Buxton/Manchester Real Ale spots

Hi there

In Buxton definitely check out the Buxton brewery tap house as well as redwillow bar you’ll get some cask and also good keg beer. Also the Cheshire cheese is a good pub owned by Titanic.

In Manchester if you want the traditional pub experience try the castle (Robinson’s), Smithfield (black jack brewers) and the Marble Arch (marble brewers). There’s also the traditional family tied pubs like Hyde’s, Joseph Holt’s and JW Lees and less local but ubiquitous Marsden and Greene King pubs which might interest you but the available beer will be less inspiring. For more modern style bars which offer both cask and keg also check out port street beer house or cafe beermoth.

 

Come to think of it I don’t think there are any greene king pubs in the city centre.

 

Hi JT,

I really recommend The Wharf - it's a step away from the craft beer scene, always has some really good guest ales on cask and sensational food.
The Rising Sun, The Sir Ralph Abercrombie and the Old Nags Head are pubs that are a little past their heyday, in the sense they're not as full as what I imagine they used to be, but traditional pubs in every sense of the word. All really close together on parallel streets just off Deansgate, with The Deansgate Tavern closely by as well.

Lower Turks Head on Shudehill, just by the Arndale is another traditional pub. There's also the Millstone in the Northern Quarter, but this is a City fan favourite, so check the fixtures before you head there.

Ape and Apple on John Dalton Street is a good Joey Holt house.

A lot of history in the buildings. And speaking of history, The Britons Protection, opened in 1806. If memory serves me, they host one of the largest whisky collections in the country, and a stones throw away from here is The Peveril of the Peak which is a Victorian ale house.
Two BRILLIANT pubs - I'd recommend these two over any others for traditional pubs.

You're by no means going to be blown away by these places - they are just traditional pubs, with the usual suspects on draught and cask.

Enjoy your visit!

 

I don't know Manchester well, but I've been to the Marble Arch, the Peveril of the Peak and the Briton's Protection and would happily go back to any of them.

 

Does Manchester have a neighborhood with a concentration of beer spots, akin to London's Bermondsey?

 

There’s a few brewery taps in the railway arches around the Piccadilly area. Maybe a couple more if you jump on a tram across town. Saturday will be your best day to make everywhere as limited opening times for some places. There are a few others that open sporadically you might be lucky to make.

 

I'm going to Manchester & Peak District this april, so thank you very much for the advice! We're not focusing on craft beer (except Buxton), we prefer to discover traditional places and beers. Prague blew up our minds, and we hope that our "real ale tour" will blow it as well. I downloaded the CAMRA's pub guide app, bought the Good Beer Guide and read some books from Pete Brown. So we are ready to go

 

If you get chance when you’re near Buxton I’d also recommend stopping at New Mills (one of the stops on the way back to Manchester) if it’s a weekend that Torrside Brewery have one of their brew taps on. Relatively new brewery but they have a great mix of traditional and modern style beers in cask, keg and bottle, without resorting to ddh everything. I think they will have an event on over Easter.