Independent Manchester Beer Convention - Magic Rock Brewing

We’re delighted to have been invited to be one of the 10 participant breweries of the first ever Independent Manchester Beer Festival which is being held at the Victoria Baths on the 5th and 6th of October. The UK has been crying out for this type of interactive beer festival for some time and we’re really pleased our good friends at Port St Beer House have grasped the mantle.

Here’s why we’re excited about the event, in their own words:

we’ll be holding a two day celebration of beer mixed with some food, some discussion and some general good times. Our plan is to take the best bits of all the beer festivals we’ve ever been to and combine them into one multi-sensory, headlong, hop forward beer extravaganza, a modest goal I’m sure you’ll agree. The Convention will bring together the UK’s most progressive, forward thinking breweries in unique surroundings presenting the best beers we can get hold off on both cask and keg.

The event will also include:
– Over 30 kegs lines, hosted by the brewers themselves.
– 30 cask lines curated by Port Street Beer House and others.
– the Portable Street Beer House presenting craft beers from here there and everywhere.
– a beer and food pairing dinner*
– pop up tastings
– mini food pairings
– talks and seminars.
– some live music and the like.
– Coffee/Tea provided by North Tea Power and Has Bean.
– food stalls
– Three ticket levels per day to accommodate all comers IMBC Lite(12pm-4.30pm), IMBC Later(5.30pm-11.30pm) and IMBC Max(5.30pm-11.30pm).

*meal included in the IMBC Max ticket priced at £45.

IMBC is brought to you by the team behind Common and Port Street Beer House. IMBC came about through being inspired by the UK’s craft beer movement and frustrated that beer festivals, in their current form, weren’t really representative of this exciting and dynamic part of the industry. We wanted to put on an event that has amazing beer (obviously) but was open-minded, inclusive and modern. We also wanted to put customers in direct contact with the people who make the beer and have our brewers prepare a special exclusive for the Convention. Mix this all in with other crafty practitioners such as North Tea Power, Aumbry and Has Bean and you have a frenzy of good stuff to eat, drink and make merry with.

Myself, Scott and Stuart will be attending the sessions over the two days to pour our beers and talk to the attendees, we haven’t quite finalised what beers we’re bringing but expect a mix of some of our core keg beers and our more experimental specials and barrel aged beers.

We’ve been approached by a few people attempting to set up festivals like this over the last few months, but we have a good feeling that this festival has the right format and organisation to become the established craft beer festival over the next few years. If you love whats happening at the progressive end of UK brewing at the moment you’d be mad to miss it.

Tickets for the sessions are available here http://indymanbeercon.eventbrite.co.uk/ for more information on the festival and participating breweries have a look here http://www.indymanbeercon.co.uk/breweries/

The organisers are also looking for volunteers to get involved and help with the set up and serving. If you love beer and can spare some time in exchange for free tickets let them know http://www.indymanbeercon.co.uk/volunteers/