Food & Drink

A sneak peek at the first pour: Greater Manchester celebrates the return of Boddingtons

Welcome back, Boddies.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 5th September 2025

Greater Manchester has every reason to drink and jubilate this Friday and toast the perfect excuse for an early dart as the first fresh pours in a new chapter for Boddingtons beer have been sunk.

And by’eck if ain’t still bloody gorgeous.

That’s right, in case you didn’t hear the latest news about ‘Cream of Manchester’, we can now officially and ever-so gladly confirm that Boddingtons Bitter is properly back on draught in the region.

With the iconic cask ale making a glorious return decades on from its glory days in the 1990s, the new and improved Boddies beer is flowing from the taps – just in time for the weekend, no less.

Yes, with local brewery and pub chain J.W. Lees taking over the manufacturing and distribution, leaving the Budweiser Group to take over the licensing, the updated recipe Boddingtons – which clocks in at a 4.0% ABV – is about to be rolled out across the 10 boroughs.

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Better yet, with five native pubs having already reinstalled honey yellow and black pumps, and with Lees looking to deliver it to the ale-loving masses across the North West, this could be the biggest Manc comeback since, well, those two lads from Burnage…

Speaking of: we were invited along to Founder’s Hall on Albert Square (formerly Duttons and now home to every one of the brand’s beers, not to mention serving as a tribute to John Lees himself), for a special ceremony to celebrate the inaugural public pints of Boddies being poured.

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Let’s just say we were honoured to be part of the grand resurrection.

Obviously, there have been some holdouts hanging onto the classic Mancunian brew, and we certainly had fun trying to track them down over the past couple of years, but we’re just glad we don’t have to do as much work to find one now.

The lost art of Boddingtons, and which pubs still serve The Cream of Manchester

Managing Director of JW Lees, William Lees-Jones, said on the relaunch: “When I joined JW Lees in 1994, Boddingtons was ‘The Cream of Manchester’ and we were in awe of their position in leading the cask beer revolution.

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“We’re proud to bring it back home, starting with Founder’s Hall, and we’re planning to restore Boddington’s as one of the UK’s leading premium cask beers, particularly here in the North West.” Well said, sir.

Available from Founder’s Hall, The Black Friar in Salford, Stables Tavern; Sams Chop House, The Circus Tavern, Oxford Road Tap, Piccadilly Tap and Victoria Tap from today, as well as Corbières and Stockport pubs like The Crown and The White Lion, we can’t wait to see Boddingtons take over the nation.

In the meantime, why not look back at the storied history behind one of our finest exports?

@the.manc The history behind the cream of Manchester #themanc #manchester #boddingtons ♬ Powerful gangster and manly(1070054) – Patricia

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/The Manc Eats

Food & Drink

GRUB is throwing a big three-day closing party full of ‘food, booze, music, and memories’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Beloved Manchester street food venue Grub shares major update on its future

GRUB is set to bid farewell to Red Bank this week with one almighty closing weekend party.

After five unforgettable years at Red Bank, GRUB, one of Manchester‘s original and best-loved street food markets and social hubs, is set to say goodbye in the best way it knows how – with a three-day blowout of food, booze, music, and memories this week.

You many remember earlier this year that it was announced GRUB will ‘cease to exist’ in its current form this autumn, as the building they have occupied for the last five years, on Red Bank in the Green Quarter, will be undergoing redevelopment.

The much-loved venue confirmed that it will be going back to its roots and ‘returning to the street’ as a travelling food festival filled with street food chefs, pop-up bars and ‘unbeatable vibes’.

But before then, it’s time to say goodbye to the beloved Green Quarter venue first.

Grub will 'cease to exist' at its current home in Red Bank
GRUB is throwing a big three-day closing party full of ‘food, booze, music, and memories’ / Credit: The Manc Group

From this Thursday (25 September) through to Saturday 27 September, GRUB regulars are invited to come together for one final massive send-off packed with 2-for-1 cocktails, shooters and tacos, a non-stop 72-hour Happy Hour, and GRUB’s resident DJs going back-to-back as the cellar is drunk dry.

