We’re back.

Victoria Baths, 29th September to 2nd October 2022.

Ticket information to follow.

It is with great sadness that today we announce that for another year there won’t be an edition of Indy Man Beer Con. This is a decision we have not come to lightly, and one we have made only having explored every other possible option while retaining the festival’s home as Victoria Baths. 

We have taken a lot of time to try and work out how we could run the event in a safe and sensible way which would also deliver on the atmosphere, feeling, and buzz of IMBC. When we think of festivals past, we imagine busy and bustling rooms, chats with friends in the nooks and crannies of the space, standing shoulder to shoulder and chatting to strangers whilst deciding which DIPA to drink. It is highly likely that some of that would’ve been lacking in a 2021 version of Indy Man, but our discussions made clear how different it would actually be.

Victoria Baths is what gives IMBC a lot of its character – the narrow corridors, the pools, the maze of little rooms that hold bars: sadly, means lots of enclosed areas and pinch points, which is far from ideal in the current climate. The only sensible way to make the event work in a way that everyone attending would feel safe would’ve been to reduce capacity. Our most optimistic estimate would’ve seen attendance reduced by 33% – this, in turn, would also decrease the number of breweries attending, the range of beers available, and the amount of other interesting things we’d have been able to offer (food traders, music, talks, tastings). In addition, there is also no guarantee on what travel restrictions will be in place over the coming months: international breweries have always played a massive role in shaping the festival, but it would’ve been enormously difficult to make any plans for our favourite brewers from overseas to make the journey.

Even if we accepted those limitations, this reduction in capacity would put the event in a situation in which making a loss would almost be inevitable (unless we hugely inflated prices, which would come with its own issues for a limited version of the event). This was a risk for the future of the festival we were very hesitant to take. Any discussions we may have had about running a much-reduced version of IMBC were immediately cut short when it became clear that we would also be unable to insure the event against cancellation if regulations were to change. Going ahead would’ve meant gambling our entire business, with every chance that we could be told the day or week before opening that IMBC wouldn’t be able to go ahead (as has happened several times in our industry over the past 18 months), and with no way of ever recovering. 

Our core business is in hospitality, running venues across Manchester: the last year has given us a pretty tough time, and it is obviously heartbreaking for everyone to miss out on Indy Man Beer Con again this year. However, we felt we needed to consider the wellbeing of our customers, the sanity of our team, the financial stability of the IMBC, and the integrity of an event we have lavished so much love on over the last 9 years. 

There are some positives: all being well, we’ll be back in 2022, better than ever before, and our sister festival Summer Beer Thing also has some exciting news to share in the coming days, which we can’t wait for you to hear. Thanks so much for your support over the years, and we can’t wait to welcome you back to Victoria Baths in the not-too-distant future.

We are sad to announce that IMBC will not be taking place at our beloved Victoria Baths this year.

This cancellation, for the most part, has been necessary because it would be almost impossible to manage social distancing within the baths. We would have to enforce a one-way system, which would dramatically reduce the amount of people allowed in the baths at a certain time and it would make accessing each of the rooms really difficult. It would also place an immense burden on our volunteers and partners. This would impact the spirit of the festival greatly and it just wouldn’t be the IMBC experience you know and expect.

We are still determined to deliver a line-up of sweet activity over the IMBC weekend and we are certainly not going to let it go by without raising a glass to our craft beer community that has been hit particularly hard by this pandemic. We are committed to using the IMBC brand to help uplift and support the industry that we are part of. Stay tuned for updates.

The way that the beer community has mobilised and adapted to ever-changing new normal obstacles over the past months has been inspirational. Please continue to support independent breweries, bottle shops, and pubs where you can. Your patronage will be vital to them in the coming months. Stay safe and enjoy good beer responsibly.

Dear IMBC class of 2019,

After a few days to recover, we’re now reflecting on what was our best Indy Man yet. We wanted to say a monumentally HUGE thank you for coming along and supporting independent craft beer in Manchester and across the globe. From your posts on social media to chatting to you in person, it’s clear that what we do makes so many people happy. That is our single most important aim and makes all of our hard work totally worth it.

Beer, as ever, was the real hero and we would like to extend big thanks to the brewers thereof, our wonderful volunteers, Victoria Baths and the awesome team there, IMBC food vendors, festival supporters and sponsors, everyone who helped out in the production, and again – YOU! We’d just be an empty swimming pool full of beer without you. Which sounds cool but we’d be bankrupt in a day. And very drunk.

