Cloudwater Q&A | IMBC 18

Cloudwater are back at IMBC for their fourth appearance since first exploding onto the scene in 2015. This year Cloudwater are the room sponsors of Room 1 at Victoria Baths and you will find them pouring them freshies at every session of IMBC 18. We spoke to Cloudwater about upcoming plans for IMBC 18 and more besides…


Your new brewery tap is now open at Unit 9, huzzah! What can visitors to the tap expect now and over IMBC weekend? How does the new tap differ to the barrel store experience?

In Unit 9 we wanted to create a more comfortable space for our customers as well as a more permanent space that we as a brewery can take pride in. The Barrel Store was a great stop gap, but with Unit 9, we have a better environment for people coming in to see what we are all about, as well as to showcase great beer we are inspired by. We had our first tap takeover from Bagby Beer, coming all the way from Oceanside, California, which included freshly air-freighted beers and an evening in conversation with Jeff Bagby, who is a phenomenal figure in the Southern California beer industry and an absolute don of the West Coast IPA. 

Plus, Unit 9 has a fantastic dispense system installed by Yvan of Jolly Good Beer, with beer direct from our 3ºC cold store, maintaining temperature until it leaves the tap.

We’ve been in discussion with Linzi, our awesome Unit 9 tap room manager, as well as our new events crew in creating some IndyMan fun in the lead-up to and alongside the festival. We are still finalising these details, but expect some guest beers from friends of ours on the taps, collab brew launches, and some one-off brews alongside some single barrel releases from our Barrel Store and the launch of our new Autumn/Winter range of beers, which will also be integral in our IndyMan offering. 

Cloudwater have been holding down Room 2 at Victoria Baths the past two years at IMBC. This year Cloudwater are the sponsor of Room 1 INSIDE a pool. What are you hoping to bring to the space?

We are excited to be dispensing our beers through a direct-draw cold store, which will be a first at the festival. It might be a bit geeky but dispense is so important for presenting your beer in the best possible way, and we are really hoping to take it to another level.

Also, two words: Crispy Corner. (Ed: Lager heads, take heed)

What are the latest developments at Cloudwater HQ?

Aside from the recent opening of Unit 9, we are currently getting the staff and opening sorted for our London tap room at 73 Enid Street in Bermondsey. We are looking forward to joining the wonderful community in beer there, as well as other things food and drink related. We are looking to open not long after IndyMan. Hope you all like pink!

Additionally, we’ve just recently brewed our 500th beer, which will be a hefty little number inspired by parkin. For those of you who aren’t aware of the glory that is parkin, think ginger, treacle and sticky tasty cake vibes.

How was it sitting in on this year’s Thirsty Games qualifying tasting? The 2018 Thirsty Games brewery line-up is one of the best yet but there was stiff competition!

There were quite a lot of interesting entries for the Thirsty Games this year. We hosted this in our Barrel Store, and the competition was pretty close, particularly with how many breweries there were. Claudia and Connor both sat on the panel and tried a lot of beer. It’s hard work for some.


Cloudwater are no strangers to beer festivals. What for you makes a good beer festival experience?

The best beer festivals we’ve been a part of have been those that have a welcoming atmosphere. As breweries going to places near and far, it’s great to feel welcomed by the festival hosts as well as the attendees. We recently had a wonderful experience in the town of Hammerfest in the very north of Norway–within the Arctic Circle! The bar, Jernteppet, and its owners and staff really looked after all the breweries attending and were exceptionally kind, and that put us all in a great mood that was passed onto the attendees, which sort of fed back to us. It was a welcoming festival in a welcoming town, and we couldn’t have asked for much more! IndyMan has been amazing in that respect in showing Northern hospitality to attendees coming from all over.

We are really privileged to be involved in so many events with such positivity. Events surrounding beer should be positive, and ones that everyone should be able to enjoy! We shouldn’t miss out on the experience of meeting and connecting with people at festivals just to tick a few beers off a list. Beer festivals such as IndyMan don’t just bring great beer all in one place, but they also bring in a fabulous community of brewers, enthusiasts, industry folks and people just curious about what this whole beer thing is about and what DIPA stands for.

Also, if you don’t know what DIPA stands for, please come to the Cloudwater room, where we will likely have one on draft!

Any favourite memories from IMBC 17?

Big fans of the Blawd Doughnuts, particularly paired with impy stouts. Recommended food and beer pairing action right there. We also can’t forget the masses gathering around the huge wheel of cheese in the Wild Beer Co. tent, chanting “CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE” then animalistacally grabbing fist-fulls, bare handed, eating it plain. Plus, the beer from our friends Forest & Main were sublime. It was great having them pour with us!

CHEERS!