This Thursday will be the final ever ‘Fizzy Quizzy’ event, so expect huge prizes, free-flowing fizz deals and the chance to win parts of the bar – literally.

Then Friday is a night of GRUB resident DJs going back-to-back until late, before the closing weekend peaks on Saturday with prices so low, you might think GRUB has lost the plot.

“Everything must go, and it is going out with a bang,” GRUB said in a statement.

While this may be the end of Red Bank, it’s not the end of GRUB, as in the meantime, GRUB fan favourites like Sip & Paint and Baby Mosh will live on just down the road at sister venue, Fairfield Social Club.

“Red Bank has been our home for over half a decade, and we’ve loved every minute of it – the community, the traders, the parties, the memories,” explained Jason Bailey, who is the co-founder of GRUB.

“But it’s time for something new.

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“We’re so excited for this closing weekend, which will be a proper knees-up in true GRUB fashion, and even more excited to show you what’s next.

“Manchester, we promise it’s going to be special.”

Featured Image – The Manc Group

Food & Drink

J.W. Lees is celebrating the return of Boddingtons by giving away 500 FREE pints

Danny Jones Danny Jones JW Lees giving away 500 free pints of Boddingtons in Manchester

Local brewery J.W. Lees is celebrating the return of Boddingtons in the best way possible: by giving away 500 FREE pints of ‘the Cream of Manchester’ this weekend.

We can’t lie, you had us at free pints.

In case you hadn’t heard the news – and what we consider a bit of an early Christmas present – legendary Manc beer Boddingtons is back in a very big way, with the beloved beer returning to the taps in various pockets around Greater Manchester.

Better yet, ‘Boddies’ has also returned just in time for Britain’s National Cask Ale Week, and let’s just say we’ve been spreading that all-important awareness by necking as many as possible. Now it’s your turn.

The big Boddies giveaway

You heard the man/saw in the big beer costume; Boddingtons and their life-sized pint impersonator will be touring Manchester city centre to help toast the region’s most legendary drink (sorry, Vimto) as it makes its glorious comeback.

More importantly, his presence also accompanies a huge giveaway, as the brand is giving away a whopping 500 pints this Saturday. Yes, five bloody hundred.

Let it be known that this offer is for one day only, though, so if you fancy a freebie so frothy you practically stick a flake in it, you’d best keep your eyes peeled for the bloke who looks so good you could drink him.

So this is how it works: punters must approach the walking, talking pint of ale to claim their voucher, which can then be handed into select locations in exchange for a free beer. We’re sure that grabbing a quick selfie won’t hurt your chances either.

Along with some help from Budweiser, the native beer-masters are the equally iconic brand behind the grand Boddingtons renaissance, so you have J.W. Lees to thank.

Local brewery J.W. Lees is helping bring back Manchester’s beloved Boddingtons beer
It’s quite the comeback.

The Manc must confess that we had the honour—nay, the privilege of sampling ‘Boddies 2.0’ before the rest of you, and the revival recipe is even better than we dreamed of.

We even saw the world’s first ‘split the B’ by David Boddington, a descendant of creator Henry himself, as famous faces like artist Stanley Chow, chef Simon Rimmer, presenter Matty White and more cheered him from the other side of the bar.

The beers were free-flowing at the official relaunch party at Founder’s Hall on Albert Square on Tuesday, 23 September, where quite literally hundreds piled into the pub to get a taste of the Northern nectar, which is sure to branch back out of 0161 soon enough.

It’s just a matter of time, if you ask us.

Once again, be on the lookout for the man in honey yellow fancy dress this Saturday, 27 September, from 12 noon until approximately 4pm to score your complimentary beer, and you can find the full list of pubs taking part in the Boddingtons free pints giveaway down below. Cheers!

  • Piccadilly Tap
  • The Millstone
  • Gullivers
  • Micro Bar (Manchester Arndale)
  • Victoria Tap
  • Sam’s Chop House
  • The Egerton Arms
  • Stables Tavern
  • Oxford Road
  • Circus Tavern

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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