It isn't often - if ever - that I post a press release, more or less as intact, but this needs to be done. Those of us lucky enough to live in Manchester know what a great place it is to drink beer and now the we have the figures to prove how good it really is.
Have a look at this:
Manchester has emerged as the cask beer capital of Britain, following a major new study into the beer sold in the city’s pubs and bars. The Manchester Beer Audit 2017 found 411 different cask ales on sale in venues throughout the Manchester City Council area, beating nearest rival Sheffield, which boasted 385 beers in its last survey, as well as Nottingham (334), York (281), Norwich (254), Derby (213), and Leeds (211).
The survey also confirmed
that Manchester is leading other cities in kegged “craft” beers too, with 234
different beers on sale throughout the city, an increase in variety that has
been sparked by the recent boom in craft brewing.
More than 80 independent
breweries now operate across Greater Manchester and these breweries account for
38 per cent of all cask beers on sale and 36 per cent of craft keg beers.
“The figures confirm what
Mancunians already know – this is one of the best beer cities in Britain and
possibly the best place in the world to enjoy great cask beer,” said Connor
Murphy, organiser of Manchester Beer Week.
“Manchester has a healthy
respect for cask and not only is there a huge variety available but the quality
of cask ale in this city is hard to beat. The growth of craft keg beer is also
heartening and raises hope that our independent brewing scene can continue to
thrive and grow.”
“But venues could
still do more to support the independent Mancunian brewing scene. Although
variety remains important and it is great to try beers from across the world,
the fact that less than 40 per cent of all available cask and craft keg beers
are from Greater Manchester shows there is still room for improvement.”
It found 824 handpumps and
1,957 keg fonts on bars across the city, with 72 per cent of all pubs and bars
selling cask ale.
Well, we all knew it here, but it's great to have it confirmed.
This was a splendid piece of real campaigning by CAMRA. I'm pleased to say that my Rochdale, Oldham and Bury Branch participated in such an important piece of work.
Manchester Beer week is in full swing. Connor Murphy, the Organiser is doing a great job of supporting and promoting this great beer city. He makes such an important point about the great quality of the cask beer here. Come and drink it with confidence.
Well, we all knew it here, but it's great to have it confirmed.
This was a splendid piece of real campaigning by CAMRA. I'm pleased to say that my Rochdale, Oldham and Bury Branch participated in such an important piece of work.
Manchester Beer week is in full swing. Connor Murphy, the Organiser is doing a great job of supporting and promoting this great beer city. He makes such an important point about the great quality of the cask beer here. Come and drink it with confidence.
Quality is the key, as you regularly say, and that's where Manchester wins. For the pedant, I'd say Rochdale and Stockport run or beat Manchester !
ReplyDeleteI fail to see how Manchester could fail to come out on top of this survey. It is by far the largest city and therefore has the most pubs. Were London or Birmingham or included they would surely have been 1st and 2nd respectively.
ReplyDeleteSurely a better measure of variety would be to divide the number of different beers by the number of pubs surveyed?
Mmm? Pondered this before and sample size is a major factor. Greater Manchester includes many independent towns in the metropolitan area and is NOT Manchester City Centre. Therefore it is incomparable with the Leeds survey which was the City centre, literally a square mile. Sheffield included parts of Derbyshire in theirs!
ReplyDeleteConclusion - I'm enthused with all the findings, but statistically and scientifically all these different surveys cannot be compared.
Sorry Lads, but this was a City Centre Survey only. My ROB lot went in to the City Centre to help. Inner ring Road was the boundary I understand.
ReplyDeleteIf Manchester outlets are regularly selling 400+ different cask beers, it's a bit obtuse to complain that 'only' 40% of them are from the Manchester area - if local breweries are producing as many as 160 different cask beers, that's something to celebrate in its own right. (Particularly given that, as we know, all the new breweries are keg nowadays...)
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I can't help thinking "never mind the quality, feel the width."
ReplyDeleteAnd my understanding was that the survey covered the whole of the City of Manchester, not just the city centre. Not much cask in Collyhurst or Wythenshawe, of course...
Coming from another part of traditional Lancashire,in our parts we have always had a healthy(mostly!) rivalry with the city. However after attending LCCC for over 20 years,spending many evenings in the city each & every year,and being a cask fan who also travels the breadth & length of the UK I must say I have to agree with these findings. It seems to have been these last five years that there have been massive gains,to the point where on my 10 visits a year I am currently struggling to keep up with the new and refurbished venues. These last 24 months seem to have been particularly frenetic in my attempts to do so.
ReplyDeleteMudgie. I think you may be right, not that it makes a real difference.What I meant to point out really, was that Stockport, Rochdale, Oldham, Bury etc. weren't included.
ReplyDeleteWith all this beer, why do you seem to struggle to find a decent pint, fella?
ReplyDeleteI don't in THIS neck of the woods.
ReplyDelete