One week to go until we open our doors at Victoria Baths for IMBC 2022, and we’re pleased to announce some further additions to the fold.

As mentioned in our token price update, for this edition of Indy Man Beer Con we wanted to deliver a festival that is sustainable in every sense of the word. Part of this has been a pro-active decision to showcase the best in UK breweries to help limit the carbon footprint of the festival, and to ensure that we’re pouring exciting beers at a price that remains affordable and accessible for everyone who comes to a session over the course of next weekend.

For the breweries from further afield that we have chosen to work with, this has been a case of ensuring that they get to us with as little impact upon the environment as possible – and, on that note, we’re proud to announce the international two brewers (and one vintner, more on them later) who’ll be joining us across the course of Indy Man Beer 2022. One American, one European, both pioneers in the field who are still pushing the boundaries of what craft can be – welcome:

SIERRA NEVADA

They need no introduction, but we’ll give them one anyway – launched in the 80s, becoming one of the founders of the craft beer movement, and they’ve continued shaking things up ever since out of their base in Chico, California, USA. Their Pale Ale has become a staple for many beer drinkers, and we’re proud to welcome them to IMBC 2022 having worked with them to ensure that all beers at the festival have not been refrigerated airfreighted to limit emissions, but have come via boat.

They’ll be pouring all IMBC long, with both keg and cask, and we’re able to announce some of what we’ll be pouring over the course of the four days: first, we’ve got three different vintages of their seminal BigFoot barleywine, with 2014, 2018, and 2020 editions all available on keg, as well as the 2021 vintage of their Narwhal imperial stout. In addition, we’ll also be pulling three versions of the iconic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, each dry-hopped with a different variety of hop: Cascade, Chinook, and Crystal, as well as some other little treats pouring across the weekend. We’ll also be welcoming Steve Grossman from the brewery on the Thursday night – we should hopefully have some more news on that shortly, too.

3 FONTEINEN

If we’re talking about OGs, it takes some to beat 3 Fonteinen – originally established in 1887 as a cafe and Gueze blender, they came into their own just before the turn of the millennium when they founded their own brewery. Since then, they’ve become world renowned as one of the finest producers of Gueze and Kriek, based just outside of Brussels in Beersel. Across the course of the festival, they’ll be pouring 60 bottles per session – so get there early to avoid disappointment. You’ll be able to sample their Season 21/22 Cuvee Armand & Gaston, their 21/22 Perzik Rood O’Henry Peach Lambic, 21/22 Pruim Belle De Louvain & Pruim Mirabelle Plum Lambics, and two blends of their 20/21  Zenne y Frontera Gueze.

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Of course, we’re Indy Man Beer Con, but there’s more to life than beer, right? Maybe not much more, but believe me: there is. In that spirit, we’re pleased to reveal the food & non-beer vendors who’ll be coming to IMBC next weekend, giving you enough ballast to go for another few thirds, or simply giving you a bit of a break before barrelling on through to the end of the session.

We’ll have some more beer announcements tomorrow – but let’s start with the food, we’ll be welcoming back some favourites, as well as some new faces: here we go:

