SAMPLING all that wonderful grub at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival sure builds up a thirst. Thankfully help will be at hand throughout the biggest and best food event around (Sept 10-20). Step forward the Wainwright Ale Trail Bar and the 100 Greatest Beers Fest pouring pints aplenty all day in the Hub’s central beer outlet.
Thwaites’ Wainwright, the UK’s best-selling golden ale, gives its name to the Hub’s central beer outlet at the start of the festival. The Wainwright Ale Trail Bar gives you ample opportunity to savour its delicate, citrussy flavours balanced with a subtle sweetness... but that’s just the start of the trail.
Beer, and in particular ale, has never been so much in vogue and this year festival-goers will be invited to explore the wonderful combinations of hops and malts around. For new drinkers wanting to try cask ale for the first time it’s the perfect, unintimidating introduction. The Wainwright team will guide you with simple-to-understand tasting notes and sampling sessions. In all, there are 15 different beers to choose from, including seven cask beers from five separate breweries.
In addition there are four craft keg beers plus four European lagers, including the award winning Czech Pilsner Krosowice making its debut. Tasting sessions will run in the Snug next to the Wainwright Ale Trail Bar.
From Monday, September 14, the 100 Greatest Beers Fest takes centre stage in the enormous beer tent, showcasing the breweries, old and new, that make Greater Manchester the most exciting beer region in the country. Look out for the exciting newcomers that have sprung up since MFDF 2014. The exciting likes of Cloudwater, Runaway and Alphabet alongside comparative veterans such as 7 Brothers (founded June 2014) and Squawk, formed way back in 2013! And it’s free to get in with a huge range of live entertainment http://foodanddrinkfestival.com/festival-hub/ thrown in. Whether you seek a golden ale, wheat beer, a well-balanced bitter or crave the darker pleasures of stout or porter, this is sheer beer nirvana. Cheers!
Wainwright Ale Trail Bar (Thu 10-Sun 13 Sept) and 100 Greatest Beers Fest (Mon 14-Sun 20 Sept). Festival Hub, Albert Square M2 5DB. Noon-11pm. Free (you pay for the beer, though).
Cloudwater Brewery Tap Festival Special
September sees the launch of Cloudwater's autumn range with focus shifting from US hop harvests in light and thirst quenching beer to hop harvests from New Zealand, Australia, and then Europe. Richer, darker, and a little stronger, they'll be presenting beer styles that fit the season's change from warm to cold. Join this exciting new brewery on Saturday 12 Sept at 11am to explore rich and dark malts, wood and fruit, and on Saturday 19 Sept for an intro to seasonality in beer, and new harvest southern hemisphere hops.
Cloudwater Brewery, M1 2NP. Tickets for each event are £10. Buy via this link. http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mfdf15-special-events-tickets-18174554582
Check out 10 Things To Look Out For at Manchester Food and Drink Festival.