Beer

I love pairing food with beer and there are few better combinations than burgers and beer. Byron have always had a reasonable craft beer lineup, particularly compared to most of their competitors but they’ve really upped their game recently. They’ve worked alongside award winning beer blogger & writer Mark Dredge (of whom I’m a big fan) to create a small but well judged …

A couple of months ago I hosted a private supper club. A bespoke 7-course tasting menu by the Drunken Butcher, including a curated cheeseboard. To which I paired a total of 11 beers. One for each course, four with the cheeseboard and an apéritif. It’s another one of those posts where I’m not quite sure where it belongs. On the …

BrewDog’s annual AGM is like no other. Bands, beer, business, food and fun. 6,000 shareholders. A line up of quality music, great street food traders and of course, loads of amazing beer. Read more here: http://beergeekblog.co.uk/2016/04/brewdog-agm-2016-aberdeen-punkagm2016/

I started my sister blog to avoid writing about beer to much over here. But every now and again I attend an event and can’t decide where best to put it. That happened recently when I was invited to a ‘Food Pairing Dinner’ at Ibérica, Spinningfields. Since it was hosted by Spanish brewery Casimiro I decided it was better suited over …

Following the success of  ‘Winter Beer Fest‘, Grub, Shebeen and Blackjack Brewery collaborated once more to bring us Shebeen Festival 2015. The event was held across three venus in Manchester’s Green Quarter; Runaway Brewery, Blackjack Brewery and Glassworks Distribution. Each venue hosted various types of entertainment. From live music to standup comedians and even art installations. I’d love to be able to tell …

I love food and I love beer, but I hate the cold. So I was torn as to whether a freezing railway arch at the end of January was the ideal time and place for a beer festival in Manchester. But I trusted the people involved and rightly so, as what Grub Winter Beer Fest lacked in temperature, it more than made …

After running a successful food and beer pairing event at the newly opened Wigan Central, I brought my ‘Christmas Food, Beer & Festive Cheer’ to one of my favourite places two days later; Great Ale Year Round in Bolton Market’s Lifestyle Hall. Despite tickets being cheaper, the Bolton event proved to be even better than the original in Wigan. Mostly thanks …

‘Twas the (last Friday) night before Christmas and Manchester street food pioneers Guerrilla Eats were throwing a party at their semi-permanent home on Blossom Street. Combining two of the things I love most, street food and craft beer. The beer list was impressive; with twenty lines – of both keg and cask beers – from great local breweries such as Quantum and …

It never ceases to amaze me how many offers I get from PR companies to cover things on this little blog – which I write primarily for my own amusement. These days most get deleted immediately but occasionally something grabs my attention. Like recently when I was contacted on behalf of Premier Inn who’ve just opened a new hotel in …

These days I get just as excited about good beer as I do food. I bought my tickets for not one but three sessions of Indy Man Beer Con (Independent Manchester Beer Convention) as soon as they went on sale in Spring and spent the next six months counting down the days. I’d booked onto Jackie Kearney’s (aka The Hungry Gecko) beer …

There was nothing romantic about Valentine’s Day 2012 for me. The date of my worst ever experience as a food blogger at Taps in Manchester’s Great Northern. I swore I’d never return; something I stuck to for two and a half years, even when asked directly by the restaurant. When I did go back last month it wasn’t because I was asked …

I’ve always loved BrewDog; their beer and their bars. I used to love their food too; the BBQ menu was fantastic, featuring: tender ribs, brilliant burnt beans and a simply stunning smoked mac ‘n’ cheese. And I’m not ashamed to say I’ve made several visits purely to get my fix of their awesome fried pickles. So you can imagine my disappointment …

If you’ve been to any new restaurant, event or craft beer shop in Manchester this year you can’t have missed the influx of beers from Hawaiian brewery Kona. Although I must admit to getting a little bored of seeing them absolutely everywhere, I do enjoy most of them. So when I was invited to Northern Quarter rib joint Cane & …

After the success of my first event with Great Ale, Year Round in Bolton Market’s Lifestyle Hall (Beer & Cheese Pairing) we couldn’t wait to put on another. We’d had many requests to repeat the cheese event – something I’d love to do in the future – but I was keen to do something completely different first. This time I wanted …

It’s no secret that I love the Drunken Butcher’s food, but if there’s one thing I love even more it’s beer (as my Untappd profile will testify; 586 distinct beers and counting in under 12 months… eek). The thought of combining these two loves at his recent ‘Over (and under) A Barrel’ event filled me with pure hoppiness (sorry). Not only did …