve Hockett

Tell us a bit about your recent Juicebox 500 tour

It was a super good time. Logistically it was a lot of hard work but it definitely paid off. We hit 11 cities in 11 days and met some brilliant people from all over the country. There’s something about the craft beer crowd, both those that own and work in venues and the humble beer drinker who just wants to turn up and have a chat. There was such a good vibe at every new city we went to and it was a great opportunity for our team to get out and about and meet some really cool people.

Fourpure are the guardians, as it were, of Room 1 at Victoria Baths for IMBC 17. What can we expect from Fourpure?

Sophie (much-loved Fourpure events manager) has been pulling together some really fun ideas, there’s going to be lots of lights, some interactive stuff and we’re talking to a local arts school so it should be a pretty good show.

James IMBC touches things at Fourpure

Deucebox was one of the hits at last year’s IMBC. Will you be unearthing more gems at this year’s festival?

We hope so. We’ve got some absolute belters coming through now and more in time for the festival. We’re looking to have a decent size bar with a few taps so you’ll see a range, there’ll be some Fourpure favourites like Juicebox, Deucebox and Shape Shifter, I believe we’ll also be pouring Bath Bomb so that’s exciting. Truth be told we started planning our Indy Man beer list towards the end of last year so we’re also bringing a range of small batch and one-offs that we’re hoping go down well.

Who are you looking forward to sharing the stage with at IMBC 17?

Dave Grohl? Is he going to be there? It’s not that we’re huge Foo Fighter fans but apparently he’s a nice guy. It’s probably not fair to single out any one brewery as everyone brings their A Game to IMBC, it’s such a great event with a unique vibe and good people. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves around this event, there’s just so many great breweries with exciting beers.

What are your tips for the ultimate IMBC experience?

Visit as many breweries and try as many beers as you possibly can. Drink lots of water. Stay hydrated. Don’t take any preconceptions in with you, your new favourite beer might be something you’d never think to try, your new favourite brewery might not have previously been on your radar. Don’t take it too seriously, it’s beer, have fun.

Photographs by Fourpure

How do you feel about the current London brewing scene?

It’s really hard to keep up with what’s happening in London right now, the momentum just keeps building and it’s incredible to see the support across the city for (relatively) well-established breweries and new comers alike. The focus on craft in London is really exciting, it’s the beers we like to drink and there’s plenty of opportunities to share ideas and collaborate.

What’s next for Fourpure? What should we look out for?

We’re pretty close to installing our new brew house, there’s an abundance of new tanks and new toys in production and some stuff is en-route as we write this. The increased capacity is going to free up a lot of time to focus on innovation, and our entire team, brewing and beyond are chomping at the bit to get some fun recipes in tank. We’re also pretty close to getting some of our barrel aged projects in keg, there’s always something new and different happening at Fourpure but sometimes we like stop and appreciate an old favourite. We’re going to be brewing Beartooth again in Autumn, it’s a seasonal American Brown that we’ve brewed before and it’s one of our favourite beers for any occasion.

Thanks Fourpure, I like you

Tickets for IMBC 17 / Thursday 28th September – Sunday 1st October 2017 are available HERE. 

Posted on 2nd August 2017

IMBC 17 Fringe

IMBC 17 FRINGE
Thursday 28th September – Sunday 1st October 2017

At IMBC time each year we like to lay on a few outer Victoria Baths experiences to get you in the beery mood. This year we are exciting to announce that we have the following events happening at our bars. As ever we wanna throw the net wider and get some great beer happenings going on city-wide that you can enjoy before and after IMBC – if you’re a pub / bottle shop / other and you want us to include your event in our programming, get in touch!

Meanwhile, here’s what we’ve got going on so far…

BURNING SKY TAKEOVER PORT STREET BEER HOUSE
Rarities, classics and new classics wall to wall across cask and keg from master brewers and blenders, Burning Sky.

MAGIC ROCK TAKEOVER COMMON
Huddersfield honchos Magic Rock bring a bag of tricks to Common for back to back Magic cask and keg. Expect tastings, new releases, rare batches, artwork, food specials and the unexpected.

WEIRD BEARD TAKEOVER THE PILCROW
Weird Beard bring the immaculate haul to The Pilcrow for a four day showcase of all things Weird. Newbies, golden oldies, pop-up tastings, specials galore.

