THE verdict on Indy Man Beer Con 2015 is overwhelmingly positive. Once again the venue for this celebration of the best and most innovative craft beer was the spectacular Victoria Baths – and the product matched the setting more than ever.
“We are serioiusly chuffed – we made a few changes from last year and it all worked,’’ says organiser Jonny Heyes, who runs Port Street Beer House, Common and The Beagle.
“We changed the lay-out, giving brewers more space and their own distinct area where it was easier to speak with them. We created more space by omitting doing the beer and food dinners, attended by only a handful, freeing up space for Cloudwater and they took splendid advantage.
Similarly we focused the collaboration beers in one spot, made more of them– tying them in with the canning for takeaways we debuted this year. It proved very popular. “
Feedback has been generally positive – a few were upset cask beer was reduced but that was because it didn’t shift last year. We have to follow what our audience wants. Ay IndyMan it’s not about drinking the same bitters and lagers you’ve always stuck to, it’s about freeing your palate, trying the indie, the experimental – the weird that might be wonderful. It’s about going for it.”
Taste of Manchester certainly went for it, sampling the likes of Vocation’s Bog Myrtle Pale Ale to clear the palate before launching into Partizan’s Negoni Saison – no gin, vermouth or Campari involved, just various spices the Bermondsey brewers use to approximate to that cult bitter cocktail. A very pink, frothy drink.
We couldn’t resist either one of the more outlandish sounding collaborations, Dark Tiding Seaweed Gose from Liverpool’s Mad Hatter and Zapato & The Beak from Leeds. A touch of iodine in the citrussy sourness I found compelling.
But it was outshone as a Gose (a suddenly trendy East German sour-saline style) by There Gose The Neighbourhood from Lousiville Kentucky’s Against The Grain, where Sam Cruz (our main picture) and his brewing team create endless limited edition brews with no shortage of hops or puns. This Gose was infused with roasted red pepper, coriander and calamansi lime and was fresh, spicy and yet complex.
With more than 70 breweries together from near (very impressed with Northern Monk from Leeds) and far (step forward the ebullient New Zealand Beer Collective) it was impossible to more than scratch the surface of this immensely creative array of ales, even if your liver stretched to more than one session.
Certainly ballast was required and another new development, the outside Food Village was a boon, aided by the fine weather and the presence of seriously good street food operations such as Bundobust (Indian veggie) and Honest Crust (pizzas). It was also a good place to pick up an extra commemorative glass or two, which folk inexplicably left behind. It’s a glorious portrayal of the IndyMan lying at the bottom of the glass, sponsored by our own Cloudwater and designed by Steve Hockett. A beautiful souvenir of a beautiful event.
