Manchester’s Summer Beer Thing festival will return to the city centre next weekend with over 20 breweries in tow pouring some of the UK’s freshest pints.
Taking place from Friday 30 June to Sunday 2 July, this year’s line-up has just been released and there are some absolutely cracking breweries signed up including local favourites Sureshot, Track and Squawk.
All three will be hosting stands across the weekend, alongside a brilliant line-up of visitors including Sheffield’s Triple Point, Dundee’s Holy Goat, Bristol’s Left Handed Giant, and FLOC from Canterbury.
Rivington Brewing Co and Verdant, from Cornwall, will be there too, with Talking Tides, from Redcar, and the Lake District’s Lakes Brew Co also attending.
Coinciding with the end of Pride Month, London’s Queer Brewing, the project set up to provide visibility for LGBTQ+ people in and around beer, will also be making an appearance.
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Image: Summer Beer Thing
Image: Summer Beer Thing
There’ll also be guest kegs from international names including Collective Arts (Toronto, Canada), Jester King (Austin, Texas) and Frau Gruber (Swabia, Germany).
It’ll be bliss for beer lovers, with loads of beer taps nestled throughout the garden all weekend and DJs bringing the party vibes.
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For the first time, this year’s Summer Beer Thing will see each of the indie operators at the foodie neighbourhood also open their doors to festival-goers, offering up one-off special drinks, able to buy with festival tokens.
Nell’s will be pouring a special Schoffertopper – Grapefruit Schofferhofer with frozen grapefruit margarita float, whilst Great North Pie will serve their twist on a Spanish classic with Tinto De Vimto.
Elsewhere, Three Little Words are putting on a specially-mixed Raspberry Gin Punch, and The Beeswing will offer ‘The Bees’ting’, whilst Redlight keep it classy with Mini Pomme Verte Martinis and Pollen keeps us all nicely caffeinated with its special cold brew coffee.
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Image: Summer Beer Thing
Image: Summer Beer Thing
The summer fixture is the sister festival to Manchester’s biggest beer festival, Indy Man Beer Con, which is staged every autumn at Victoria Baths.
Since starting in Manchester in 2017, it’s gone from strength to strength, attracting thousands of beer lovers eager to try the latest brews, as well as those new to craft ale looking for an accessible way to get involved and try something different.
Speaking ahead of the event Louise Bruin at Summer Beer Thing said: “We’re proud to be bringing a massive collective of breweries to Manchester for a weekend-long celebration in the Kampus garden.
“It’s no surprise we think British independent brewers are among the best in the world, so it’ll be brilliant to have so many of them all together in one place with a real celebratory atmosphere.
“It’ll be a perfect weekend for those who love craft beer and want to try all the latest seasonal brews, from crisp craft beers, to fruits, sours and stouts. Collaborating with all the Kampus bars and restaurants will just take it to the next level too.”
Tickets are priced between £6 and £10 and include a branded glass in which to sample craft beers, fruits and sours, hoppy, hoppier and session beers, as well as a range of non-beer drinks. These can be purchased via the Summer Beer Thing website.
The full list of participating breweries at Summer Beer Thing 2023:
Baron (Buntingford)
Beak (Lewes)
Burning Sky (Lewes)
Drop Project (Mitcham)
Fell (Flookburgh)
FLOC (Canterbury)
Holy Goat (Dundee)
Lakes Brew Co (Lake District)
Left Handed Giant (Bristol)
Little Earth Project (Sudbury)
Makemake (Portsmouth)
Maltgarden (Poland)
Pastore (Cambridge)
Queer Brewing (London)
Rivington (Cornwall)
Runaway (Stockport)
Simple Things Fermentation (Glasgow)
Squawk (Manchester)
Sureshot (Manchester)
Talking Tides (Redcar)
Thornbridge (Bakewell)
Track (Manchester)
Triple Point (Sheffield)
Verdant (Cornwall)
Yonder (Radstock)
Zapato (Marsden)
Featured image – Summer Beer Thing
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You can get a mobile massage treatment in your office – just like us
Thomas Melia
We’d like to introduce you to the pioneering personalised service offering massage treatments on the move at practically any location including direct from your office– including to those of us here in Manchester.
In a world where you can get practically anything delivered straight to your door, it wasn’t going to be long until some genius invented a way to get a massage from the comfort of your own office.
Named ‘London’s first digital beauty concierge’, Ruuby have been pampering the nation’s capital for almost a decade before branching out to further locations.