THORNBRIDGE TAKEOVER THE BEAGLE
Bakewell’s always excellent Thornbridge make tracks to The Beagle in Chorlton for the long weekend to provide the ultimate offering of essential cask and keg. All the stone cold classics will be there alongside rarities, Thornbridge food specials, pop-ups and much more.

Artwork by David Bailey

Got your ticket to the big dog yet? IMBC 17 wants YOU (to attend). Thursday 28th September and Sunday 1st October are the only dates that remain. Pick up your tickets HERE!

Posted on 2nd August 2017

IMBC 17 SPONSORS

Howdy. Each year we assemble a dream team of breweries and beer-related folk that kindly sponsor Indy Man Beer Con. Some of the below, where listed, are room sponsors of Indy Man Beer Con 2017 at Victoria Baths. Encouraged to make their pitch their own, you’ll find all of the below at EVERY session across IMBC 17. Colour us excited…

IMBC 17 SPONSORS

BEAVERTOWN BREWERY
@ Pineapple Room

Them fabulous Beavers from London town surely need no introduction. Beavertown have brought the party consistently to IMBC over the past however many instalments. Last year they rocked Room One with their inflatable saucers, life-size spacemen cut-outs, OH and the most phenomenal range of rare Beavertown beers and stone cold classic cuts. This time Beavertown take the Pineapple Room at Victoria Baths by storm. Clear the way, spaceship incoming…

BUXTON BREWERY
@ Green Room


Hot damn on a cold-stored tin roof are we excited to welcome Buxton Brewery to IMBC 17 as the official room sponsor of the Green Room (answer: yes). This our first time welcoming the terrific Buxton onboard to Indy Man Beer Con as a room sponsor and we cannae wait to see how they deck out the place. Consistent hit makers and ice cream innovators (alongside their brother from another mother, Omnipollo), Buxton will be bringing out the big guns for IMBC 17.

CLOUDWATER BREW CO
@ Room Two

Cloudwater join us at IMBC for their THIRD appearance since their inception in 2015. To say the Manchester brewery have gone from strength to strength would be an understatement. Constantly moving things forward, learning and releasing great beers (often in waves), Cloudwater return to marshal Room Two for the second year running. Last year Cloudwater spilled a river of previously unreleased barrel aged beauties, and never-seen uber drinkable drops, this year we daresay to expect the unexpected once more. Cloudwater will be joined by brewery friends from the US, more on that soon…

FOURPURE
@ Room OneThe purest fourest, Fourpure, a force for the pure, return to Indy Man Beer Con for their second year as room sponsor. London’s Fourpure, a family brewery founded in 2013, have been knocking out the hits for fun over the last few years. Juicebox has become a staple, Fourpure’s core range much adored and their rarer releases highly sought after – luckily you’ll find all facets of the Fourpure oeuvre at Indy Man once more this year. Room One just got interesting!

LERVIG
@ Turkish Baths

Highly excited to welcome Lervig to IMBC 17, hosting their very own room in the Turkish Baths. Coming all the way to Manchester from Stavanger, Norway, Lervig are the creators of everything from easy drinking pales and barrel aged barley wines to exquisite sours. Over the last few years Lervig have touted some of the world’s best stouts and porters, their Hoppin’ Frog collab Sippin’ Into Darkness was gone in no time at IMBC 16 and their 3 Bean Stout Way collaboration is out of this world. Don’t miss the gems that Lervig will be unearthing in the Turkish Baths, flanked by their buddies Beer Merchants – more on that below.

NORTHERN MONK
@ Food VillageLeeds royalty Northern Monk traverse the pennines to bring you their grade A selection at IMBC 17. Hot off the back of their excellently curated Hop City, Northern Monk will be showcasing their ever broadening range of rarities, joyous collaborations, and their crowd pleasing standards. Last year they made two thrones out of cans, who knows what the brethren will emerge with this year. Cash them ousside (in the food village), how bow dah. Enter the Northern Monk tent for all your eternal needs.

