The quirky Manchester brewery with some of the funniest beer names in the city
Having co-founded Cloudwater Brew Co and spent thirteen years at Marble before that, Sureshot's head brewer is as knowledgeable about beer as his wit is dry.
Independent breweries and taprooms have been having a real moment in Manchester.
Over the past decade, there’s been a real gold rush with the advent of Piccadilly’s beer mile heralding a whole new era for local brewers and drinkers alike.
In fact, the choice nowadays is overwhelming – with some feeling a bit out of their depth given the never-ending element of choice. For others, though, that is the fun of the whole thing.
As a keen beer drinker and taproom fan, it has been a treat to have so many exciting indie breweries springing up in recent years.
Even if a few sadly had to close their doors because of rising energy costs, we’ve still got plenty left – not least relative newcomer Sureshot, a quirky Manchester brewery with some of the funniest beer names in the city.
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Brewed ‘from the belly of Manchester’, this fairly young brewery is all about not taking itself too seriously. If you were in any doubt, all you need to do is scan its beer list which is chock full of silly names like Have Thee Nowt Moist, Jabroni, Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew,Underwhelming Kazoo Party, and (my personal favourite) Eighteen Free Personalised Fridge Magnets.
Some reference TV shows, like the Arrested Development-inspired IPA They’re Not Tricks They’re Illusions, or the Mr. Blobby-inspired Dunblobbin, promoted by the team at last year’s Indy Man Beer Con by one of their team strolling around in a life-size pink, white and yellow costume.
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Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied
The Sureshot Brewery beer list. / Image: The Manc Eats
Others are reflective of in-jokes shared by the small brewing team, who manage to churn out tens of thousands of pints a week according to head brewer James Campbell.
With decades of experience under his belt, James is as knowledgeable about beer as his wit is dry. The result is that in just three years Sureshot has cemented itself firmly in the ranks with some of the city’s most exciting breweries.
Having co-founded Cloudwater Brew Co in 2014 after thirteen years spent heading up the brewing operation at Marble Beers, James has spent decades living and breathing all things beer, not to mention shaping the direction of some of Manchester’s most popular breweries on the way.
But whilst the beer inside Sureshot’s cans is made of serious stuff, everything else about this young, fun brewery is decidedly unserious – and that’s the whole joy of it.
Sitting down with James, he outlines his background a little and it soon becomes clear that this is a man who knows his stuff. As he puts it, he’s been brewing “since God knows when, I think 96, a long time, yeah.”
A serial head brewer at some of the city’s most respected breweries, today he runs Sureshot with his business partner Michael.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
“I was at Marble for thirteen years as the head brewer there, and then I did a year of consultancy, I was involved in Brewsmith and Runaway and Barcelona Beer Cat.
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“Whilst I was doing that, I was involved in setting up Cloudwater,” he adds, revealing he wrote the first five hundred recipes for Cloudwater before moving on in 2018 with a plan to start his own brewery.
“This is it,” he deadpans, as if I didn’t know we were sitting in it.
In the time it took to set Sureshot up, he also worked as a project lead on the DEYA and Verdant brewery plant builds – but maintains that, whilst they were great jobs, there is no better feeling than having his own place.
“So myself and Mike had a lot of chat about it and a lot of thought about it. Our original beer was with Vocation, that was during the middle of lockdown, they offered us the opportunity to do a beer with them.
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“Matt at Vocation I’ve known since Marble days, he’s a good lad and he’s a really good brewer so we said yeah, why the hell not, did a double IPA with them and it ended up in Tesco.”
“It was quite weird [for our first beer to go onto the supermarket shelves], but it was a very weird time. You know, it was the middle of lockdown, there were no pubs open and, it was like, well, ‘how are we going to do this'” he laughs.
Image: Supplied
Image: The Manc Eats
“That all came together nicely. So, er, we were looking at ways of doing this and how to, how to skin a cat basically, which is unfortunate if you’re a cat.”
“Track had bought a new brewery, I mean we wanted to go for something a bit bigger than this originally but nobody knew what shape the world was going to be the other side of lockdown so, er it makes people risk averse and borrowing expensive so we spoke to Sam at Track and said ‘what are you doing with that brewery you no longer need?'”
After arriving at a figure and buying the brewery, Sureshot officially moved in on 25 January 2022 and stuck the first brew, called How Much Does Water Weigh, through that same day. Within a month, beer number one was out for sale in the world – and the rest, as they say, is history.
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Three years on from its inception, Sureshot’s name is up there with some of the most established brewers in the city.
At its taproom, the team hosts regular events – welcoming in pop-up supper clubs such as Our Place and The Little Sri Lankan, as well as working alongside its neighbouring breweries to host big block parties where beer fans can go from bar to bar, sampling different drinks as they go.
As well as brewing up a storm from its Sheffield Street location, you can also just pop in for a quiet pint with the taproom open from Wednesday to Sunday every week.
The next Block Party takes place this month, with Sureshot, Cloudwater, Track, and Balance Brewing all joining forces on 15 July for a big. boisterous summer edition celebrating the Piccadilly area’s established and growing craft beer scene.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Feature
You can live in a Greater Manchester manor house from the 1700s
Thomas Melia
There’s a manor house which dates back to the 1700s that’s just gone on the market in Greater Manchester.
Now, obviously, we know Manchester is the best place on Earth and, naturally, people have been wanting to live here since the 18th century (and even earlier).
