Reopening dates for Manchester craft beer bars

With pubs and bars legally allowed to reopen on 4 July, here’s a guide to which craft beer bars in Manchester will be opening their doors and serving beer to drink in. Many venues are choosing not to open right now or are not ready to yet, so this list will be updated.

There’s also still plenty of venues and breweries selling craft beer for takeaway and delivery in Manchester if you want to stick to drinking beer at home.

Last updated: 13/07/2020

City centre

Alphabet Brewing Company

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-8pm. No walk ins, see their website for details.

Beatnikz Republic bar

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-10pm. See their Twitter for details.

Beatnikz Republic tap room

Open from Saturday 4 July, 1-10pm. See their Facebook page for details.

Brewdog Manchester

Open from Saturday 4 July.

Bundobust Manchester

Open from Tuesday 7 July. See their website for details.

Cafe Beermoth

Open from Friday 10 July. See their Instagram for details.

Cask Ancoats

Open from Tuesday 7 July. See their Twitter for details.

Common

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-10pm. No walk ins, see their Twitter for details.

Grub at Redbank Project

Open from Friday 10 July, 12-10pm. No walk ins, see Facebook event for details.

The Knott

Open from Saturday 4 July, 2-11pm. See their Twitter for details.

The Marble Arch

Open from Saturday 8 August. No walk ins, see their Twitter for details.

Northern Monk Refectory

Open from Thursday 9 July, from 5pm. See their Facebook page for details.

Ol Brewery Bar

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-9pm. See their Instagram post for details.

The Pilcrow

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-8pm. No walk ins, see their Facebook page for details.

Port Street Beer House

Open from Saturday 4 July, 2-10pm. No walk ins, see their Facebook page for details.

Runaway Brewery tap

Open from Friday 17 July. Outdoors only, see their Twitter for details.

Suburbs/Greater Manchester

The Beagle, Chorlton

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-10pm. No walk ins, see their Twitter for details.

The Beer House, Chorlton

Open from Saturday 4 July. See their Twitter for details.

Marble Brewery taproom, Salford

Open Saturday 11 July, 2-6pm. See their Twitter for details.

The Magnet, Stockport

Open from Saturday 4 July, 12-10pm. See their Facebook page for details.

Nordie, Levensy

Open from Saturday 10 July. See their Twitter for details.

Project 53, Stockport

Open from Saturday 4 July. See their website for details.

Where to buy beer for home delivery in Manchester

With the pubs and bars in Manchester now shut for the time being, many bars, bottle shops and breweries are now selling beer online.

Here’s a guide to where you can buy beer for delivery in Manchester while the pubs are closed, and some venues offering the chance to pre-pay for your drinks for when they can reopen.

Updated 30/06/2020

A visit to Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city, has become known for the number of great breweries that have popped up there in recent years. We snagged ourselves some decent-priced flights and booked ourselves in for a little jaunt to brush off the January blues.

This is nowhere near an extensive guide to the bars and breweries of Gothenburg. In just over three and a half days, we managed to visit a fair few places but we also were there in January when some of the taprooms weren’t open.

One thing to flag is that Sweden is quite close to becoming cashless and many places do not take cash, so make sure you have a bank card which isn’t too expensive to use overseas if you’re visiting.

Here’s a look at where we visited.

CatHop Beers, Rainford

A farm building next to a bypass near St Helens may not be the first place you’d expect to find beers from some of the UK’s most exciting breweries, but CatHop Beers is a hidden gem.

Unit 9 – Cloudwater’s new tap room

Cloudwater’s long-awaited new taproom, Unit 9 has finally opened its doors. While Cloudwater’s Barrel Store looked like it was born out of necessity, Unit 9 has been lovingly crafted and is a welcome addition to Manchester’s thriving beer scene.

Full disclosure: on my first visit, it was a pre-opening event with free beer but I have since returned and bought my own bevs.

First event announced for Manchester Beer Week 2018

A five city beer battle is the first event announced for this year’s Manchester Beer Week.

A tour of the breweries and craft beer bars of Amsterdam

Amsterdam; the city of canals and coffee shops, but is it also a city for craft beer? Well, yes. Before visiting, I was aware of a few of the Netherlands’ most well-known breweries such as Het Uiltje, Jopen and Brouwerij ‘t IJ but I didn’t know just how many brilliant bars we’d find.

We arrived on King’s Day which is the Netherlands’ major bank holiday, so the streets were rammed with people drinking, dancing and generally enjoying themselves. As a result, our first evening was a bit different than the usual experience particularly as many of the bars closed early but it wasn’t this way all through our stay as the next day everything had returned to normal – as if the street drinking and party boats never happened at all.

Here’s a little run-down of all the places we visited during our three-night stay.

Collaborations announced for Manchester Beer Week

Five collaborations have been announced for this year’s Manchester Beer Week featuring some of the UK’s leading breweries.

The partnerships for the collabs will be Runaway and Bristol-based Left Handed Brewing Co, Track and Brew By Numbers, Blackjack and Hawkshead, and Marble and Northern Monk.

The final collab is a three-way brew between Cloudwater, Bristol’s Lost and Grounded and Verdant in Falmouth.

A Manchester brewery expo has also been announced for Saturday June 24 with all of the city centre breweries, including the likes of Cloudwater, Track, Blackjack and Runaway all opening their doors for tours and tasting events. Dan’s Brewery will also be open and will be hosting Marble, Hawkshead and Magic Rock.

