IT always puzzles folk that Chorlton Brewing Company is not located in that trendy suburb. Owner/brewer Mike Marcus lives there, but an arch along the Piccadilly beer mile is a more affordable base for brewing his uncompromising ‘sour beers’, unfiltered, unpasteurised, unfined and vegan-friendly.
Manchester boasts some amazing contemporary breweries, notably Cloudwater, Marble, Runaway and Track, but Chorlton occupies a special leftfield place, typified by their new Kulfi Sour, which launched at Bundobust after they agreed to commission it.
It looks the perfect fit for the import from Leeds that pairs Indian veggie food with craft brews – even employing its own beer sommelier, Alex Parkinson, himself a brewer and sour beer fan. Sour beers are those that are intentionally acidic or tart, made often using wild yeasts.
We couldn’t resist popping over to Bundobust’s basement premises off Piccadilly Gardens to see how a beer brewed with saffron, kewra (pandanus flower extract), cardamom and jaggery (an unrefined sugar made from the sap of cane and date palms) matched a spice-led cuisine. The name comes from that grainy Indian ice cream with such flavourings.
ToM had enjoyed the house wheat beer Bombay Dazzler brewed by Northern Monk, with a mind to matching, but this promised more complex interaction and so it proved.
It’s tart but there’s a lingering fruitiness from the sweet spices, a perfect match with the sour tamarind in the Bundo Chaat (small tub, £4.50), that divine cold confection of torn samosa pastry, spuds, onion, turmeric noodles, yoghurt and tamarind chutney.
The legendary okra fries (£3.50) are coated in pungent kala namak and souring agent amchoor then coated okra deep-fried to spicy crispness. The Kulfi didn’t work as well; a Pils would have been better.
Star pairing turned out to be idli sambar, a couple of fluffy steamed rice cakes in a hot and sour lentil with a small pot of coconut chutney on the side. It just enhanced the tropical fruit of the beer, which is available at £4.30 a schooner until the batch runs out. We suggest it’s Bundo or bust!
Bundobust, 61 Piccadilly, Manchester M1 2AQ.