SIREN CRAFT BREW
@ Room 3

Champs of Finchampstead, Berkshire’s best Siren Craft Brew are returning to IMBC once more – this time overseeing Room 3 as lords of the realm. Siren’s core range is a constant inspiration, as is their bountiful barrel ageing programme, their seasonal specials and their verve and innovation in collaboration with their peers in the beer world. At IMBC 16 Siren regularly dropped bombshell after bombshell with lesser seen, and in some cases NEVER seen specials, as well as touting the only cask of the festival. This year we already know it’s going to be a special Siren year as they are bringing THE RAINBOW PROJECT in full effect to IMBC 17. That means you’ll find all seven 2017 Rainbow Project beers pouring in room 3 at IMBC 17: Magic Rock x Casita Cerveceria, Partizan x New Belgium, Beavertown x Jester King, Hawkshead x Modern Times, SIREN x Sante Adairius, Wild Beer x Side Project, and Burning Sky x 3 Floyds. Wow.

WILD BEER CO
@ Food Village

Shepton Mallet’s Wild Beer Co, they of the magical blend, the house of a hundred (and then some) barrels, they of the sprawling styles and vigorous experimentation, return to IMBC for the second year running to pitch a tent in our outside arena. Inside the tent, nay cave of wonders, you’ll find a mile long (pretty much) Wild Beer bar pouring all you could ever fawn over. Last year they brought the biggest block of cheese you ever did see. This year we daresay Wild Beer will bring the house down once more. Find them out the back with neighbouring tent dwellers, Northern Monk.

Thems the breweries, now let us focus a lil attention on our non-brewery partners for IMBC 17.

BEER MERCHANTS

Beer Merchants are our glass sponsor for IMBC 17. It won’t be the first, nor last time, you’ll drink an exquisite beer aided by Beer Merchants. Beer Merchants stock the world’s best craft beer, an online cavalcade of the hottest drops from the modern beer scene. They will be operating a physical shop in Room 3 alongside their bezzies Lervig for all your takeout needs at IMBC 17. Visit them you must.

KEGSTAR

Kegstar is a keg and cask rental business and innovative tech company. Their aim is simple; to help free up valuable time and money spent maintaining, tracking and collecting kegs and casks. Using app enabled technology (free to download from your app store) each of Kegstars steel containers are scanned with a smart device, allowing them to be tracked through the supply chain to the venue. All the producer needs to do is fill, deliver, scan and repeat. When the time comes for empty kegs and casks to be collected, venue staff simply scan for a pick-up or alternatively phone or email us and we’ll collect as quickly as possible.

SIMPLY HOPS

Simply Hops are purveyors of wholesale hops and hop pellets for the UK and Europe. Buy your hops, pellets, PHA, anti foam, and more from Simply Hops. Passionate about the business of hops and champing at the bit to provide the very best for all your brewing needs.

LALLEMAND

Lallemand kindly sponsor The Thirsty Games, our yearly showcasing of the best new small breweries in the UK. Lallemand is a global leader in the development, production and marketing of yeast, bacteria and specialty ingredients. What Lallemand don’t know about yeast *probably* isn’t worth knowing.

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And thus concludes the list of our illustrious partners. Fancy partying with them? Join us 28th September – 1st October for Indy Man Beer Con 2017. Friday and Saturday sessions are SOLD OUT but you can pick up tickets for the opening Thursday 28th September session and closing Sunday 1st October party. Tickets available HERE. 

Posted on 19th July 2017

Thirsty Games 2017 Finalists

THE THIRSTY GAMES 2017 FINALISTS

This week we announced the finalists for our Thirsty Games 2017 competition. The Thirsty Games is an IMBC initiative to find the best new small breweries operating in the UK today. From the nationwide entrants, we, along with Thirsty Games sponsor Lallemand, tasted the submissions and chose the strongest three breweries.

Last year, 2016, was the first year of The Thirsty Games. Fiveclouds took home the crown after a close run battle with Wilde Child and Maregade on the inaugural Thirsty Games bar. Read about Fiveclouds journey since HERE and seek out their beer.

At IMBC 17, you will be invited to taste the beers from The Thirsty Games 2017 finalists and encouraged to vote for your favourite brewery. You, along with a panel of brewers at the festival, will decide the winner of The Thirsty Games 2017.

You will find our three Thirsty Games finalists on The Thirsty Games bar at every session of IMBC 17, pouring a selection of their beers throughout the festival.

The winner of The Thirsty Games 2017 will be gifted the prize of being the first brewery on the team sheet for Indy Man Beer Con 2018, invited to have their own bar across all sessions. Thirsty Games supporters Lallemand have also queued up a couple of big prizes that we will unveil shortly.

