The Manchester taprooms serving up the freshest pints in the city centre
Manchester's definitely earned its title as the second best place in the country for craft beer - and we're absolutely spoilt when it comes to choosing a taproom. Words by Alice Gerrard.
Manchester knows its way around beer, with some of the world’s best breweries right here in the North West, and we’ve got some serious top taprooms to prove it.
From the tiny spots serving colourful cans of ale to the giants spotted in pubs across the nation, there’s a lot going on.
And if you’re looking to sample some of Manchester’s freshest beer, look no further than the city‘s almost intimidatingly high volume of taprooms.
Each attached to a local independent brewery, you can experience a whole new way of drinking – separate from the city centre bars. In the promised land of taprooms, beer pretty much flows straight out of the tanks into your awaiting pint glass.
The trade-off? Typically, taprooms offer a slightly more industrial setting but still, if you want to drink straight from the source and try the newest brews, there really is nothing better.
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The top 10 taprooms in Manchester city centre
Whether you’re a fan of craft ale on tap, lager or a traditional cask hand pump, there’s plenty to discover in Manchester to suit all beer drinkers’ tastes.
Keep reading to discover our top Manchester taproom picks.
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1. Track Brewery Taproom. – Unit 14, Piccadilly Trading Estate
Once the new kid on the block and now a local favourite, Track Brewing Co. is a mainstay on the drink-in indie brewery scene springing up near Piccadilly.
There are more than 20 beers to choose from here, including three lager taps, 17 draught taps, and 3 cask pumps on offer. An integral part of Track’s 10,000 sq ft home on the Piccadilly Trading Estate, the taproom seats 80 people and also has room for a DJ.
2. Cloudwater Brewery Taproom – Unit 9, Piccadilly Trading Estate
Cloudwater Brewing Co. is one of the most esteemed in Manchester and the UK, having won multiple awards including the second-best brewery in the world. Its cosy taproom in the same complex as Track has over 20 draught taps of their own beer to showcase and you’ll struggle to find a bad one.
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There is also a shop selling cans and bottles to take away directly from a walk-in cold store and it’s worth noting that the Sadler’s Cat (formerly known as The Pilcrow) at NOMA has been spreading the good word of the lord through their Cloudwater stock.
While not attached to an actual brewery, there’s enough beer flowing at North Brewing Co’s first Manchester bar to keep you occupied.
Saved from closure by Kirkstall founder Steve Holt, the stylish, Scandi-inspired space at North Taproom is kitted out with plywood and plants, with seating for up to 100 punters at a time plus outside space. Then there are 24 draught lines, flanked by glowing fridges filled with cans to take away.
The team behind this Green Quarter brewery previously worked at Beatnikz Republic – now reborn as Pelican (see below) – under the very same arches and it’s one of our favourite additions to Manchester’s taproom scene.
They’ve created a welcoming space with real New York vibes, with ivy climbing the walls and there’s a great range of flagship ales to nurse your way through.
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5. Pelican – Northern Quarter
Speaking of the big bird that’s taken Beatnikz’s place, Pelican is the first and only taproom from Squawk Brewing Co. and while the company itself might have sadly shut down after a decade, their gorgeous little bar will thankfully remain.
Located on the corner of Dale and Tariff Street, this colourful, floral and ornithological little spot serves up incredible independent craft beers, stouts, rubies and more, not to mention deals such as a pint and a pizza slice for £9 as well as a great monthly pub quiz. Give it a try if you haven’t already.
6. The Sureshot Tap – Unit 5, Piccadilly Trading Estate
Next up is The Sureshot Tap from the brewing company of the same name which is always sure to deliver an absolutely lip-smacking tipple. Part of the ‘Beermuda Triangle™’ (very good) alongside Track and Cloudwater, their reputation precedes them and we’re big fans of the Piccadilly space.
With dreamy and juicy pales, perfectly punchy porters and an ever-renewing lineup of other clever creations, they’re genuinely up there with some of the best brewers in the game at the minute.
Set up by seven real brothers, the now legendary brewing company’s beerhouse in Ancoats offers amazing craft beer and some seriously good scran. In truth, their main taproom is over in Salford but with an empire now stretching into Kampus, MediaCity, Middlewood Locks and more, you can take your pick.