Food
Siop Shop @siopshop
The best doughnuts in the north, hand down – and they arguably do the best coffee you’ll find anywhere about too. Siop Shop are IMBC legends, and they return this year with their own little cafe area, serving the best in baked goods, as well as hot cups of java to perk you up. Find them on the snack shelf, room 1.
Bundobust bundobust.com
Making their IMBC return, Bundobust are bringing their signature Indian Street Food to Victoria Baths. Menu to be confirmed, but expect classics from everyone’s favourite Vada Pav purveyor. What’s more… they’re only going and pouring beers from their brewery outside their own venues for one of the first times ever. Hyped!
Honest Crust honestcrustsourdoughpizza.com
Seasonal sourdough pizzas, made with outstanding ingredients, rooted in the North West of England, Honest Crust have been doing it for nearly a decade now and there are few that come close. Catch them in the food village.
Wholesome Junkies wholesomejunkies.co.uk
You may have seen them on Netflix, you might have caught them on BBC 2, or you might just be big into following their latest plant based bangers on Instagram – but they’re in the food village this year doing what they do best: Vegan Junk Food.
Great North Pie greatnorthpie.co
Coming soon to Kampus, but coming even sooner to IMBC: Great North Pie Co were the sleeper hit of our sister festival Summer Beer Thing, bringing both classics, and super tasty pies that push the format to the limits. They’ve even won a Radio 4 Food & Farming award, they’re that good.
Tikka Chance On Me tikkachanceonme.co.uk
Making their IMBC debut (which isn’t surprising given they started just before the pandemic), Tikka Chance On Me take inspiration from Indian ingredients and regional dishes to create dishes that are pure IMBC heaven: they dabbled in burgers, loaded fries, and kebabs regularly – stay tuned for their Indy Man menu.
Triple B triplebmcr.co.uk
What do the three Bs stand for? Beer is one of them, fittingly, but the other two are BURGERS and BAGELS, all brought to you from the people behind Eat New York. Outside of IMBC, you can find them in Prestwich, or if you’re a Man City fan, you’ll find them at the Etihad on matchdays too.
Dim Sum Su @DimSumSu
All round festival legend, Sue (i.e. Dim Sum Su) is renowned for her pan-asian street food, using recipes passed down through her family in Hong Kong. Expect your Baos, your Salt & Pepper Chips, Your Dumplings – or, if not that, expect everything on the menu to be great.

…and in the non-beer stakes, here’s who you’ll be able to pop along to see for a bit of restbite before blitzing your tastebuds with another barrel aged imperial stout:

Non-Beer
Le Social le-social.com
Purveyors of sustainable, organic, biodynamic and natural wines, Le Social started during lockdown (remember that), and has since become one of Manchester’s best loved suppliers of vino. They’ll be pouring all IMBC-long from a stall near the Turkish Baths.
Hip Pop drinkhippop.com
Having made award-winning Kombucha out in Dunham Massey for the last few years under a couple of different names, Hip Pop are a firm favourite of team IMBC when it comes to having a booze free bev. They’ll be in room 1 all weekend long.
Steep Soda steepsoda.co
We’ve been drinking Steep Soda for pretty much as long as they’ve been making it, and we’re proud to have them at IMBC this year. One of Manchester’s favourite soft drinks suppliers, you’ll be able to find them on the ledge in room 1 too.

Did we mention tickets? We’ve released our production holds for the festival (those are the tickets we reserve while we sort the layout of the festival), which means there’s a limited number now available for each session: they should go quick, so grab them while you can here.

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Every year, there are two questions we get asked more than any other:

1. When are the breweries being announced?
   …and, once that’s been answered:
2. How much are tokens this year?

We’ve answered (the majority of) the first question over the past few days, and now we’re finally ready to answer the second.

Some of the many changes we’ve wanted to make to IMBC for 2022 have been about making the festival more sustainable in every sense of the word: for our brewers, for the future of the the festival, and, most importantly, for the people who come drink with us at the baths every year.

Our brewery list this year focuses on showcasing the best that the UK has to offer (with one or two surprises from further afield to augment this, who we’ve worked with in order to limit the impact that this will have upon the environment – these will be announced next week). This not only keeps our carbon emissions down, but it also allows us to support the British scene while it is a state of flux, with many breweries of all sizes going through a difficult time with increased costs across the board. Stay tuned for a specially produced video this Tuesday that goes into some of these points with brewers from across the UK in more detail.

Another positive of this change is that we’re able to make this sustainable from a financial point of view for our visitors. The main feedback we received from the 2019 version of the festival was the perceived high cost of token prices (which was set at £29 for 11, with 20% of beers being set at 2 tokens or more). As the cost of craft beer has increased in the last few months especially, and with price of even a generic pint of lager up more than 10% since the last edition of the festival, giving everyone who joins us at IMBC the chance to drink a wide range of incredible beers at a cost that remains affordable became one of our main objectives for 2022. Air freighting beers to the festival in the same manner that we previously would’ve made this aim completely unachievable.

