Location: Manchester | Find them: Balance Brewing & Blending
Located a few doors down from Sureshot, and just around the corner from Cloudwater and Track, Balance Brewing is well worth a visit if you’re in the area. Specialising in mixed-culture, barrel-fermented beer, it’s perfect if you want something a little bit different.
What we loved
We love wild and mixed ferm beers, so we were really excited to see what Balance had on offer in their taproom. Unfortunately, we didn’t have long as we had a train booked, but we did manage to try a couple of beautiful beers.
There are six rotating draught lines and two permanent so there’s plenty of choice. There’s also a fridge full of bottled beers if you want to take some home. If we didn’t already have a fridge overflowing with beer, we definitely would have treated ourselves.
The lady at the bar was very helpful. We asked her what she’d recommend if we only had time for one and she let us sample a couple. We ended up ordering two as we couldn’t decide.
The taproom itself was very cosy and quieter than Sureshot. We grabbed a table at the back overlooking the barrel room.
What we drank
Bramble: Wild Ale 6.5%
We started with Bramble – a fruity wild ale that was not too tart and packed full of berry flavours.
Brewer’s note: Our third release is a celebration of the humble British blackberry. As the thickets start to grow heavy with ripe fruit, Bramble too is coming into its own. This beer is a blend of two barrels filled in June 2021 and aged for six months on carbonically macerated British blackberries. Intense, almost inky blackberry character melds with spiced, leathery vinous notes and a deep, layered funk. Full, tannic structure along with a sharp acidity and carbonic bite refresh the palate between harmonious bursts of fruity minerality and earthy brett.
Apricot Casa: Wild Ale 6%
Our final beer of the day was a collab with Pastore Brewing and Blending. We loved the collab they did for the Love & Beer festival, so we were excited to see them on the menu. And what a great collab this was. Everything we’d want from a wild ale – funky, fruity and sour. Delicious. And the perfect brew to wind up our day in Manchester.
Brewer’s note: A Sauternes barrel aged golden wild ale on Cambridgeshire apricots.
Visiting
Balance Brewery and Taproom is located on an industrial estate, just a short walk from Manchester Picadilly where you’ll also find Cloudwater, Track and Sureshot taprooms. Balance also offers brewery tours which can be booked via their website.
Find them: https://balancebrewing.co/
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