We diverged from a single token system this year and hope you all understand why. Craft beer is expensive and it is getting more so. We needed to reflect this in our pricing and also make sure that the token price was kept low for those who didn’t want the super spenny stuff. The range of pricing was such that using 2018’s system would have seen 2019’s token price rise to over £3.30, but we actually managed to reduce the average cost to £2.63. Nevertheless, this wasn’t a decision we took lightly and we thank you for your understanding.

We would like to extend our gratitude to IMBC ’19 sponsors for helping to make this year so memorable. Each room guardian did an incredible job of making Victoria Baths their own: Beer Merchants, Burning Sky, Cloudwater, Deya, Fierce, Lervig, Siren, Verdant and Wylam. We’re sure you’ll agree that their spaces were a joy to visit.

Let’s also thank our IMBC ’19 supporters. This year’s glass was one of our finest yet and was brought to you with the help of Kegstar. Official keg supporters Kegstar also performed stainless steel keg heroics as usual, Simply Hops took wonderful care of the brewers in the lounge (tea, snacks, games and comfy spots galore) and The Brewer’s Eye app kept beer lovers in the know. Telcom boosted the WiFi at Victoria Baths and enabled us all to ‘gram faster, thank you! Awesome Merch made our swag dreams come true by printing all of this year’s merch (please do use them for all your print needs) and TicketWeb made ticketing an absolute breeze. Last but not least, KeyKeg were a great help as Keg Management Supporter with the recycling of their kegs that you guys helped empty!

We must also thank our Thirsty Games supporters Lallemand, Simpson’s Malt and Yakima Chief Hops. What an honour it was to crown Manchester-based ÖL Brewery our 2019 winners! If you voted on the app, good on ya. Make sure to pay a visit to ÖL at Hatch on Oxford Road. You can read more about all of our sponsors here.

2019’s Food Village was stacked with incredible vendors: Diamond Dogs, Dim Sum Su, Donner Summer, Firebird Hope, Great North Pie, Honest Crust, Neato Burrito, and Vaso Kitchen, thanks for lining our stomachs so deliciously, and thanks to Siop Shop and Holy Crab for bossing the Snack Shelf. Our ever-growing array of non-beer drinks came courtesy of the lovely folk from Kwas, Booch & Brew, Square Root Soda, Idle Hands and our Cocktail Bar. Thanks for helping us create a festival with something for everyone.

A special thanks goes to official IMBC ’19 illustrator Kate Prior for creating the unforgettable fish artwork in its many guises (you snapped up the “Jaws” tee quicker than we could say ‘gimbagagompa coffee vanilla granola breakfast stout’, obvs), and Patrick Cavanagh for building the Indy Man app, a true feat of digital engi-beering.

The dates for IMBC ’20 are set; Thursday 1st October – Sunday 4th October. The venue remains the same; Victoria Baths, our one true love. More details about the ticket release date will follow in 2020 so keep an eye on our social mediums and sign up to our newsletter for further information.

Phew, thirsty for next year now. Until 2020 stay safe, keep experimenting with new beers and supporting the independent. The IMBC team are also responsible for year-round fun at Port Street Beer House, Common, The Beagle and The Pilcrow, plus your warm weather beer fix at Summer Beer Thing. Come and say hi!

We’d love to hear any feedback you have about this year’s event. Drop us a line or complete this short survey. If you go the survey route we’ll enter you into a competition to win two tickets for IMBC ’20 and a £50 bar tab at Port Street Beer House. Wahey!

Thank YOU,

Team IMBC

P.S.

A very special thanks goes to our colleague Seb Mariner. If you’ve visited a sponsor’s room or lucked out with a pop-up tasting, you did so because of Seb’s tireless work to make IMBC bloody awesome. After years of dedicated service Seb is moving on, but he’ll always be part of the IMBC Crew. Best of luck, mate x

We’d love to get your feedback on this year’s event so we can continue to deliver the best possible version of Indy Man Beer Con.

Complete this short survey (your answers will be anonymous) and we’ll enter you into a competition to win two tickets for IMBC’20 and a £50 bar tab at Port Street Beer House. Bring on the beers.