With that in mind, our pricing structure for IMBC 2022 is as follows:

• All beers across the festival will be priced at 1 token.
• Bundles of 10 tokens will cost £25
• Individual tokens can be purchased separately for £2.70

Please note that the festival will be completely cashless, so tokens will need to be paid for using card. We’ll also be accepting tokens from IMBC 2019, should you still have any knocking around.

In addition, we’re proud to reveal the vessel that you’ll be drinking all those 1 token thirds from: our IMBC 2022 glass. Made by Rostal, this is a Mosella glass, all made possible thanks to the support of this year’s glass sponsors, Kegstar. You’ll get a glass with your entry to the festival, and they’re yours to keep (of course).

Tickets available for the Friday Day & Sunday – get them here.

Here we go – the last major (though not the last overall: we’ve still got a few small surprises left to come) brewery announcement for this year’s IMBC. You’ll have seen our reveal of who’ll be there all weekend (click here if not), as well as those who’ll only be there Thursday & Friday (click here again, please) – so now, with the festival two weeks away, it is time to reveal our Saturday & Sunday crew… but first, we’ve got two extra names to add into the ALL WEEKEND MIX, welcome to the party –

Lost and Grounded, Bristol
https://www.lostandgrounded.co.uk/
Manchester Union, Manchester
https://manchesterunionbrewery.com/

…and they’ll be joined across Saturday & Sunday by the following:

Donzoko, Edinburgh
https://www.donzoko.org/
Balance Brewing & Blending, Manchester
https://balancebrewing.co/
Pastore, Cambridge
https://www.pastorebrewing.com/
Yonder, Radstock
https://brewyonder.co.uk/
Double Barreled, Reading
https://doublebarrelled.co.uk/
Squawk, Manchester
https://squawkbrewingco.com/
RedWillow, Macclesfield
https://www.redwillowbrewery.com/
Unity, Southampton
https://unitybrewingco.com/
Hackney Brewery, Hackney
https://www.hackneybrewery.com/
Wild Card, Walthamstow
https://www.wildcardbrewery.co.uk/
Glasshouse, Birmingham
https://glasshousebeer.co.uk/
Talking Tides, Redcar
https://www.talkingtides.com/
Chain House, Preston
https://www.chainhousebrewing.com/
Anthology, Leeds
https://anthologybrewing.co.uk/
Ventile, Stockport
https://www.facebook.com/ventilebrewco/
Rivington, Chorley
https://www.rivingtonbrewing.co.uk/
Triple Point, Sheffield
https://triplepointbrewing.co.uk/

Expect news about token prices, food, non-beer, and some other special stuff coming in the next few days.

…final tickets are available for some sessions, with Friday’s early session having a handful left, Sunday looking similar, and there being fewer than 20 Full Fat (i.e. every session, every day) still up for sale. If you want them, act quick – get them here.

We’ve also got volunteering opportunities left open too, which will get you Beer tokens! Ticket to a session of your choice! Free food during the event! IMBC T-shirt! A good time! Plus a £25 Nell’s Pizza voucher to enjoy afterwards! If you’re free on Saturday night or Sunday, we’d especially like to hear from you – volunteer here.

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You’ve probably read about our first wave of brewery announcements – and what comes after a first wave? A second wave (and then, a third – more on that later). We’re pleased to announce the following breweries who’ll be taking to the baths on THURSDAY & FRIDAY on the festival this year: once again we’ve picked the absolute finest that the scene has got to offer.