Tickets for IMBC 18 are available for Thursday 4th October and Sunday 7th October sessions HERE

IMBC 17 SPONSORS

Howdy. Each year we assemble a dream team of breweries and beer-related folk that kindly sponsor Indy Man Beer Con. Some of the below, where listed, are room sponsors of Indy Man Beer Con 2017 at Victoria Baths. Encouraged to make their pitch their own, you’ll find all of the below at EVERY session across IMBC 17. Colour us excited…

IMBC 17 SPONSORS

BEAVERTOWN BREWERY
@ Pineapple Room

Them fabulous Beavers from London town surely need no introduction. Beavertown have brought the party consistently to IMBC over the past however many instalments. Last year they rocked Room One with their inflatable saucers, life-size spacemen cut-outs, OH and the most phenomenal range of rare Beavertown beers and stone cold classic cuts. This time Beavertown take the Pineapple Room at Victoria Baths by storm. Clear the way, spaceship incoming…

BUXTON BREWERY
@ Green Room


Hot damn on a cold-stored tin roof are we excited to welcome Buxton Brewery to IMBC 17 as the official room sponsor of the Green Room (answer: yes). This our first time welcoming the terrific Buxton onboard to Indy Man Beer Con as a room sponsor and we cannae wait to see how they deck out the place. Consistent hit makers and ice cream innovators (alongside their brother from another mother, Omnipollo), Buxton will be bringing out the big guns for IMBC 17.

CLOUDWATER BREW CO
@ Room Two

Cloudwater join us at IMBC for their THIRD appearance since their inception in 2015. To say the Manchester brewery have gone from strength to strength would be an understatement. Constantly moving things forward, learning and releasing great beers (often in waves), Cloudwater return to marshal Room Two for the second year running. Last year Cloudwater spilled a river of previously unreleased barrel aged beauties, and never-seen uber drinkable drops, this year we daresay to expect the unexpected once more. Cloudwater will be joined by brewery friends from the US, more on that soon…

FOURPURE
@ Room OneThe purest fourest, Fourpure, a force for the pure, return to Indy Man Beer Con for their second year as room sponsor. London’s Fourpure, a family brewery founded in 2013, have been knocking out the hits for fun over the last few years. Juicebox has become a staple, Fourpure’s core range much adored and their rarer releases highly sought after – luckily you’ll find all facets of the Fourpure oeuvre at Indy Man once more this year. Room One just got interesting!

LERVIG
@ Turkish Baths

Highly excited to welcome Lervig to IMBC 17, hosting their very own room in the Turkish Baths. Coming all the way to Manchester from Stavanger, Norway, Lervig are the creators of everything from easy drinking pales and barrel aged barley wines to exquisite sours. Over the last few years Lervig have touted some of the world’s best stouts and porters, their Hoppin’ Frog collab Sippin’ Into Darkness was gone in no time at IMBC 16 and their 3 Bean Stout Way collaboration is out of this world. Don’t miss the gems that Lervig will be unearthing in the Turkish Baths, flanked by their buddies Beer Merchants – more on that below.

NORTHERN MONK
@ Food VillageLeeds royalty Northern Monk traverse the pennines to bring you their grade A selection at IMBC 17. Hot off the back of their excellently curated Hop City, Northern Monk will be showcasing their ever broadening range of rarities, joyous collaborations, and their crowd pleasing standards. Last year they made two thrones out of cans, who knows what the brethren will emerge with this year. Cash them ousside (in the food village), how bow dah. Enter the Northern Monk tent for all your eternal needs.

SIREN CRAFT BREW
@ Room 3

Champs of Finchampstead, Berkshire’s best Siren Craft Brew are returning to IMBC once more – this time overseeing Room 3 as lords of the realm. Siren’s core range is a constant inspiration, as is their bountiful barrel ageing programme, their seasonal specials and their verve and innovation in collaboration with their peers in the beer world. At IMBC 16 Siren regularly dropped bombshell after bombshell with lesser seen, and in some cases NEVER seen specials, as well as touting the only cask of the festival. This year we already know it’s going to be a special Siren year as they are bringing THE RAINBOW PROJECT in full effect to IMBC 17. That means you’ll find all seven 2017 Rainbow Project beers pouring in room 3 at IMBC 17: Magic Rock x Casita Cerveceria, Partizan x New Belgium, Beavertown x Jester King, Hawkshead x Modern Times, SIREN x Sante Adairius, Wild Beer x Side Project, and Burning Sky x 3 Floyds. Wow.

WILD BEER CO
@ Food Village

Shepton Mallet’s Wild Beer Co, they of the magical blend, the house of a hundred (and then some) barrels, they of the sprawling styles and vigorous experimentation, return to IMBC for the second year running to pitch a tent in our outside arena. Inside the tent, nay cave of wonders, you’ll find a mile long (pretty much) Wild Beer bar pouring all you could ever fawn over. Last year they brought the biggest block of cheese you ever did see. This year we daresay Wild Beer will bring the house down once more. Find them out the back with neighbouring tent dwellers, Northern Monk.