Manchester Beer Week takes place June 23 – July 2 – mcrbeerweek.co.uk.

A weekend in Newcastle

Although I’m fairly well travelled across the North West, the North East is mostly unfamiliar territory to me so for a Christmas present, Ross arranged a weekend for us to explore Newcastle and Northumberland – especially because I kept banging on about wanting to visit Lindisfarne. With Newcastle home to some great breweries, most notably Wylam, there’s plenty of places to check out so here’s a look at the places we visited.

Easter 2017 Manchester beer events

A long weekend brings about even more beer events than normal and here’s a look at what’s going on over the Easter bank holiday weekend in Manchester.

(Looking for what’s going on during the rest of the year?  See my Manchester beer events calendar)

Beatnikz Republic soft launch

Recently relocated to Manchester from the capital, Beatnikz Republic will be having a soft launch over the Easter weekend at their site in the Green Quarter. They’ll be showcasing some of their beers that have been gypsy brewed elsewhere, ahead of a larger launch party once they’ve brewed at the new site. They’ll be open from the Thursday right through to Easter Monday. (Find out more about them on this Beernomicon podcast)

Thursday 13 April 4-10pm, Friday 14 April 4-10pm, Saturday 15 April 12-8pm, Sunday 16 April 12-8pm, Monday 17 April 12-8pm, Unit 15, Red Bank – Twitter.

Beermoth/Cafe Beermoth – Yeaster Weekend

Beermoth on Tib Street and Cafe Beermoth on Spring Gardens will be celebrating yeast across the Easter weekend with events in the Beermoth cellar and at the cafe. Entry will be free.

Saturday 15 April 4-8pm, Sunday 16 April 4-8pm – Twitter.

Chorlton Brewing Co brew tap

Chorlton will be opening their doors on Easter Saturday and on offer will be beer smoothies alongside their Sour Blend 3 and (sour) Lager and Lime.

Saturday 15 April, 12-10pm, 69 North Western Street – Twitter.

Cloudwater x Magic Rock x Other Half tap takeover at The Pilcrow

Cloudwater, Magic Rock and Other Half (all the way from New York) will be teaming up to provide 12 taps of their beers on Easter Sunday at the Pilcrow. As well as the takeover, a special meet the brewers’ event will be held from 6.30pm at Redfern House (across the road) – this is a ticketed event and they’re on sale now.

Sunday 16 April, 12pm, Sadler’s Yard – Facebook event.

Easter Pint of Portent weekend at The Marble Arch

The Marble Arch will be cracking open bottles of their Russian Imperial Stout, Portent of Usher, that they’ve been saving over the bank holiday. It’ll be there from midday on Friday, but they don’t expect it to last long!

Friday 14 April 12pm until it runs out, The Marble Arch, Rochdale Road – Facebook event.

Grub ExtraVEGANza at Alphabet Brewery

Grub’s weekly street food events at Alphabet have become more and more popular over recent months and following their first vegan-only event earlier this year, they’re hosting another over the bank holiday weekend. Vegan food will be available from traders including Wallace & Sons, Fat Annie’s, Pollen Bakery and Ginger’s Comfort Emporium and all of the beers available behind the bar will be 100% vegan.

Saturday 15 April, 12-10pm, 99 North Western Street – Facebook event.

Manchester tap takeover at The Beagle

Chorlton’s The Beagle will be celebrating the best of Manchester on Easter Saturday with a tap takeover showcasing brewers from the city on both cask and keg. Expect Blackjack, Cloudwater, Runaway, Squawk, Track and more. It’s all part of Chorlton’s Neighbourhood Jam event which also includes Marble Beerhouse, Font, Pi and more.

Saturday 15 April, 12pm, 456-458 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton. Neighbourhood Jam Facebook event.

Torrside Easter Brewery Tap

Technically not in Manchester but only a short train ride away, New Mills’ Torrside will be opening their doors on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. Ten beers will be available on draught, including I’m Spartacus on both cask and keg, and they’ll also be previewing their collaboration with Rivington Brewing Co.

Friday 14 April and Saturday 15 April, 12-8pm, New Mills Marina, Hibbert Street, New Mills – more info.

Unit 101 opening

Unit 101 is a new beer bar and events space from the team at Beer Merchants and will be opening its doors for the first time on Easter Saturday. They’re planning on opening every Saturday for both on and off-sales (including growler fills) and will have 11 beers on draught.

Saturday 15 April, 12-7pm, 101 North Western Street – Twitter.

Weekly events taking place

Just because it’s a bank holiday it doesn’t mean the regularly occuring events won’t be taking place.

Beer Nouveau Brewery Tap

Beer Nouveau will have extended opening hours over the bank holiday, including opening their doors on Easter Sunday.

Friday 14 April 12-10.30pm, Saturday 15 April 12-10.30pm, Sunday 16 April, 12-8pm, 75 North Western Street – Twitter.

Cloudwater

Not only will Cloudwater be taking part in a tap takeover at the Pilcrow, but their Barrel Store tap room will also be open on the Friday and Saturday. They are also opening their brewery for a tour on the Saturday morning, with tickets now available for £13.15.

Friday 14 April, 4-9pm, Saturday 15 April, 12-8pm, 13 Sheffield Street – Twitter

Manchester Brewing Co

Update 12/4 – Manchester Brewing Co have now announced that they won’t be opening over the Easter weekend

Manchester Brewing Co have started opening their doors weekly as from the beginning of this month and will be again opening their doors on Easter Saturday. 

Twitter.