So, here’s your second wave, who’ll all be pouring on both Thursday & Friday at this year’s IMBC:

Brass Castle, Malton
https://brasscastle.co.uk/
Chapter Brewing, Runcorn
https://chapterbrewing.co.uk/
Exale, Walthamstow
https://exalebrew.co.uk/
Fell Brewery, Lake District
https://fellbrewery.co.uk/
Fierce, Aberdeen
https://www.fiercebeer.com/
Floc., Canterbury
https://flocbrewing.com/
Holy Goat, Dundee
https://holygoat.beer/
The Kernel, Bermondsey
https://www.thekernelbrewery.com/
Left Handed Giant, Bristol
https://lefthandedgiant.com/
Little Earth Project, Sudbury
https://littleearthproject.com/
Neptune, Liverpool
https://www.neptunebrewery.com/
Simple Things Fermentations, Glasgow
https://www.simplethingsfermentations.com/
St Mars of the Desert, Sheffield
https://beerofsmod.co.uk/
Time and Tide, Deal
https://www.timeandtidebrewing.co.uk/
Track, Manchester
https://www.trackbrewing.co/

…final tickets are available for some sessions, with Friday’s early session having a handful left, Sunday looking similar, and there being fewer than 20 Full Fat (i.e. every session, every day) still up for sale. If you want them, act quick – get them here.

We’ve also got volunteering opportunities left open too, which will get you Beer tokens! Ticket to a session of your choice! Free food during the event! IMBC T-shirt! A good time! Plus a £25 Nell’s Pizza voucher to enjoy afterwards! If you’re free on Saturday night or Sunday, we’d especially like to hear from you – volunteer here.

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Ah, we’re nearly there now – and with that in mind, we’re proud to kick off the next few weeks of IMBC announcements by revealing the first wave of breweries who’ll be attending the festival.

As ever, we’ve picked the creme de la creme of our favourite beer makers, and this particular batch are the one who’ll be there all weekend long, pouring their freshest and finest by the third. In the coming days, we’ll be giving a day by day breakdown of the Thursday & Friday breweries, and well as those who’ll be there on Saturday & Sunday, plus all the information you’ll need about food options, tastings, and – 0f course – token prices.

So, please welcome to the baths the following breweries:

Cloudwater, Manchester
https://cloudwaterbrew.co/
Wild Beer, Pylle (Shepton Mallet)
https://www.wildbeerco.com/
Pomona Island, Manchester
https://www.pomonaislandbrew.co.uk/
Lakes Brew Co, Kendal
https://lakesbrewco.com/
Deya, Cheltenham
https://deyabrewing.com/
Zapato, Huddersfield
https://www.zapatobrewing.com/
Thornbridge, Bakewell
https://thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/
The Beak, Lewes
https://beakbrewery.com/
North Brewing Co, Leeds
https://www.northbrewing.com/
Sureshot, Manchester
https://sureshotbrew.com/
Blackjack, Manchester
https://www.blackjack-beers.com/
Salt Beer Factory, Saltaire
https://saltbeerfactory.co.uk/
Siren, Wokingham
https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/
Verdant, Penryn
https://verdantbrewing.co/
Brulo, Edinburgh
https://www.brulobeer.com/
Hogan’s, Alcester
https://www.hoganscider.co.uk/
Queer Brewing, Manchester
https://www.thequeerbrewingproject.com/
Kirkstall Brewery, Leeds
https://www.kirkstallbrewery.com/
Duration, King’s Lynn
https://durationbeer.com/
JW Lees, Manchester
https://www.jwlees.co.uk/

…final tickets are available for some sessions, with Friday’s early session having a handful left, Sunday looking similar, and there being fewer than 20 Full Fat (i.e. every session, every day) still up for sale. If you want them, act quick – get them here.

We’ve also got volunteering opportunities left open too, which will get you Beer tokens! Ticket to a session of your choice! Free food during the event! IMBC T-shirt! A good time! Plus a £25 Nell’s Pizza voucher to enjoy afterwards! If you’re free on Saturday night or Sunday, we’d especially like to hear from you – volunteer here.