Without further ado, here are the three Thirsty Games 2017 brewery finalists…

LITTLE EARTH PROJECT


Little Earth Project is a small and adventurous micro brewery in Sudbury, Suffolk. Specialising in Historical, Farmhouse and Sour beers. Very British Sour Beer. IPA, Stock Ale, Porter and Farmhouse ales all fermented with local wild yeast and bacteria. We look forward to welcoming Little Earth Project to IMBC for the very first time.

Twitter
Instagram
Website

AFFINITY BREW CO
Affinity Brew Co: a South Walian and a Bristolian, marooned in a shipping container in North London, with nothing but a 2.5bbl Brew kit and an idea: To brew the beers they want to drink.

Both have been in the industry for many years as brewers, publicans and many other roles in between.

Head brewer Steve’s love of Belgian styles has resulted in Affinity’s signature beer being ‘Breeze’, a 3.8% Lime Zest and Coriander Seed Saison. And rather than brewing a double IPA, why not have a crack at a raspberry, coconut and cacao stout based on a famous Australian cake?

Steve and Ben’s unwillingness to stick to a core range mean that things are unlikely to stagnate at Affinity HQ; welcome along for the ride!


Twitter
Instagram
Website

BURNING SOUL



Burning Soul of Birmingham complete the Thirsty Games 2017 line-up. Here’s what Burning Soul have to say…

“The two of us set up Burning Soul Brewery on a mission to brew the best beer we can, because it’s what we love doing. Making uncompromised beers with the best ingredients available to us, to serve to the awesome beer community. The name Burning Soul isn’t just about beer, it’s about chasing down whatever it is that makes you tick, for us it’s brewing beer and we hope our passion for brewing great beer shines through in every drop we make.
We love all beer styles so for us it’s worth experimenting to find new exciting beers that work. We don’t shy away making progressive styles and love switching it up, using exciting ingredients in order to create memorable beer we hope you don’t forget.”

Twitter
Instagram
Website




#IMBC17TG

Indy Man Beer Con 2017
Thursday 28th September – Sunday 1st October 2017
Victoria Baths, Manchester

Tickets for the Thursday and Sunday sessions available HERE. All other sessions have sold out.

Posted on 13th July 2017

Tickets for IMBC 17 now on sale

Yes yes y’all!

Pick yours up HERE!

IMBC 17
28th September – 1st October 2017
Victoria Baths, Manchester

Thursday 28th September session / 5.30pm-11.30pm @ £8.50
Friday 29th September day session / 11.30am-4.30pm @ £8.50
Friday 29th September evening session / 5.30pm-11.30pm @ £13.50
Saturday 30th September day session / 11.30am-4.30pm @ £13.50 SOLD OUT
Saturday 30th September evening session / 5.30pm-11.30pm @ £13.50 SOLD OUT
Sunday 1st October session / 1pm-7pm @ £8.50
Full Fat Ticket / entrance to ALL sessions @ £50

Posted on 7th June 2017

IMBC 17 ticket launch events


To celebrate the launch of IMBC 17 tickets (general release Wednesday 24th May @ 9pm via HERE) we are holding TWO launch events at Port Street Beer House AND The Beagle on Wednesday 24th May from 6pm. If you can make it in person to either pub you will have the chance to pick up limited advance tickets from 6pm, limited to four tickets per person per session, ahead of the general website ticket release at 9pm.

See posters below for what’s happening. There will be free tacos galore from IMBC food vendors Al Pastor Paul at both pubs PLUS very special tastings from Buxton, Hawkshead, and Cloudwater at Port Street Beer House. Meanwhile, The Beagle will be pouring out free halves of Beavertown Neck Oil until the keg runs dry. Alongside this fervour there will also be a host of IMBC picks pouring across each bar.

Last but not leastly, we recently revealed the artwork for IMBC 17. Made by the fair hand, as ever, by Steve Hockett of Wonder Room Studio. 


Posted on 23rd May 2017

IMBC 17 Tickets

Tickets for IMBC 17 (Thursday 28th September – Sunday 1st October 2017 at Victoria Baths) will go on sale on Wednesday 24th May 2017 from 9pm on this very website. I know, I could hardly believe it either.

See you here!

Posted on 25th April 2017