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The menu is updated regularly, with a beer for every season and mood. If you’re not sure what to go for, just ask for a sample and the team will happily oblige. Seven Brothers Brewing Co. is and always will be one of the GOATs.
8. Balance Taproom – Unit 10, Piccadilly Trading Estate
Back over to Sheffield Street and what is effectively the central hive of activity for city centre taproom culture, the Balance Brewing and Blending‘s Taproom is a little less rough and ready than some of its neighbours, not to mention an irresistibly cosy and welcoming little space.
They’ve not been open long but it’s already starting to feel like a community over here – they’ve even started a cycling club recently. Oh yeah, and their carefully curated selection of wide fermentations of beers, sours and ales is stunning.
Our penultimate pull comes from Northern Monk, the popular Leeds brewing company whose Manchester taproom over on Tariff St is another one of our favourites. Thanks for keeping us in the know, The Hoot.
With a brilliant main room with an even better lineup of northern crafts, plenty of outdoor benches for when the sun comes out, a cool cellar bar that’s perfect for private events and a great rotating lineup of food residencies, this place is the complete package in our books.
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10. North Westward Ho – City Centre (kind of…)
Consider this 10th and final suggestion a bit of an honourable mention as although it isn’t technically a taproom, it is comfortably one of the best pubs to have opened up in Manchester over recent years and it is from the team behind beloved Manc brewery, Pomona Island.
Delivering a classic and almost old London boozer-like feel, North Westward Ho has quickly become one of the most packed-out post-work pubs and watering holes most weekends. We can’t speak highly enough of it.
We’ve sadly had to say goodbye to legends like the Alphabet Brewing Company (ABC Taproom was always a great go-to) Wander Beyond, Carbon Smith and others, but we’re glad that the Manc brewing climate at large is still going strong.
It, of course, goes without saying that there are plenty more around Greater Manchester to get stuck into; we’re a region of beer lovers and craft ale connoisseurs, and we look forward to many more breweries establishing their reputation across the ten boroughs and beyond.
The Manchester restaurant serving ‘Tipsy Tapas’ with bottomless sangria
Daisy Jackson
Did you know there’s a restaurant in Manchester that does a bottomless ‘Tipsy Tapas’ menu every week?
That means you can pair your tapas dishes with endless helpings of sangria, alongside a number of other boozy delights.
The Tipsy Tapas menu at Canto, the modern Mediterranean sister site to award-winning El Gato Negro, includes three tapas dishes and unlimited mix-and-match drinks.
For your 90 minute booking in the beautiful Ancoats restaurant, you can tuck into bottomless pitchers of sangria, Aperol spritz, limoncello spritz, or peach bellini.
And if cocktails aren’t your thing, the Tipsy Tapas deal also includes Victoria Malaga lager, house wine, and fizz.
For £40 per person, you also get three delicious tapas dishes each, from their traditional Portuguese petiscos to meat to fish.
You’ll find tapas favourites like padron peppers, patatas bravas, and fried calamari with lemon aioli, plus a whole host of other small places from across the Mediterranean.
You can get bottomless sangria with the Canto Tipsy Tapas menuCanto has a menu of Mediterranean small platesSalt cod croquettes on the Tipsy Tapas menuCredit: The Manc Group
Other menu highlights include spiced lamb Merguez meatballs, chargrilled Peri Peri chicken, and salt cod fritters.
And for a more substantial bite, there are even pregos included in the deal – beef steak sandwiches in rustic bread with caramelised onion and rocket.
Vegetarians aren’t hard-done-by either with veggie dishes including classic Catalan bread with fresh tomato; caramelised cauliflower, with lentil stew and Italian caponata; hispi cabbage with parsnip puree and blue cheese vinaigrette; and butternut squash with curried cavolo nero.
The Tipsy Tapas menu gives you the option to have two savoury plates and a dessert too, with sweet dishes like almond tart with marscapone mousse, pastel de nata, tiramisu, and vegan chocolate tart with miso and caramel ice cream.
Costing £40 per person, the Canto Tipsy Tapas deal runs every Friday and Saturday between 12pm and 4pm.
Can we please make 2025 the year of the ‘wide burger’?
