Wylam Q&A | IMBC 18

We recently caught up with Dave Stone of Wylam ahead of their steering the good ship Room 3 at IMBC 18 as official room sponsor. Wylam have been all guns blazing for quite the while and big players on the IMBC scene for years now. This year will see them toting more beers than ever at the festival and you will find Wylam pouring beers at ALL sessions in the pool in Room 3. Here’s what Dave has to say about it…

Ahoy Dave. We are excited to welcome Wylam to IMBC 18 as the sponsors of Room 3 AKA the party room. Can you let us in on any plans for the space?

Well we like to party… everybody does ;) So we are looking to make sure that the party room is well served with new brews and classics a bit like a liquid 6music I suppose.


Wylam are no strangers to beer festivals – either attending or putting on your own great spread in the shape of Craft Beer Calling. What makes a good beer festival?
A beer festival is made by the people who buy tickets and attend the festival. Without them it’s just a room full of foisty beer nerds comparing yeast strains. The reason we dived in to take over the pool this year is that we love the crowd at IMBC and we wanted to be able to pour as many great beers as possible for them.

The Palace of Arts! What a place! Can you tell us a little about the history of the building, how you came to inhabit it and what you guys offer there to visitors? 
The Palace was built in 1928 as part of the Great Exhibition of the North which was a World Trade fair designed to stimulate trade during the depression. It lay barren for many years prior to us taking it over and transforming it. We often wonder what the folk who attended the original exhibition would think if they saw how the building has been repurposed. It’s an incredible Grade II listed building in a beautiful park in the City Centre and we are honoured to be custodians of this amazing space.


By The River! We’ve heard rave reports but have yet to dip our beak. What’s going on over there? Sounds wild! 
By The River Brew Co is a project that has been developed by two of our Directors. It’s a separate entity to Wylam. It is indeed wild with a 15 barrel brewhouse, tap room, open flame restaurant, custom build bike shop which serves coffee and brunch plus an amazing street food market that opens at weekends. The idea is to brew beers mainly for site so we can ensure they are served fresh and in their best condition. You can find out more HERE.

Wylam have been producing some fantastic beers recently and have been at the forefront of the UK’s quality pale output. What beers are you particularly proud of from the past 12 months? 
To be honest there isn’t one particular beer or beers we would say we are prouder of than others. It took us a little time to dial the new kit however once we did we were super proud of all our output.

Collaborations – you have been very busy lately. Your Northern Powerhouse series went down a storm – are there plans for this to become a regular thing? What are some of the biggest positives of collaborating with peers?
The Northern Powerhouse series was a really exciting project to lead out on. It was such a pleasure to bring some of the finest brewers in the region to our home and collaborate with them in this celebration of all thing ‘northern’. Whether it will happen again is still to be decided. The biggest positives from collabs are knowledge sharing, breaking bread together and of course going on the lash after the brew.

Can you tease us with any special beers you’ve got up your sleeve for IMBC 18? 
We would love to… but we haven’t designed some of them yet :) There will be a good mix of exclusives, classics and collabs. along with some stuff we keep locked away in Ben our Head Brewers dungeon. If he asks you to go down there by the way just say no ;)

What’s next for Wylam?
What’s next is what is past and present. Continue to make beers the best we can and to get them out to inquisitive pallets. It’s the best time in history for beer… so let’s party.
Lastly, any advice to visitors to the festival on where to head in Manchester before/after their session? 

To be honest when we attend IMBC we tend to stay within the festival but there is an abundance of great beer bars in the city so free your mind and your ass will follow.

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Cheers Dave!

Follow Wylam online wherever you can. They have a website! They have a twitter! They have an instagram! Go visit Wylam in Newcastle and come drink their beer in October in Victoria Baths!

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IMBC 18 / 4th-7th October 2018. Victoria Baths, Manchester
Tickets for Thursday 4th, Friday 5th day session, and Sunday 7th October are available HERE. 