Thems the breweries, now let us focus a lil attention on our non-brewery partners for IMBC 17.

BEER MERCHANTS

Beer Merchants are our glass sponsor for IMBC 17. It won’t be the first, nor last time, you’ll drink an exquisite beer aided by Beer Merchants. Beer Merchants stock the world’s best craft beer, an online cavalcade of the hottest drops from the modern beer scene. They will be operating a physical shop in Room 3 alongside their bezzies Lervig for all your takeout needs at IMBC 17. Visit them you must.

KEGSTAR

Kegstar is a keg and cask rental business and innovative tech company. Their aim is simple; to help free up valuable time and money spent maintaining, tracking and collecting kegs and casks. Using app enabled technology (free to download from your app store) each of Kegstars steel containers are scanned with a smart device, allowing them to be tracked through the supply chain to the venue. All the producer needs to do is fill, deliver, scan and repeat. When the time comes for empty kegs and casks to be collected, venue staff simply scan for a pick-up or alternatively phone or email us and we’ll collect as quickly as possible.

SIMPLY HOPS

Simply Hops are purveyors of wholesale hops and hop pellets for the UK and Europe. Buy your hops, pellets, PHA, anti foam, and more from Simply Hops. Passionate about the business of hops and champing at the bit to provide the very best for all your brewing needs.

LALLEMAND

Lallemand kindly sponsor The Thirsty Games, our yearly showcasing of the best new small breweries in the UK. Lallemand is a global leader in the development, production and marketing of yeast, bacteria and specialty ingredients. What Lallemand don’t know about yeast *probably* isn’t worth knowing.

And thus concludes the list of our illustrious partners. Fancy partying with them? Join us 28th September – 1st October for Indy Man Beer Con 2017. Friday and Saturday sessions are SOLD OUT but you can pick up tickets for the opening Thursday 28th September session and closing Sunday 1st October party. Tickets available HERE

IMBC 16 Sponsors Announced

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tickets are a-flying for this year’s Indy Man Beer Con. At record speeds no less! The Thursday and Sunday sessions are the only tickets still available. The most fabulous of bookend sessions – be there at the beginning, be there at the end. We’ve yet to announce the brewery list (asides our beautiful sponsors below) for IMBC 16 but the line-up will be significantly different on the Thursday and the Sunday. Snap up those remaining golden tickets HERE.

We are delighted to announce the room sponsors for this year’s festival. The following breweries will be the key holders and feature breweries of their respective spaces. The good news is that all of the following will be at IMBC for the duration, catch them at ALL of the sessions.

the Food Village / WILD BEER CO.

Commandeering our outside vista will be Somerset’s beacon of excellence, Wild Beer Co. Find them amidst the sights and (great) smells of our bustling Food Village. We recently blended a beer with Wild Beer for IMBC 16 and we can’t wait for you to try it. Always forward thinking, always wild.

wildbeerwww

Room One / BEAVERTOWN BREWERY

Well, it wouldn’t be a party without Beavertown would it? As highlighted by Beavertown’s emphatic takeover of Room Three at last year’s IMBC. They gripped it and indeed ripped it making the space their own. We can’t wait to see what London’s Beavertown will be bringing up to Manchester for you.

btownwww
Room Two / CLOUDWATER BREW CO.

Shaking up a storm from Manchester and reverberating far beyond, Cloudwater will be the feature brewery of Room Two at IMBC 16 and we couldn’t be more excited. Last year was their first appearance at IMBC and, unbelievably, their first year on the UK craft beer scene. If their debut was anything to go by then expect rarities galore and that infectious Cloudwater verve for freshness, seasonality, and above all – great beers.

cloudwasss

Room Three / NORTHERN MONK BREW CO.

Legends of the Leeds table, Northern Monk, will be the centrepiece of Room Three at this year’s festival. We can’t wait to see what Northern Monk come up with – it’ll take something to top their atmospheric and monk-tastic enclave of IMBC 15. Northern Monk know how to work a space, as highlighted by their excellent Refectory – a must visit when you find yourself Leeds-way. Here’s to the North!

nmbcowww

the Green Room / FOURPURE BREWING CO.