IMBC Mailing List

To receive up-to-date information about IMBC developments, including all forthcoming announcements, subscribe to our mailing list –

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At IMBC, we’ve always done what we can to make sure that the festival is a safe, welcoming and inclusive event for all. We started the event to celebrate craft beer in the UK and beyond, and over the years we’ve grown into the beast that you see today. With that, it means we have to review and improve our approaches to ensure everyone who wishes to attend can do so comfortably and confidently.

Becca (Volunteering Manager and Event Coordinator) is our Inclusion Lead and will be supported by Lou (Festival Manager) during the festival.

We’re working hard to make this the best IMBC yet in every possible way, including how inclusive and safe we are. Here are the steps we’re taking at this year’s festival to ensure this:

• This year, we have an Inclusion Lead. From reviewing policies to ensuring our reporting processes are tight and effective, they’ll also be working closely with the rest of the team and security to act quickly if anything comes up during the event.
• Once again, we will not tolerate any type of harassment, bullying or assault based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, body size and physical appearance, and if we hear of anything that goes against this, we’ll act immediately
• We’ll be operating on a one strike and you’re out approach to all of the above
• We’ll also make sure that if you experience anything that makes you uncomfortable or threatens you in any way, that you’re in complete control when we receive the report. We’ll keep you informed about our next steps and won’t do anything until we’ve agreed a course of action.
• Our core team have taken part in training on how to respond to sexual assault and harassment and how to support LGBTQ+ customers with access and safety, provided by the Good Night Out Campaign, and we are now accredited by them as an event. We’ll be using this training to ensure everyone at the event gets our full support.
• All of the breweries attending should have received information about our policies and processes, and you will have to sign these as part of your Terms and Conditions of attending.

Whilst we will be dealing with any issues that arrive on site, a customer may well come to you if they experience anything that makes them uncomfortable or feel threatened.

Take them aside and listen to what they are saying, but do not deal with it yourself. Thank them for sharing their experience and explain that you will speak security and members of the IMBC team. We’ll know what to do next. Stay with the customer until a member of the team is with them, then go back to your position. Once the incident has been dealt with, we may ask you to provide information for an incident report. Any information you are given by the person reporting the issues must be treated in confidence, so please do not discuss it with anyone else other than Becca, Lou and security.

What happens if I’m a victim of harassment, bullying or assault?

If you experience any form of harassment or abuse, please report it to a member of the IMBC team or security, who will inform Becca and Lou. We will offer to take you somewhere quiet and you can give us as much information as you are comfortable sharing, which will be treated in confidence. We will work with you every step of the way to make sure it doesn’t have to ruin your event. We will only take steps that you are happy with as we want you to be in control of what happens next.

All of our on site staff and security will be briefed on our processes prior to the event so they know what to do and who to speak to. We want you to be confident that whoever you speak to, whether a volunteer, a food vendor, a brewery staff member or one of our team, they’ll be able to direct you to someone who can support you.

As much as we can prepare for any issues, we want to prevent them from even happening. This is where you come in. You make IMBC what it is. So if you see anything, please tell us. If your mate is being an idiot or doing something that affects someone else’s good time, tell them to pack it in. Report their behaviour to security. Don’t let it happen. We want everyone, no matter who they are, to enjoy their time with us and we can all work together to make sure that happens.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of this, then please feel free to email Becca at [email protected]. It is important to us to make sure we get this right.

To confirm, if you’ve saved all of your wristbands from the past ten years you get in for free* For those who have yet to get one… here’s the latest on Tix for Indy Man.

Friday evening & Saturday SOLD OUT but we have a few full fat tickets which can grant you access. Plus, we’ve just released some production holds for Friday morning too, though they’re super limited, and are the last that will be available

A small chunk available for Sunday which is arguably the best day to attend. A slim amount available for Thursdays session – we’re talking 10 – too.

We’re nearly sold out, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Buy tickets here.

*I’m confident that no one has and I wont get into trouble for this statement