By Charlotte Knowlson

On Thursday 13th June we launched our very first Meet the Brewery event at our Heaton Moor store.  For this first event, we invited our good friends at Cloudwater to come in for a drink with our lovely customers, and to talk about the incredible beers they produce just a stone’s throw away in Manchester city centre. 

We were lucky enough to sample four beers which showcase the huge diversity of styles they brew. We enjoyed a classic bitter, a fruited sour IPA, a delicious and unctuous barrel-aged stout, and a juicy and intensely dry-hopped IPA, all of which Connor and Jake talked us though, giving tasting notes and an intriguing insight into the brewing of each beer. They even snuck us in some of their exclusive bottled beer, never before sampled outside the brewery. The fantastic array of styles gave me the chance to try some of their styles that I wouldn’t normally go for. I hold my hands up and admit it: I nearly always think first of a hoppy, smooth IPA or a sticky-sweet barrel-aged stout when I think of Cloudwater. And indeed, for many, the name ‘Cloudwater’ is synonymous with these styles of beer. But this is not all they do, and hearing Connor and Jake speak with such passion about the styles they love and the intricate processes involved in creating each and every beer really opened my mind to trying a few of their other styles. 

For those who weren't lucky enough to snag tickets for the Meet the Brewery, we extended the love by continuing to pour fresh Cloudwater beer on draft on the following Friday and Saturday evenings. It was great to have a chinwag with so many of our regulars who stopped by to drink a beer or two (or three, or four). 

We enjoyed the whole weekend so much, we decided to hold regular Meet the Brewery events with subsequent drinking-in sessions at our Heaton Moor site. If you want to be part of our next Meet the Brewery event, keep an eye out for advertising in store over the next few months, and be the first to grab tickets. 

Our Meet the Brewery night also kicked off Cloudwater's Indie Retailer Roadshow; some of the lovely folk from the brewery will be travelling up and down the country, holding events in their favourite independent beer retail outlets. Keep your eyes on their social media to find out about more stuff they'll be doing over the next few months!