Westerhill House in Ashton is a property that dates back to 1764, and now you could be the next lucky owner to live in this five-bedroom property, which really is a piece of living history.
The legacy of this property spans more than just this country house site, as the previous tenants – who inhabited the house until 1964 – actually provided the rivets for the Eiffel Tower on behalf of their company, Park Bridge Ironworks.
The grand entrance to this 1700’s manor house in Ashton.The hamlet in which this Greater Manchester property resides.Credit: On The Market
One particular room in this manor house features the work of a well-known Mancunian architect, Donald Reeve Buttress, who spent more than a decade at Westminster Abbey until his departure in 1999.
On the estate agent’s website, each room is described as being individually detailed with its specific role in the house, and if you think you don’t have enough space for all your stuff, think again.
This 1700s character manor house has a room for just about anything you could possibly think of, including a billiard room (posh word for pool) and a wine cellar – I know which room I’ll be accidentally getting myself locked in once a week…
This Ashton historical property spans three floors, with the downstairs being the smallest in size with only one room, while the ground floor boasts 10 and the first floor has eight designated rooms.
As you enter the living space, there is an entrance hall that leads to a bigger hall and a staircase; meanwhile, there is a breakout room immediately on the right side leading to a toilet and a dedicated boot room. Handy.
On your left-hand side as you step through the front door, there is another bigger breakout room which hosts the impressive billiard room and seating area, which is a considerably large space.
The conservatory designed by architect from Westminster Abbey.The main hall which leads to various rooms in this 1700s Ashton manor house.Credit: Supplied
Step through to the main hall and you’ll find doors leading to the dining room, kitchen space and a lounge which has an adjoining conservatory.
It’s this very conservatory that was designed by none other than Buttress himself, who worked at Westminster Abbey for 11 years as the ‘Surveyor of the Fabric’.
Any loyal Ashtonians will also be impressed with the stained glass window in the inner hallway, which also happens to contain a depiction of the ‘Black Knight of Ashton-Under-Lyne‘.
Moving upstairs, you find a wide landing which leads to all four bedrooms and three bathrooms, two of which are en-suites.
This 1700s manor house is currently listed for offers in the region of £750,000, and although it may be historic in age and interior, in terms of broadband, the property apparently has super-fast broadband.
The billiard room with adjoining seating area.Curved seating area overlooking the stunning garden space.
Ever get bored of looking around this magnificent and interesting mansion’s four walls? This house is situated in a lovely hamlet located close to Daisy Nook Country Park.
Of course, we understand that a lot of us reading certainly can’t afford a property of this nature, but when the manor house is rooted in this much history, it would be rude not to have a snoop on the official site.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough browsing for you, there’s a three-bed coach house up for sale in this same exact Ashton hamlet, also dating back to the 1700s. Cool, right?
The viral factory in Oldham that sells £2 Colin the Caterpillar cakes
Thomas Melia
A factory in Oldham has gone viral online after sweet fiends discover they sell ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ cakes for less than half price.
There are some things that just go hand in hand: a brew and a biscuit, peanut butter and jelly and Brits and their crazy obsession with a character chocolate cake from M&S called Colin the Caterpillar.
Since hitting the shelves in 1990, more than 15 million Colin the Caterpillars have made their way from supermarket shop floor to our sweet-treat-awaiting plates.
Who would’ve ever guessed that the home to this cheeky chappy, who M&S have made their unofficial mascot (after Percy Pig, of course), has been crafted and created right here in Oldham?
The utterly delicious Colin the Caterpillar cake which you can get for £2 at Park Cakes.The shelves at Park Cakes are stacked with Colins and Connies.Credit: The Manc Eats
Established in 1937, The Park Cake Bakeries – or just Park Cakes, colloquially – has been serving up this critter-inspired cake for over 30 years, and savvy shoppers have flocked to their factory shop to get their hands on some very sweet savings.
There’s a whole range of cakes on offer at this Oldham dessert factory shop, including slabs, sponges, loaves and even sweet pies too.
Whether you’re a firm believer that the birthday person deserves all of Colin’s white-choc face or you precisely cut it up so everyone gets some, Park Cakes has the solution, selling bags of the character’s chocolatey face so you can have one all to yourself.
The cake isn’t the only thing that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth, as the prices will too. Colin the Caterpillar, who normally retails for just under a tenner, is sold for around £2 at this Oldham factory shop.
It’s always the ones that look unassuming, isn’t it?
Alongside producing one of the most adored cakes in the UK, they’re also responsible for lots more of your favourite supermarket sweet treats, and we’re definitely not complaining.
You can let your sweet tooth go wild in this factory shop as they sell everything from rainbow birthday cakes to sticky toffee puddings.
There’s so much on offer too, how about a giant bag packed to the brim with misshapen golden flapjacks that’ll last you over a week and cost you less than a fiver? Sounds like a plan to me.
If you haven’t had enough of your Easter chocolate fix, why not trek over to Oldham and stock up on even more chocolate and sweet treats? Trust us, there’s plenty to choose from.
Park Cakes factory shop can be found on Ashton Road in Oldham and is open from 10am-4pm, so go and grab yourself a seriously sweet deal before everyone else beats you to it.
Mini Colins, small in size but still packed with all that chocolatey goodness.Flapjacks and cookie dough bites are just some of the wonderful treats you might be able to get hold of.Credit: The Manc