A secret brewery party is coming to an as-yet-undisclosed venue in Manchester’s Northern Quarter next week, The Manc can reveal.
Manchester Union Brewery has revealed it will be throwing an exclusive secret party next week on Wednesday, 3 November, with free-flowing beer and food in a top-secret Manchester location.
The event is taking place to launch the brewery’s new Helles lager, called Scenes.
Hosted in partnership with Skiddle, two of Manchester’s most notorious homegrown DJ’s – namely Chimpo and Nanny Banton – will be on the decks providing the soundtrack from 8pm to midnight.
Free to attend, the event is guest list only – meaning to get through the door you’ll need to apply for a ticket via Manchester Union Brewery’s website.
Those entering the ticket ballot will be entered into a lucky draw, with winners chosen at random. The brewery will be keeping the party location top secret, with the details only revealed on the day of the event.
The new 4.2% party beer is inspired by classic German Helles styles, which tend to be pale gold in colour but typically fuller-bodied than light lagers.
Manchester Union Brewery is the only dedicated craft lager brewery located in the city. Located in Ardwick, brewers here use methods unique to the UK to create the freshest lager in the city.
By adding an extra step to its brewing process, the brewery claims to create a “bold silky mouthfeel with a touch of caramel sweetness followed swiftly with a hugely refreshing, dry and bitter finish from the central European hops.”
If you go down to its home in Ardwick, you’ll also discover the brewery’s taproom – which gives you chance to sample some of Manchester Union’s best creations straight from the source.
Poured from hand made side tap handles imported directly from the Czech Republic, it doesn’t get any fresher than this. Space, however, is quite limited so it is recommended to book in advance.
Feature image – Geograph
Food & Drink
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Georgina Pellant -
25th October 2021 
