The highly-anticipated Manchester Craft Beer Festival has officially unveiled its summer lineup – with dozens of breweries pouring over a hundred varieties all weekend long.
From fruity sours to triple hopped IPAs, rich stouts and aromatic pale ales, the Manchester Craft Beer Festival is promising a heady selection, to say the least.
Bringing together homegrown brewers like Pomona Island and Track with those from further afield, the event will showcase beers from roughly 50 different breweries across two days later this July.
Even better, the ticket price includes FIVE hours of unlimited beer.
Who could say no to that?
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Some cracking food will also be served at the festival to soak up the beer / Image: Manchester Craft Beer Festival
There’ll be some cracking food on offer here too to soak up all that beer, ranging from delicate and innovative fine dining plates to big, fat LA-style beef burgers and dripping, saucy tacos.
Lorcan Kan of Things Palace, formerly Where The Light Gets In, will also team up with the Higher Ground team (formerly of NOMA, WTLGI, Relae etc) to produce a selection of innovative new dishes.
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Meanwhile, Madre, the home of upscaled, ingredient-driven tacos in Liverpool, will partner on a menu with AngloThai – leaving us to expect some solid Asian-inspired tacos to be coming out of the kitchen here.
Liverpool’s Belzan Pasta Kitchen will be pulling up, serving their classic pasta dishes, whilst long-standing Freight Island resident Patty Queen will be there as always slinging its LA-inspired menu of burgers, shakes and fries to the boozy masses.
Elsewhere, Manchester newcomer Green Lights has collaborated with Kantina’s in-house residents Plant Grill to create the perfect plant-based burger for vegans and flexitarians. This will be served alongside their usual menu offering.
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Beers will be free flowing at the festival, with all drinks included in your ticket / Image: Manchester Craft Beer Festival
Entertainment across the weekend will come from big names including funk and soul king Craig Charles, Daddy G of Massive Attack, Django Django and Bristol’s legendary Wild Bunch Sound System – all of whom will be taking to the decks to spin their top selections.
Tickets are priced at £49.50 and guarantee guests entry to a five-hour session on the Friday or Saturday.
Passes also include all of your beer, access to all areas, and a special festival beer glass to take home.
Food must be purchased separately.
Taking place at Mayfield Depot on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 July, you can grab tickets for Manchester Craft Beer Festival online here.
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There’s an exciting array of food up for grabs at the upcoming event / Image: Image: Manchester Craft Beer Festival
The full list of breweries confirmed to appear at Manchester Craft Beer Festival:
Alpha Delta (Raise the Bar winner) / Attic Brew Co. (Raise the Bar Winner) / Amundsen Dessert Bar (NOR) /Barrier Brewing Co. (USA) / Beak Brewery (Raise the Bar winner) / Beatnikz Republic / Blackjack Brewery / BOXCAR / Braybrooke Beer Co. / Brew York / Brixton Brewery / Brouwerij Frontaal (NL) / Brouwerij Kees (NL) / Budvar / Bullhouse Brewery (Raise the bar winner) / Bundobust Beers / Burnt Mill / Campervan Brewery / Dark Star / DEYA / Donzoko / Duration Brewery / Equilibrium (USA) / Full Circle Brew Co. / Gipsy Hill Brewing Company / Grimm Artisanal Ales (USA) / KCBC (USA) / The Kernel / LERVIG (NOR) / Lost and Grounded / Manchester Union Brewery / Marble Brewery / Mikkeller (DEN) / Neon Raptor / Neptune Brewery / Newbarns / Newtown Park (Raise the Bar winner) / North Brewing Co. / Northern Monk Brew Co. / Pastore Brewing (Raise the Bar winner) / Polly’s Brew Co. / Pomona Island Brew Co. / Salt Beer Factory / Signature Brew / Siren Craft Brew / Stone & Wood / Thornbridge / Tiny Rebel / Track Brewing / Two Tribes Brewing / Vault City / Verdant / Vocation / Wild Beer Co. / Wiper and True / Zapato Brewing
Feature image – Manchester Craft Beer Festival.
Food & Drink
Drake-backed Dave’s Hot Chicken is opening in the Trafford Centre
Daisy Jackson
The cult LA-born fried chicken brand backed by Drake is expanding in Manchester once again, this time with a brand-new site at the Trafford Centre.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is set to open its latest location inside the huge shopping centre, bringing its signature Nashville-style heat to The Orient food hall.
Already causing a stir with its first Manchester site at the Printworks, the fast-growing US chain has built a reputation for long queues and a chicken spice level so extreme you have to sign a waiver to eat it (The Reaper is not for the faint of heart).
And now hoardings have appeared at the bottom of The Orient at The Trafford Centre, joining Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Slim Chickens.
The new Trafford Centre restaurant is expected to follow the same winning formula, serving up its famous hot chicken tenders and sliders, available in seven spice levels and served on a slice of bread to soak up all the spice levels.
Fans can also expect a menu packed with loaded fries, creamy mac and cheese, kale slaw, and indulgent top-loaded shakes, alongside refreshing slushers to cool things down after the heat kicks in.
Born in a Los Angeles car park back in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken has exploded in popularity in recent years, with Drake becoming a high-profile investor as the brand rapidly expanded across the US and into the UK.
The Trafford Centre opening marks another major step in the brand’s UK growth, following successful launches in London, Birmingham, and Manchester city centre, and signals that the fried chicken heavyweight is only just getting started.
If the scenes at previous openings are anything to go by, Mancunians can expect queues, hype, and plenty of spice when the doors finally open.
Popular Manchester brunch spot Bruncho teases what’s to come with new Northern Quarter cafe
Daisy Jackson
Bruncho has shared a glimpse of what’s to come when it officially opens the doors to its new Northern Quarter cafe.
The brunch spot has had queues down the street since launching on Deansgate, with enough popularity to warrant it opening a second location.
Bruncho is moving into the old Feel Good Club, a huge unit in Hilton House that’s been left empty since the cafe’s shock closure.
And as the clock ticks down to Bruncho’s launch into the Northern Quarter, they’ve shared an exclusive look inside at their very big plans.
The team have now confirmed that the new venue will have a salad bar and vegetarian buffet, as well as coffee raves with DJs at select hours.
New CGIs of the space also show a drastic change from the site’s days as Feel Good Club, filling the giant cafe with wooden tables, hanging pendant lights, plants, and soft textures.
Bruncho is known for its brunch dishes that have a real knack for going viral on social media, including New York-style breakfast rolls in croissant bread; fresh coconut water and matcha served in the coconut; and its absolutely stacked French toasts.
A glimpse inside Bruncho Northern QuarterBruncho will have a vegetarian buffet when it opens in the Northern QuarterHow Bruncho Northern Quarter will look
It’s consistently packed out at its original location on Deansgate, and now it’s taking over a 4,378 sq ft unit in the Northern Quarter too, set to open this June.
Omer Umut Mutlu, owner of Bruncho, said: “Manchester has shown Bruncho so much love, and expanding into the Northern Quarter feels like the natural next step for us.
“Hilton House gives us the space to elevate what we do – more covers, more events, and a new home for the kind of food and atmosphere people will make the journey for.
“We’re excited to bring something fresh to the neighbourhood, with the opening scheduled for June 2026.”
Georgina Pellant -
15th June 2021 
