Or another Good Friday in Manchester! In which a gang of us take a whistle stop tour around some of the best pubs in the city with some good beer the common factor, including an early contender for best of the year so far, plus a couple of pints from a much-loved brewery who are closing down....
There has been a long tradition in Brighouse of a trip each Good Friday to a nearby city like Leeds, Manchester, York, or Wakefield to enable the participants to take some of the best real ale of some of that city's finest pubs. The original trips began before I moved to the West Yorkshire town, with the participants featuring a core cohort of regulars from the old Red Rooster in nearby Brookfoot, with a number from other parts of West Yorkshire. Over the years, which often incorporated visits to obscure pubs in obscure suburbs of the designated destination. Over the years, the trips became the stuff of legend, and on one occasion an incredible 43 people turned up! Over the years, the Crafty Fox in the centre of town has taken over as the regular pub from the Rooster, whilst tone of the trip has changed from being a de facto day of boys-only revelry so that nowadays it is quite mixed, with sons and daughters of some of the group coming along to keep their parents in check!
And so this year, Good Friday began as it generally does at Brighouse's Station Cafe, where several of us congregated around 10.15 to enjoy the customary pre-trip breakfast, each with a train-themed name like Big Buffer, Station Stop, and Baby Branch Line providing some fuel to keep us all going for at least some of the day. We had decided to catch the 11.10, which was one of several extra trains running through Brighouse to Manchester and beyond over the Easter weekend due to the closure of Huddersfield station where building work and maintenance were taking place. Breakfast done, our train - a rare Transpennine visitor to the station - duly arrived and whisked us away to Manchester Victoria, and with no stops en route we were there just before noon.
Our first port of call was the Victoria Tap, where we met the guys from Bradford and Shipley, who were already on to their second pint of the day, bringing the number in our party up to a very reasonable turnout of 20. I ordered a rare pint of Hawkshead Gold, a beer from a brewery who seem to be around less these days following parting with the majority of their brewing team a few years ago, with them setting up their own rival (and, in my opinion, superior) operation, Lakes. That said the Hawkshead Gold was decent enough, a NBSS 3 rating I thought. And the girl in the woolly hat working behind the bar on her own as the masses (mainly us) swarmed in did a sterling job in serving us quickly and efficiently, although despite the A-sign outside the entrance several of the group had initially walked past the bar, oblivious to its presence.
Our proposed second stop, the nearby Sadler's Cat in Hanover Square, wasn't open, so it was onwards and upwards to the Angel, which still has the relaxed, slightly off-kilter vibe that it has had for many years. And as it becomes dwarfed by yet more large shiny tower blocks and is situated at a very busy road junction, it provides an oasis to the changing world outside. The beer range is often a little off-kilter too; here I did think about a pint of Blonde Vixen from Wigan's Wily Fox Brewery which was one of the beers on hand pump, but in the end I went for a pint of Chaff from Farmyard Ales, a 4.7% IPA from the taps, which was one of only a couple on keg that I had all day. One of our number couldn't resist playing a few chords on the grand piano which has been here as long as I can remember, whilst the rest of us chatted and enjoyed our drinks.
Glasses drained, we then set off to walk the five minutes or so to our next port of call, the always wonderful No 73, Rochdale Road aka the Marble Arch. I have been coming here for years and I still get the same frisson of excitement as I approach this venerable pub with its glorious tiled interior and sloping floor. It was the first visit for one or two of the group and they became the latest to be impressed by its charms. We ordered our beers, me opting for a pint of Manchester Bitter, my favourite bitter, and one of my favourite Marble beers. The days have long passed since the brewery was located in the back of the pub; after a move down the road to a railway arch on Williamson Street, they moved to a 15 barrel site in Salford a few years ago which has enable them to keep up with demand for their beers. The pub was quite busy inside with most seats taken so we went out into the beer garden out the back, now occupied by a number of stylish wooden pods which mean they can still attract visitors when it is wet. Not that it was at this point of the trip; the sun was shining bright and it was quite warm for a late March day. The beer was very good here, clean, refreshing, and in excellent condition (NBSS 3.5). Another splendid visit to one of my favourite pubs.
 |
| The Marble Arch: classic interior |
We left the Marble and headed to the Smithfield Market Tavern on Swan Street, although several of the party took a detour and called in the Grade ll-listed Mackie Mayor, which originally formed part of Manchester's Smithfield Market. With its galleried main hall and spectacular ceiling it is an impressive place dedicated to food concessions of many persuasions, whilst there are wine bars and the Blackjack-run Jack in the Box which offers a range of craft and cask ales to quench the thirst. Here I enjoyed a half of cask Hinges, an Irish Red Ale brewed by Blackjack, a delicious malty beer with an ABV of 5% (NBSS 3). It is usually quite busy here which for me detracts from its obvious charms, and I have always preferred to call in the afore-mentioned Blackjack pub, the Smithfield Market Tavern next door which is quieter and more relaxing. Good beer is always available on both cask and keg, served by friendly staff who know their stuff. On this visit I ordered a pint of the 4.2% Fruition, which is made with a rotating range of hops in the same way as Kirkstall's Jasper or Vocation's Chop & Change. This version featured the Mosaic hop, and very nice it was too, clean, fruity, and well-balanced (NBSS 3.5).
