Pub & Club News

Flixton’s Fox & Hounds is under new management with Andy Flynn taking over in mid-March. Andy is a active CAMRA member who regularly enjoys a busman’s holiday serving and cellaring at CAMRA festivals, including at January’s Manchester Beer & Cider Festival. He is no stranger to the pub game either having been at the helm of the Bird i'th Hand in Hindley, Wigan for the last four years.

The new management immediately brought back cask ales and when we called a few days into Andy’s tenancy, two cask ales from Theakston’s were on offer - Atlantic Red and Vanilla Stout. The selection will rotate from the guest list provided by owners Star Inns - aka Heineken – so Heineken’s own Caledonian brewery will be likely to feature – with the aim of increasing the range available once a modest refurbishment project has been completed. There is a quiz on Monday evenings from 9 pm and weekends will feature live music karaoke on Friday nights & professional singers on Saturdays.

Chorlton’s de Nada bar & restaurant has announced that it is closing it’s doors on 9th April. It was four years ago that co-owners Nigel & Sam decided to bring a taste of their favourite continent to this small bar at the north end of Manchester Road with Nigel adding his love of cask ales to the mix as well as a notable commitment to stocking real cider and perry at all times. Whether it was to enjoy their top-quality food or just to pop in for a quiet pint away from the hustle of some of the areas louder bars, de Nada brought something different to Chorlton that will be missed. Trafford & Hulme Camra wishes Nigel and Sam all the best for their future endeavours.

Dave Barlow and his team at The Brook, Brooklands have won the JW Lees Cask Ale Pub of the Year Award for 2016. The team wer delighted to regain the title they last won in 2014. This award marks that The Brook has sold the most consistently excellent quality cask ales throughout the whole of the JW Lees estate.

And just to make their day even better they also won the JW Lees Top Cellar award 2016 for selling the most cask ale per square foot of the pubs floor space.

Dave and his team always offer a great welcome to all of their customers so why not go in and congratulate them in person.

The Old Abbey Inn is a pub which many people have no idea exists. Despite only being a few minutes walk from Oxford Road, it’s location tucked away in the centre of Manchester Science Park has seen it typically only open weekday lunchtimes to serve office workers. However, now the pub has been taken over by a group seeking to make it the heart of a new community.

Roots Kitchen Co-Op is a collective of cooks, foragers, brewers and musicians who launched the renamed Old Abbey Taphouse with a weekend of events in early October, following a two month long refurbishment. Upstairs at the pub hosts to a recording studio & rehearsal room with a well being studio due to open in November.

Food at the pub will be ethical and sustainable - organically grown & reared, traditionally processed, naturally refined without waste minimised. Visitors can expect slow cooked one-pots, seasonal salads, wood fired bakes, sourdough platters, and raw puddings.

Newcastle’s Brinkburn Street brewery brewed Galivantes Porter for the opening weekend, named after the resident house band, the founders of which are part of the collective running the venue. An in house micro-brewery is planned.

New opening hours are Monday - Thursday 11.30am - 11pm; Friday & Saturday 11.30am - 3.00am; Closed Sunday.

Kitchen Times : 11.30am - 3.30 pm Monday – Saturday and 5.30pm - 10.30pm Wednesday – Saturday

For more information see theoldabbeytaphouse.co.uk, www.facebook.com/abbeyinnmcr/ or follow @old_abbey_msp

Brewster Erin Guy has left her position as head brewer at the Joseph Holt owned Bootleg Brewery. She has joined the team at Stretford’s Sip Club, looking after everything to do with their beer offering, including brewing their own beer exclusively for the Sip Club. The first Sip ale was brewed on the pilot kit at Manchester’s Beer Nouveau in late June and went on sale at the Barton Road bar in July.

Further changes at the Sip Club have seen the bar relocated to make better use of the available space. A new full height window has been added where the bar used to be to improve ventilation. Changes are also planned to the cask cooling system to improve the quality of the real ale offering.

Over the road from the Sip Club, The Robin Hood is planning “Robinfest” , a live music and beer festival to take place over the Augusts bank holiday weekend. Further details will be available on their Facebook page