Posted on 14th September 2018

Beer Merchants Q&A | IMBC 18

Beer Merchants are back at IMBC once more this year – as joint sponsors of our Food Village tent with Lervig, and as glass sponsor alongside Magic Rock. We spoke to Luke at Beer Merchants about what you can expect from their extensive treasure trove at IMBC 18…


Beer Merchants are taking over one of our Food Village tents alongside your good friends Lervig. Can you tell us a little about what you’ll be bringing to the space?
 
We will be bringing an all-star line-up of bottles, cans & merch to takeaway. From the best of the UK, fresh American imports, new releases from Europe and of course, a good Belgian selection. Expect fresh IPAs, lots of lambic and a healthy dose of imperial stouts for good measure. Since we’re sharing the space with Lervig we’ll have a bit of focus on their specials too but keep an eye out for their Crowler filler to take home whatever tasty draught beer they have on.


Unit 101 in Manchester and the Beer Merchants Tap in London are fast becoming must-attend venues for fans of great beer. What can visitors expect at either location when they step inside Beer Merchants’ inner sanctum? 

 
Much the same as our online experience, we pride ourselves on bringing the very best beer from all over the world, in a welcoming and relaxed environment. A 300 strong beer list could be kind of daunting, but we have a great team on hand to make sure people find the perfect beer for them and enjoy their visit. We have moved our trade warehouse from Northwestern Street in Manchester so 101 will unfortunately be closing soon but plans are afoot to replace it with a much better space.


With Beer Merchants at IMBC the takeout options for attendees are always incendiary – what do you have up your sleeves this year? Any rarities you can talk about? Lower strength beers might also be a good shout – what low ABV numbers are you excited about at the moment?
 
IMBC is very fortunate as it kicks off just after our 2nd Cantillon shipment of the year comes in, so there will always be a great selection of lambic in attendance. We also work closely with loads of what we consider the best breweries around the world, so expect fresh Lervig, Garage, Collective Arts & more on the import side. A little closer to home we will also have all the latest releases from Magic Rock, Northern Monk, Cloudwater, Lost & Grounded etc so something for every palate.
 
Session beers are a hugely important part of the drinking culture in the UK and something we always keep in good stocks. We are all really enjoying House Party from our friends Lervig at the moment – a 4% juicy pale ale hopped with Citra & Bru-1. This has also been the summer of Keller Pils at Beer Merchants HQ. Lost & Grounded have been smashing it through the heatwave and a sub 5% unfiltered lager is the perfect choice.


You guys are aways involved in great events with the quality of the breweries you support. Do Beer Merchants have any forthcoming events around IMBC that drinkers can look forward to?

 
We will be running IMBC related tap takeovers during the festival at Unit 101 and the week after will be the Unit 101 closing party. Keep an eye out for that one as we want it to go out with a bang!

What makes a good beer festival for you guys? You’re no stranger to starring on some outstanding festivals. 

 
For us, a good festival is a combination of many things: A great venue, an awesome beer list, good friends & a great vibe (all things IMBC have in droves). Victoria Baths always has such a great atmosphere through the weekend with a real buzz from both the customers and the brewers alike about a particular beer or brewery. Its always fun to have such an open & inclusive environment at a festival.


Beer Merchants are the IMBC 18 glass sponsors alongside Magic Rock. You’ll essentially be in the hands of everybody inside Victoria Baths…what beer should they start on? 
 
Thats a tricky question as there are so many incredible breweries to choose from, but our friends Magic Rock are always going to be a good starting point. Burning Sky will undoubtedly bring a host of impeccable Saisons not to be missed and who can finish a night off without an Imperial Stout from Lervig (certainly not us)? 

 

Any favourite memories from IMBC 17? 
 
IMBC 17 was great fun but one of the standouts was The Thirsty Games. Its great to see smaller breweries get a showcase like this. Everything we had from Burning Soul was great, Affinity are good friends on the London scene & bonus points for showcasing Little Earth Project. Not only are they a seriously exciting brewery, but they are from my (Luke’s) hometown!

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Cheers Luke! Follow Beer Merchants on instagram and twitter to keep up with their developments.