Danny Jones
In 2025, I have just a few resolutions/goals that I’m determined to achieve this year: one is to lose a bit of weight, another is to improve my marathon PB and arguably the most important one is to champion the trend of the ‘wide burger’.
Yes, I’m fully aware that the burger thing doesn’t quite chime with the first two but I intend to reward myself with said burger after I hopefully smash the other ones.
First off, I want to begin this by making it clear that I am in no way calling for the end of the trusty dirty burger convention that has spanned more than a decade now (Manc pioneers like Almost Famous remain one of my go-to spots to this day), but I am advocating for some innovation.
I want this year to be the year of the wide burger, someone else can come up with a better name for it if anything comes to mind, I’m just a hungry ideas man.
If it isn’t already plainly obvious as to what I’m talking about, let me explain.
The culinary world often feels like it can get stuck in these cycles, be it people slapping pulled pork on things, salted caramel-flavoured everything or the current hot honey craze; they’re exciting for a while but, eventually, things move on as they should to keep our interests piqued and mouths salivating.
On the other hand, there are some food and drink staples that are so tried and tested that they rarely evolve that much, mainly because people will always eat them no matter what.
Case and point, burgers.
That being said, although there’s something undeniably enticing about a towering, food-porny mess of a burger dripping with cheese and grease, the advent has become so overly saturated in modern cuisine.
Besides the ‘smashed’ style enjoying its time in the spotlight – which we’re also really enjoying, by the way, this isn’t a diss on any perfectly cooked patty – I don’t think there’s been much evolution for a while and it’s almost starting to feel like we’ve seen most takes on burger a dozen times before.
Again, there’s no doubt that all of these bad boys are delicious – we’ve eaten them all, so we can definitely vouch for that – but we can’t pretend we haven’t seen similar creations not only in Greater Manchester but at countless places up and down the country.
Moreover, at what juncture are we feasibly going to stop and say, ‘Sorry, but this mountain of bread and meat is officially too tall and tackling it is more a challenge than it is the simple act of enjoyment that we hope for out of a burger’?…
We all know how appetising these things look at first glance in a picture and they certainly stand out from the other options on any given menu, but there has to come a point where a burger is just too unwieldy to even attempt eating and simply whacking even crazier, unexpected toppings won’t cut it.
That’s why I’m posing a rather straightforward change of tact or direction, rather: don’t go up, go out; don’t make it taller, just make it wider.
It’s also worth noting that this is by no means a totally original thought, but it is one I’m fully behind.
The proof is right there on the internet for everyone to see: the people have been asking the same question, ‘Why tall and not wide?’ for ages now and I think it’s time we put the prospect to the test.
The Two Markets Girls channel even built what they called ‘the BEST wide burger ever‘ to test their theory.
Big dirty burgers stacked high with an immense surplus of extras are great on paper, especially when one of those overly indulgent days comes along and you want to pig out, but are they the most practical? I would suggest perhaps not.
I don’t want to have to disassemble a burger’s excessive layers or unhinge my jaw like a python to try and get my chops around my tea, I just want to take a big bite of a big burger with lots going and, as far as I can tell, there’s no reason this couldn’t happen with a burger that has greater width instead.
They don’t need elevation, they need surface area – as proven by the resurgence of delightfully crispy smash burgers – and it could open up a whole new avenue for those naughty cheat meals.
You could argue wide burgers or at least ‘wide-leaning’ offerings already exist, with one example being the viral and cult favourite Fergburger, made popular over in Queenstown, New Zealand, which tends towards a larger circumference rather than height.
Better yet, if you’ve ever been to a greasy spoon, old school caff or just a local butty shop and ordered a large barm or seen someone ask for a ‘bin lid’ (if you know, you know), then finding bread/buns/baps/whatever you want to call them big enough doesn’t even factor into the equation.
Another bonus upside is that this will in theory make big stacked burgers less of a tired novelty but rather a push-the-boat-out treat and once again see them restored as a worthwhile variation on one of the most popular foodstuffs on Earth.
Manchester has the chance to be the pioneering city at the forefront of a new craze, which is an opportunity that is really rare in gastronomy these days.
So how about it? How about we make 2025 the year we give wide burgers a go? And if I’m wrong then I’ll happily slink back into my chair and keep my mouth shut – most likely because there’s a burger in it.
The Manc -
6th April 2024 
