A mile-long beer festival celebrating Manchester’s independent breweries is coming to Piccadilly Trading Estate next month.
Four of Manchester’s finest brewers are teaming up to host a massive free party along the city centre’s industrial beer mile.
Taking place on Saturday 13 May, Sureshot, Cloudwater, Track, and Balance are each inviting a guest brewery, an independent food vendor and live DJS down to their taprooms for a riotous all-day block party.
Kicking off at 12pm, punters can move freely between each taproom – collecting a stamp card designed by artist David Bailey at each.
At its upstairs taproom, award-winning brewery Cloudwater will host a Friends and Family sour bar with food from Isca wines in Levenshulme and music from Andy Votel and friends.
Over at Track Brewery, meanwhile, drinkers can enjoy a tap takeover from Verdant as well as selections from founder Adam, as well as tapas-style food from the excellent Porta.
Meanwhile, Sureshot Brewery, founded by former Cloudwater boss and mash time legend James Campbell, will host a tap takeover from Burning Sky Brewery and serve food from Lily’s Vegetarian Deli.
Final brewery Balance will also be running a pop-up bar at Sureshot throughout the day with guest beers from Torn Plant, which produces modern minimal intervention ciders and blends from the north west of England, outside of Delamere Forest. On the decks, it will welcome 2 DJs including the Wizard King.
Entry for the brewery block party is free, and anybody who collects all four brewery stamps on the day will be entered into a draw to win a hamper of beer-related goodies.
Featured image – Cloudwater
Eats
A tiny new train station pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road
Daisy Jackson
A tiny craft beer pub is set to open at Manchester Oxford Road, making all those inevitable train cancellations a little sweeter.
The new boozer will come from the same team behind some of the UK’s best train station pubs, who already have bars at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria.
A licensing application has now been submitted by Bloomsbury Leisure Holdings Limited to take over the former cycle hub at Manchester Oxford Road.
The small building is directly opposite the entrance to the busy train station on the southern side of the city centre.
If approved, it will be the third site for the pub group in Manchester.
They already operate the Piccadilly Tap, that two-storey beer bar on Piccadilly Approach with a heated rooftop space and outdoor patio.
The team are also responsible for the more recently-opened Victoria Tap, which took over the former bin store at Manchester Victoria.
That particular pub has a heated beer garden constructed just inches away from where the trams tootle past and has a departures board where time is measured by pints (got 10 mins til your train leaves? That’s one pint, sir!)
As for the Oxford Road Tap, a new account on X appeared a few weeks ago that appears to confirm the imminent arrival of a new pub.
The Oxford Road Tap have applied to have opening hours through to half-past-midnight Sunday to Thursday, and until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
They teased a mocked-up photo of posters outside the station with the new pub logo, plus a slogan of ‘Great beer is just a few steps away…’
They later shared ‘Triple threat incoming’ with all three pub brands lined up as a deck of cards.
Northern Quarter favourite Pie and Ale has sadly closed down
Danny Jones
Beloved Northern Quarter eatery and pub Pie and Ale has sadly and quietly closed its doors this week in yet another gutting bit of news for the Manc hospitality sector.
Known for its legendary homemade pies, great selections of ales, craft beers and lagers, not to mention a great little pub when it comes to watching live sport, it’s long been considered an NQ institution.
Unfortunately, however, as confirmed by a sign posted in the window, Pie and Ale has now closed for business after more than a decade.
Safe to say, we’re absolutely gutted, as we’re sure everyone else is.
Credit: The Manc Eats
While no official announcement has been made on their social media as yet, which will no doubt receive love and sadness from its loyal following, the sign in the window simply reads: “Pie and Ale has unfortunately ceased trading. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The local favourite which was always hailed for being great value for money – celebrated especially for its popular pie and a pint for under a tenner deal – also served up great nibbles and light bites as well as dessert specials.
Although the Lever Street spot previously shut down for a short spell back in 2018 due to what they labelled as “unforeseen circumstances” before reopening just two months later, this latest update looks pretty definitive.
Sister-site Bakerie also ceased trading back in April 2019, with husband and wife founders, Alyson Doocey and David Cook, admitting that all independents had been “feeling the squeeze”.
While we have few other details at this stage, it does look like Pie and Ale has indeed closed down for the foreseeable future.
A mainstay on our list of the best pies in Manchester since day dot and just the latest in the list of losses in 2024 so far, they will be sorely missed.
We sincerely hope this is like last time and will keep our fingers crossed that we see the pie pros and expert pourers back in business at some point.
Georgina Pellant -
18th April 2023 