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IMBC 18
4th – 7th October 2018 | Victoria Baths, Manchester
Tickets available for Thursday and Sunday sessions HERE. 

Posted on 30th August 2018

Lervig Q&A | IMBC 18

Norwegian powerhouses Lervig host their very own space at IMBC for the second year running, alongside brothers in arms Beer Merchants. Lervig will be co-sponsoring one of our Food Village tents and bringing the motherload to IMBC 18. We caught up with Liam from Lervig to see what they’re bringing to the party and to find out what else is happening Lervig way…

Hello Liam! This is Lervig’s second year as room sponsor at IMBC. Last year you were hosting the Turkish Baths, this year you’re sharing a big outdoor tent with your pals Beer Merchants. How was your experience at IMBC last year?

We had a ball last year. Indy Man is one of our favorite festivals and one we always want to “represent” at. We had a beautifully tiled room last year, but it was a little sweaty to be honest so when we got the chance to be in a spacious airy tent we jumped at it, and we have such a great relationship with the guys from Beer Merchants it was a no brainer that we should team up.


Can you tell us a little about what you’ll be bringing to your new outdoor space for IMBC 18? We hear exciting plans are afoot!

Well… We don’t want to give too much away. Certainly not in terms of the design in the room, that’s something our designer Nanna Guldbæk is hard at work on right now. It’ll certainly have a party vibe … Maybe even a House Party vibe. We’re bringing our own DJ this year, he’s a Mancunian living in Stavanger, so we thought it would be a great way to merge our two worlds :) Also, we’ll have some Barrel Aged special releases through out the festival. Keep an eye on Facebook and Instagram for info on those during the weekend.

Three Bean. It’s a modern classic. Do you think you’ll ever bring out a Four Bean? One Bean could be a single origin session strength stout too. You can have these ideas for free.

Ha ha. We’ve talked a lot about a Four Bean… Just haven’t found the right bean to enhance the already complex flavours thou (any suggestions?). One Bean might work, but let’s keep that on the back burner for now.
Lervig have a deservedly outstanding reputation for dark beers (the aforementioned Three Bean, Konrad’s Stout, Toasted Maple Stout, Big Ass Money Stout etc etc). Your sours and hazy IPAs are pretty great too. Are there any upcoming beers, or styles, that you are especially passionate about?

Well, we’ve been working on some lower ABV things recently as that’s what we’ve been digging over the summer. We released House Party in the UK market (4% Session Ale) and that’s been going really well so we’re keen to experiment a little around that end of the table. But then we’re also coming out with a 10.5% DDH TIPA in the coming weeks (Medicine) so we’re all over the board. We just love it all I guess!


Nanna’s artwork – the rebranding of core range stuff, the new can designs – is really great. The vinyl wall illustrations you had at IMBC last year really made the space your own. Are you cooking up any spicy visuals for the new space this year?

Yes – we are hoping to give people an even bigger experience this year – with lots of characters, colours and focus on textures – all revolving around our beers. Wiggly, wild and wonderful is what we are going for.


How is the beer scene in Stavanger? As regular travellers to the UK how do you find the beer landscape over here? Are there many similarities or stark differences between the two?

The beer scene here is really great right now. There are a lot of breweries up here (like in the UK) really pushing boundaries and experimenting with really cool and innovative ideas, and the beer fans are among the best in the world. The downside however are the strict regulations and restrictions around buying beer. For us anything over 4.7% needs to go through the government owned and run monopoly which can be quite restrictive. We can usually release beer in the UK before it gets to market up here for example which is frustrating for us and our fans alike. Apart from that the scene is quite similar. The trends seem to be the same as the UK and UK breweries do well up here.

Can you give any exclusive leaks of any beers that you’re be bringing to IMBC 18?

Hmmm… We want to keep the Barrel Aged things under wraps for now, but we’ll have Medicine along with us. We’re even trying to blend a couple of beers to have an IMBC only beer. It’ll be a sessionable hazy smasher! Plus we’ll have a Crowler station set up for take away beers of your choice.

