A local brewery has today announced the launch of two new brews in support of Manchester’s struggling independent music venues.
Manchester Union Brewery‘s two new brews – a black lager named After Dusk, and Pivot pale ale – have been created in its brewery in Manchester Piccadilly and feature some of the characteristics that make the original Manchester Union Lager so popular.
Both brews are available for delivery right across the UK.
After Dusk – originally brewed as a special for the UK’s biggest lager festival, We Are Lager – is a class Bohemian lager, and favourite of the brewery. As described by Manchester Union Brewery as an “often misunderstood style”, black lager is easily drinkable and massively refreshing, with a complex malt bill that delivers bready and dark fruit flavours with “a classic saaz hop bitterness” recognisable from the brewery’s original lager.
Created in collaboration with some of the city’s top independent music venues, thanks to the breweries connections to the music scene, After Dusk plans to shine a light on, and continue to drive awareness of Manchester’s favourite venues during these testing times.
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Each can of After Dusk will show iconic images of venues including the Albert Hall, Hidden, Band on the Wall, Matt & Phred’s and Mint Lounge, with a QR code that can be scanned on a smartphone to take drinkers to the venue’s website.
There they will be able to access live streamed events, gig tickets and radio stations whilst the venues are unable to open.
While the brewery originally planned to focus solely on brewing good lager, due to tank space and the length needed to brew (three times longer than ale), the ongoing Manchester and national lockdown has meant that the business has now needed to pivot and expand its offering.
The second new brew – Pivot – is a take on the classic Manchester Pale Ale, but using central European malt and hops, which a style that became the staple of the region thanks, in part, to the soft water the city enjoys from the Lake District.
A pale ale meets lager, the brewers add pilsner malt to the bill to help keep it crisp whilst blending aromatic, tangerine-like German hallertau mandarina hops with a citrusy British Chinook, to deliver a full flavoured ale.
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All the refreshment expected from a lager, jam-packed with the flavour synonymous of a pale ale.
Manchester Union Brewery
Speaking on the launch of the two new brews, Will Evans – Co-Founder of Manchester Union Brewery – said “We’ve previously made a range of kegged lagers from pilsners to red lagers, black lagers and Oktoberfest lagers, just never in cans, but the addition of the pale ale is an unorthodox step for a lager brewery.
“We always planned to eventually do a wider range of beers, and with Manchester being in lockdown virtually continuously since March, we thought it would be a prudent move to pivot into ale earlier than planned – hence the name.
“We wanted to be able to develop a wider selection of beers for people to enjoy at home over the Christmas period and beyond, now people can buy a box of twelve beers which contains four of each different beer, each with its own unique style.”
Other Co-Founder Jamie Scahill added: “As a brewery we have close connections with the music scene as many of our friends are DJs, play in bands, run club nights and I personally know how hard it’s been as I run my own club night, Funkademia, and music festival, Highest Point.
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After Dusk offered a perfect opportunity to support Manchester’s independent music venues during these testing times, and If just one more person clicks a link and buys a ticket then we feel we’ve helped.”
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Each new brew will be available in cases of 12 cans for £26.58, or 24 cans for £48.67 from 6pm on 23rd November, and there will also be mixed cases containing original lager, pale ale, and black lager for the same cost.
Prices include delivery to mainland UK, and is expected within 48 hours.
You can find more information and get your hands on the two new brews via the Manchester Union Brewery website here.
Eats
‘Do not let Britain’s independent businesses disappear on your watch’ – Manchester bakery makes heartbreaking plea to Andy Burnham
Clementine Hall
A beloved Manchester bakery has issued an open letter to Andy Burnham ahead of the Budget begging him for help.
Barbakan Deli in Chorlton is basically an institution at this point.
The legendary bakery and delicatessen has been serving the community for 62 years, famed for its freshly-baked loaves of bread, its handmade sandwiches, and its pastries and cakes inspired by bakes from across Europe.
Posting on Instagram last night on Thursday 18 September, Frankie Dyer the director of Barbakan, issued an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Images: The Manc Group
It read: “Dear Mr Burnham, As an independent business owner in the hospitality sector, I am begging you to please read this.
“Really read it. And seriously consider what businesses like mine are telling you before the upcoming Budget.”
It continued: “In just the last two years, we have self-funded new bakery machinery, new catering kitchens, essential repairs and renovations and opened a second retail site, creating another six local jobs. We have won more than ten national awards for the quality of what we do.
“We have invested. We have grown. We have employed more people. We have worked harder than ever. In short, Prime Minister, we are doing everything you keep asking British businesses to do.
“And our bank balance is finished. That is the reality.”
The letter finished by Dyer inviting Andy Burnham to come visit the bakery and pleading for a ‘fighting chance’ to save the business: “We need action. We need meaningful reductions in the tax burden placed on employers.
“We need Employer National Insurance looked at urgently. We need a business-rates system which allows independent high-street businesses to survive. We need VAT reform for hospitality. We need Corporation Tax to reward businesses which reinvest, employ and grow.
“And we need proper grants and incentives that help established independent businesses invest and expand — not schemes with endless criteria which most ordinary businesses can never access. We need you to do something.
“And we need more than one token gesture in the Budget. A band-aid for a bullet wound. So I am asking you, Prime Minister, to come back to Manchester and see it for yourself. Pop an apron on and stand behind our counter.
Images: The Manc Group
“Come into our bakery in the middle of the night and meet the people making Manchester’s bread while most of the city is asleep. Look at our payroll, our energy bills, our rates, our supplier increases.
“Look at what leaves our bank account every single week simply for the privilege of keeping 50 people employed and our doors open. You said you wanted a government that understood the regions. You now have an opportunity to prove it.
“Independent businesses across this country are not asking for a handout. We are asking for a fighting chance. I sincerely hope your next Budget gives us one”.
Drinks prices revealed as Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub opens inside T2
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… Manchester Airport’s first-ever JD Wetherspoon pub has officially opened its doors inside Terminal 2.
The 300-seater pub – which welcomed its first customers earlier this week – is named The Belle Vue after Manchester’s historic showground.
Throughout the pub, you’ll spot design features that nod to the city’s sporting heritage – including vintage event posters and memorabilia, a ‘locker wall’ hosting trophies and other sporting exhibits, and a cricket-themed design in the carpets and bar panels.
Creating around 150 jobs in the process, The Belle Vue is the final planned new eatery to open in the airport’s redeveloped Terminal 2, marking one of the final steps in the super-terminal’s decade-long, £1.5bn transformation.
Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub has opened inside Terminal 2 / Credit: Supplied
According to the MEN, pints are priced from £6.20 for Carling and Coors lager, £6.45 for Budweiser, £6.60 for Guinness, and £6.70 for Poretti and 1664 Biere.
Prosecco is £9.20 for 175ml glass and £37.10 for the full bottle, while spirts and mixers are £6.80 for singles and £10.20 for doubles.
There’s also the classic Wetherspoons tea and coffee machines, where you can refill as many times as you like for just £3.60.
“It’s a proud moment to see the final new retail unit opening in our new-look Terminal 2,” commented Richard Jackson, who is the Retail Director at Manchester Airport.
“To be rounding off this 10-year programme by adding such an iconic name as Wetherspoon to the terminal is particularly special and we know that it will prove extremely popular with passengers. We think they’ll love the nods to Manchester’s heritage in the décor and design – and of course the name.”
Emily Sergeant -
23rd November 2020 