We moved on further down Swan Street, passing the Rose & Monkey and Band on the Wall, along with the Bar Fringe on the other side of the road. The road and pavements were wet after a sudden sharp shower which had interrupted the bright sunshine of the day so far. But the sun was back out now, and reflections of tall buildings danced in the puddles, stirred by the relentless ebb and flow of the passing traffic. Across on the corner of Oldham Road and Great Ancoats Street our next stop beckoned, its light coloured stone highlighted by the bright sunshine.
 |
| The Crown & Kettle, Ancoats |
We finally made our ways across the busy junction and into the Crown & Kettle, which as to be expected these days was quite busy, a beneficiary of the transformation of Ancoats from a rough and edgy district into a cool and trendy neighbourhood. One of the guys reminded me that last time we'd visited here on a Good Friday trip we had encountered a group of brightly-dressed carrots who were in Manchester for the stag weekend of one of their number. There were no carrots this time, just plenty of people enjoying their Bank Holiday and there was a good friendly atmosphere about the place. Unfortunately the beer choice today was a bit underwhelming for this beer-mad city: whilst Nightjar and Big Trip both produce some decent beers, the range today was a little too focussed on them. But that is a very rare minor criticism for this excellent pub.
It was off to a rare new bar for me next, and the only one of the places we visited today not to be featured in new local beer bible, Matthew Curtis' excellent Manchester's Best Beer Pubs and Bars, but don't let that stop you visiting. OK, the decidedly-quirky Peer Hat (opening image) could be classed more as a music venue, hosting regular gigs and events, but it has a decent bar which on this occasion - and what had drawn us here today - featured Squawk on one of the three hand pumps. We walked into a dimly-lit room which rolled on the hours with a mish-mash of clutter and an eclectic decor which all seemed to work. One of the other beers was called After Dark, which summed up the vibe of this cosy place quite well. And so to the Squawk which had drawn us here; it was Pavo, the brewery's 3.8% American Pale Ale featuring Chinook and Mosaic hops, giving plenty of citrus fruit atop of Squawk's characteristic grainy undertones. It was one of the best beers we had all day (NBSS 3.5). The Peer Hat (motto: omnia sub petasum or everything under the hat) is situated on Faraday Street which runs between Lever Street and Newton Street on the brick-and-graffiti fringes of the Northern Quarter.
 |
| The Peer Hat, with Pavo on the bar (right) |
And then onwards to the pub where I enjoyed my favourite pint of the day, and one of the best beers I have enjoyed on my travels so far this year. Not surprisingly it was in the Port Street Beer House which has been at the cutting edge of the city's beer scene since it first opened its doors in 2011, featuring not only the best cask ales but bottles from the pick of the US brewers, whose punchy, hop-forward flavours were to go on to influence the back-then fairly nascent craft beer scene over here. And so today for example it was no big surprise that it was one of the first places to have access to the first cask beer from James Campbell's Sureshot Brewing, brewed just down the road in their railway arch brewery on Sheffield Street. The beer in question was Small Man's Wetsuit, a 3.9% which to quote the brewery's blurb is a "petite pale dry hopped with Idaho 7, Citra & Galaxy. Submerged in hops with a gentle tropicality. Soft corners, light bitterness, and a stonefruit edge. Neoprene can bring a tear to your eye." And I'm not going to argue with that; it was juicy, refreshing, and delicious, and I went back for another half as I enjoyed it so much (NBSS 4).
 |
| Big Flavours: Small Man's Wetsuit |
It was just a short hop then to the penultimate stop on this long Good Friday beerventure to the Northern Monk bar on Tariff Street, now short of the shroud of scaffolding which had framed it last time I had been here. It is always work a visit here; whilst it is focussed on keg beers, cask is available, athough for the second time of the day I went for a beer off the taps. Faith, the brewery's 5.4% flagship beer, is an always reliable hazy pale with soft fruit flavours, although the Faith name has also lent itself to a number of spin off versions such as the 4% Little Faith and an alcohol-free beer called Holy Faith. The bar was quite busy as we sat and chilled, before moving on to the final stop on this tour around around some of Manchester's finest pubs and bars.
We headed to the Pelican Bar, situated on the corner of Tariff Street and Dale Street. This is the former Beatnikz Republic bar which was acquired by Squawk as their first bar. And it is sad that due to essential maintenance work on the railway arch in which the brewery is situated, Squawk need to remove their equipment and so owner Oliver Turton took the decision to stop brewing and go the same way as the former owners of this bar. That said, an article in the excellent Opening Times, the magazine of the Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA branch, suggested that Oli may be doing something with the Runaway Brewery which is now based in Stockport so watch this space. For now, though, with the brewery closing at the end of March, the last barrels are being sold so if you like their beers it is likely to be your last opportunity to enjoy some Squawk. And that we certainly did; here - where the bar is remaining open as a free house - the Pavo was once again in fine form and another top quality pint (NBSS 3.5) with which to conclude the day's proceedings.
And with that it was back to Victoria to catch the train home. It had been another great Good Friday day out with some top pubs and beers, enjoyed with some excellent company, and I am already looking forward to doing it all over again in 2025....
Follow me on twitter/X: @realalemusic
Comments
Post a Comment