When IMBC goers are in Manchester, where should they go? (Besides Victoria Baths, naturally)

We really like the Patron in the Northern Quarter. They have a great tap lineup and great food. Also we’ve had a lot of fun at Port St Beer House in the past… Can’t go wrong there.

Thanks Liam. Anything else to add?

Just that we’re super pumped for the festival and hope to see you all in out tent :)

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IMBC 18 
4th – 7th October 2018
Tickets available for THURSDAY and SUNDAY sessions HERE. 

Posted on 28th August 2018

Meet Burning Soul / Thirsty Games 2017 Winners

Ahoy! The second annual Thirsty Games competition was a smash this year. Thirsty Games finalists Affinity, Burning Soul, and Little Earth Project poured beers side by side on The Thirsty Games bar throughout IMBC 17. Burning Soul lifted the Thirsty Games trophy (made by Manchester artist Pascal Nichols) on Sunday evening after winning the public vote. We caught up with Burning Soul to congratulate them on their victory and to see what they’re up to now.

As part of The Thirsty Games prize, Burning Soul are the first name on the brewery team sheet for IMBC 18. You’ll find them in Victoria Baths at IMBC 18 at every session. Thirsty Games sponsors Lallemand have also gifted Burning Soul £500 prize money as well as kindly supporting The Thirsty Games and new breweries throughout 2017.Let’s see what Burning Soul are saying…

Firstly, congratulations on winning The Thirsty Games! How was your experience at IMBC 17?

Cheers man, yeah we had an absolute blast. Everyone has always told us how awesome Indy Man is, we always planned to go but always tried getting tickets too late. To go for the first time taking our beer along was epic and it did not disappoint! From the general vibe, to everyone is there to have a great time, the setting is such a great building, to the ridiculously high standard of beer made us feel very honoured to be pouring there.

Photograph by Jody Hartley


You lifted the Thirsty Games trophy at 5pm on Sunday – was there an immediate reaction once news spread?
It was a great moment with people at Indy Man who we’d met over the weekend and the social media went a bit crazy with people congratulating us, we were buzzing.

You guys brought three of your beers along – can you talk us through them? Was there a standout beer that punters reacted especially favourably towards?

So we brought along…

Belgian IPA which is a personal favourite of ours. It’s brewed with Summit, Chinook and Citra then fermented cool with a Belgian yeast. It just works really well with the citrus hops giving it a real depth of flavour.

Citra Amarillo Sour which is a new one we have been trying lately from our pilot kit and it finished fermenting just in time and was tasting great so we brought it along to see what people thought. It’s clean smooth sour with a hit of citrus from the dry hop. Really happy with how it went down at the fest and we have just started brewing up a batch on our full kit yesterday excited to see how it comes out.
And last but not least a lightly Barrel Aged Coconut Porter, this was the most stand out beer people were really enjoying, including Logan Plant who came over to check out the Thirsty Games. This is the first beer we have put in a barrel but it’s definitely not the last. Its only been in the barrel for 1 month. We were originally going to bring our normal version but after having a taste we knew we had to sneak a little out early just for Indy man and were glad we did. It’s a dark rich chocolatey porter enhanced with toasted coconut then the Jack Daniels Barrel added lush smooth vanilla notes.
How did you find feedback in general? Did it seem like there was a lot of interaction from festival goers with the Thirsty Games bar?

Yeah the interaction was great, lots of people would come up intrigued so we would tell them what its all about get them to taste all the beers and buy their favourite.

Photograph by Jody Hartley

You were up against stiff competition in the shape of Affinity and Little Earth Project – did you enjoy pouring alongside those two? The standard was excellent this year
These guys are the reason we had such a great time. We couldn’t have asked to spend 4 days with a more lovelier bunch of people and their beers were great. Even though we were technically in competition it never felt like it. We were just a group of people, who love beer, hanging out at Indy man, having a great time. All of us singing along to queen at the end of Friday is one great memory in particular.