London’s absolutely capital Fourpure join us at IMBC for the very first time, taking control of the Green Room. Fourpure have been putting out some excellent beers of late and are making great shakes on the UK scene. Taste their sprawling range at IMBC 16 and lay back in the Fourpure curated confines of the Green Room.

fourpurewwwww
the Pineapple Room / SIREN CRAFT BREW

Huzzah! Delirious to announce that the fantabulous Siren Craft Brew, the blinding light of Berkshire, will be the guardians of the Pineapple Room at IMBC 16. Not only that but Siren will be close at hand for every IMBC goer as Siren are our glass sponsor for this year’s festival. We can’t wait for the Siren Craft Brew to start flowing…may it never stop.

sirenwww

the Turkish Baths / REDCHURCH BREWERY

Enamoured to enunciate that the wonderful Redchurch Brewery, they of London fame, will be the custodians of the Turkish Baths at IMBC 16. Be it their core range or experimental arm, Redchurch consistently delight. We can’t wait to see what they do with the place at IMBC this year. Roll out the Redchurch carpet!

redchurchwww
Thirsty yet? See you down the deep end…

IMBC 15 IN PHOTOS

And well, that was the Independent Manchester Beer Convention 2015. Thank you to everybody involved. Photographs by Jody Hartley

IMBC 15 THANKS

Wowee! What a whirlwind of an extended weekend as per at IMBC.  By all accounts, you all enjoyed your time at Victoria Baths. We, the organisers, certainly enjoyed the festivities. We might say this every year, but we are fairly certain that this year’s Indy Man Beer Con was the best one yet. We hope you agree! Let the thankings begin…

 

Firstly, we’d like to thank YOU – the avid beer drinker and intrepid taste bud explorer for coming to IMBC and getting fully involved. You all helped to contribute to the fantastic atmosphere and we hope to see all of your faces again.

 

A big thank you to all of our sponsors. Cloudwater, Vertical, Beavertown, Hawkshead, Camden Town, Brewdog, and Northern Monk. Each of the aforementioned made their spaces their own and each bar was certainly a destination at the festival. Big thanks also to our sponsors Simply Hops, enablers of many a hop forward beer at IMBC, and Uber, who got many of you home in one piece.


brewdog

Photograph by David Bailey

cloudwaterwwwww

Photograph by David Bailey

northernmonk

Photograph by Jody Hartley

Thanks eternal to all the breweries that joined us over Indy Man Beer Con from far and wide. The beers (and ciders!) you brought made each session a smorgasbord of delights. We knew what was coming in most cases but there were some great surprises on offer and the pop-up tastings, as well as scheduled events, went down a treat.
 

bbno

Photograph by David Bailey

magicrock

Photograph by David Bailey

bigroooom

Photograph by David Bailey


So many thank you’s to our food and snack vendors this year. Outside was truly a masterclass in handheld eating offerings: Bundobust, Almost Famous, Fish &, Great North Pie, Diamond Dogs, and Honest Crust all made each session’s sustenance selection the happiest of headaches. Not to be outdone, our indoor snack vendors laid on the greatest beer pairings we’ve seen yet. These included delights from Karkli, We Eat, and Epicerie Ludo – as well as sweet treats from the formidable Idle Hands.


karkli

Photograph by David Bailey

idlehands

Photograph by David Bailey

Speaking of which, we must thank Idle Hands for keeping us caffeinated throughout Indy Man Beer Con, serving up some of the best coffee that Manchester has seen and gladly offering up a change of gear at IMBC. Likewise, we rain gratitude down upon London’s award winning soft drink makers, Square Root Soda, for their superb seasonal softs and cocktail wizardry at this year’s festival.

 

A thousand thank you’s to our volunteers, as usual your kindly efforts made the festival possible and ensured that everything ran smoothly. Thank you for your hard work during the setup at Victoria Baths, your endeavours throughout, and the pack down after the lights had faded. We couldn’t have done it without you!

 

The wonderful We Can performed canning heroics throughout IMBC. Enabling, for the first time at a beer festival, you the punter to take any beer home in a CAN. They were amazing and the machine canned beers in about five seconds. It was a great success for all involved and we hope to have We Can on the case next time around!

wecanning

Photograph by Jody Hartley

On the visual side of things, we must throw our arms up in the air and thank the design gods for Steve Hockett. Steve has been our man since day dot of IMBC and this year was no exception. We love his snorkelling Indy Man and we were as pumped as we’ve ever been with this year’s IMBC glass, truly a design classic in the making.

 

Thanks infernal also to our website builders, Oh Digital, for enabling our first foray into the world of digital beer lists.Massive thanks to Noisebox, MSL, and Hollowsphere for making the baths look and sound incredible. On an aural note, we are forever thankful to all our DJs that played over the course of IMBC. Special thanks also to the live acts that threw down on Sunday. There was never a dull moment in Room 3.

 

vickyb

Photograph by David Bailey

Lastly, Indy Man Beer Con wouldn’t be Indy Man Beer Con without the superb surroundings of Victoria Baths. We thank the building, the history, and the hard work of the Victoria Baths staff for housing us once more. The setting is definitely a major part of what makes this festival special, having such inspirational surroundings fuels IMBC & makes each session a real event. Thank you Martin, Chris, and the team for continuing to house us, we miss you already.

 

See you next year!

Team IMBC