The gorgeous set up provided by RuubyLook at that lovely branding on the towels.They did wonders with our otherwise plain downstairs office space. (Credit: The Manc Group)
In October 2024, the company expanded beyond its domestic reach in the likes of the capital, the Cotswolds and Surrey into Europe, making its first mark Switzerland: the perfect country for both luxury and essential beauty treatments with a tailored experience.
The month following saw the group moving up North and all the way to Manchester, where people can now book professional treatments best suited to them, right on their doorstep.
If you’re feeling scepticalstill, you can take it from us here at The Manc; we couldn’t tell you how relaxing and comforting these massages are.
There are a range of treatments available and we opted for two bespoke massages, a sports massage and a deep tissue massage.
Each experience is suited to your personal needs meaning each massage therapist will be able to fine-tune their relaxation abilities to what benefits you best.
After choosing the bespoke massage that I felt would work best for me, I went into this with no prior massage experience and I came out feeling taller, broader and more refreshed. Highly recommend.
Mid-day office massage? Yes, please.How relaxing. What a shame you have to go back to work after!Credit: The Manc Group
My masseuse guided me throughout the whole process and we soon discovered that I was able to tolerate much harder pressure than I thought which helped release tension I didn’t even know I had!
The same applies to how firm you’d like your session to be, as the masseuse can help with a brief overview of your time together, but the amount of pressure you like is down to personal preference.
It’s not just massages either: there’s everything from waxing, nails and hair to physio and IV drips; how about getting Marbella ready in less than an hour with a spray tan service set up wherever you are?
As Ruuby is a mobile and remote work environment, there are a number of at any time up and down the country, meaning your next beauty slot could be as little as an hour away, find out more HERE.
An award-winning Manchester cocktail bar is serving a Tiny ‘Tini martini cocktail flight
Daisy Jackson
Martini cocktails are one of the world’s most iconic and stylish cocktails, and come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, despite classically being made with only a few ingredients.
If you’re still dipping your toes into the world of the vodka martini cocktail, or if you’re a super fan always eager to try a new take on this beloved drink, can we introduce you to the ‘Tiny ‘Tini’ flight?
This clever creation is as photo-worthy as it is delicious – three miniature martini cocktails, served perfectly chilled in ‘flight’ form on a tray in one of Manchester’s very best bars, Blinker.
The Tiny ‘Tini has been launched by legendary vodka brand GREY GOOSE to celebrate the resurgence of vodka martini cocktails (vodka is one of the core ingredients, the other is typically vermouth).
Blinker, which was earlier this year named the 22nd best cocktail bar in the UK, is already famed for its menu of vodka martini cocktails , so was a perfect choice for the GREY GOOSE Tiny ‘Tini collaboration.
Here, they’ve created three different miniature takes on the classic cocktail- the house martini cocktail, made with GREY GOOSE vodka, house vermouth, orange bitters and an olive; the Spanish Gibson, with sherry and onion brine (if you’re a fan of savoury cocktails, this is the one for you); and the champagne martini cocktail, with GREY GOOSE vodka, champagne cordial, Lillet Blanc and orange bitters (a gateway martini cocktail for the uninitiated).
Each of the three perfectly sized drinks is served in a special frosted miniature martini cocktail glass and is the perfect size for flavour exploration – while also staying perfectly chilled down to the last sip.
The Grey Goose Tiny Tini martini cocktail flight is available at Blinker in Manchester
Best of all, the Tiny ‘Tini flight also makes vodka martini cocktails that little bit less intimidating.
Lexa Ulijaszek, UK Ambassador for GREY GOOSE commented: “When it comes to the vodka martini cocktail, size does matter for some.
“Sometimes a full-sized martini cocktail can be a little bit too intimidating. Or over the course of great conversation between friends, the final sip of your drink may not be as superbly chilled or balanced in taste as the beginning.
“As a result, the offer of a ‘sip sized cocktail’ is gaining traction across many of the UK’s most influential bars.
“A sip size GREY GOOSE Tiny ‘Tini is the perfect solution – beautifully crafted, expertly chilled, elegantly served with rich taste. A flight of three petite drinks allows you to responsibly enjoy the perfection of the ‘first sip’ of a martini cocktail while also experiencing a range of unique flavours.
“The trend is very much a UK-wide affair, with some of the best bars across Manchester, Edinburgh and London all serving the GREY GOOSE Tiny ‘Tini – ushering in a brand new and bold ‘sip sized’ era for the vodka martini cocktail.”
The GREY GOOSE Tiny ‘Tini flight at Blinker in Manchester costs £12 and is available until 30 April.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd June 2023 