What were you beer highlights from IMBC 17?
It has to be getting to meet Logan and getting to talk beer with him. He was telling us about when he started out and how he went about things. He was really digging the coconut porter and was generally interested asking about the process for getting the coconut flavour into the beer. We got his vote which made our day.

What kind of kit are you working with at your brewery?
We have a 4bbl brew house that’s completely self built (after a lot of auction hunting, some quick lessons in metal work and ordering a lot of piece’s of stainless steel off the internet).
When we got the keys to our premises it was particularly terrifying as we suddenly had overheads and nothing but a pile of parts and tanks (that was a long way from being able to brew beer) After 3 months hard work it actually worked which was the biggest sigh of relief. We have since had some upgrades in the form of 2 new shiny conditioning tanks. We also often have our 100l pilot kit running, testing out new recipes that we put on in our taproom to see what our customers make of them.

If anyone is on a Burning Soul pilgrimage, where should visitors to Birmingham head?
Our brewery tap is located by the Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham City Centre, we’re based at 51 Mott St B19 3HE. You can actually get a tram from New Street Station to St. Paul’s for £1 which is 3 mins round the corner from us. We’re open Fridays 4-8 and Saturdays 1-8. We have 8 rotating taps plus take out bottles.

We sell our beer to many local pubs and bars including the Wolf, 1000 Trades, Wellington, Post Office Vaults, Clink, Cotteridge Wines, Wildcat Tap, Cherry Reds.

What’s next for Burning Soul?

We just want to keep perfecting our beers. Now that we’re starting to really understand our kit and how to get the best out of it, we can start scaling up a lot more of our small batch recipes and getting them outside of our taproom. We’re all about experimenting, that’s what makes brewing exciting so we hope to have a lot of new beers out in the next year.

Where can people pick your beers up?

At the moment mostly in bars in and around Birmingham. We have just started selling on Eebria trade so we should start getting kegs further afield . We have done some bottle runs  which can be found in local bottle shops such as Cotteridge Wines, Connellys Wines and Clink (although limited stock at the moment). We were chatting to the canning guys We Can at Indy Man so this is an option we’d definitely like to explore so watch this space!

Thanks Burning Soul!

Follow Burning Soul: twitter, instagram, facebook

Thirsty Games 2017 winners BURNING SOUL!

Posted on 11th October 2017

IMBC 17 Fringe

IMBC 17 FRINGE
Thursday 28th September – Sunday 1st October 2017

At IMBC time each year we like to lay on a few outer Victoria Baths experiences to get you in the beery mood. This year we are exciting to announce that we have the following events happening at our bars. As ever we wanna throw the net wider and get some great beer happenings going on city-wide that you can enjoy before and after IMBC – if you’re a pub / bottle shop / other and you want us to include your event in our programming, get in touch!

Meanwhile, here’s what we’ve got going on so far…

BURNING SKY TAKEOVER PORT STREET BEER HOUSE
Rarities, classics and new classics wall to wall across cask and keg from master brewers and blenders, Burning Sky.

MAGIC ROCK TAKEOVER COMMON
Huddersfield honchos Magic Rock bring a bag of tricks to Common for back to back Magic cask and keg. Expect tastings, new releases, rare batches, artwork, food specials and the unexpected.

WEIRD BEARD TAKEOVER THE PILCROW
Weird Beard bring the immaculate haul to The Pilcrow for a four day showcase of all things Weird. Newbies, golden oldies, pop-up tastings, specials galore.

THORNBRIDGE TAKEOVER THE BEAGLE
Bakewell’s always excellent Thornbridge make tracks to The Beagle in Chorlton for the long weekend to provide the ultimate offering of essential cask and keg. All the stone cold classics will be there alongside rarities, Thornbridge food specials, pop-ups and much more.

Artwork by David Bailey

Got your ticket to the big dog yet? IMBC 17 wants YOU (to attend). Thursday 28th September and Sunday 1st October are the only dates that remain. Pick up your tickets HERE!

Posted on 2nd August 2017

IMBC 15 IN PHOTOS

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

Posted on 14th October 2015