A Salford craft brewery will showcase its new beer dedicated to the city today, a year after a fire forced it to leave its original home.
First Chop Brewing Arm, which is now based in Eccles, will be showcasing a special edition pale ale at a food tasting event at the Campanile Hotel in Ordsall Lane, Salford, from 4pm to 7pm.
The event is part of the Salford Food and Drink Fortnight, which runs until October 26, with First Chop selling its new Salford Pale Ale (SPA) for the first time.
The original brewery, on Ordsall Lane, was based less than half a mile from the Campanile Hotel but went up in flames in October 2016, after an electricity supply spike set fire to equipment over night, rendering the premises unusable.
First Chop was forced to start again from scratch, but expanded into a bigger premises, doubling the capacity of the brewery. It brewed for the first time in its new home, at Barton Hall Industrial Estate, in May 2017.
The brewery produces a range of hand-crafted beers which also have the advantage of being gluten-free, vegan and carrying the Coeliac UK Crossed Grain symbol. It suuplies pubs all over the UK.
Managing director, Rik Garner, said: “We’re returning as close as we can be to where the original brewery was, and commemorating 12 months since the fire, while celebrating the Salford Food and Drink Fortnight.
“The brewery in Salford was written off this time last year. It was a dark day for First Chop, but we’ve come back even stronger.
“We’ve perfected a method to make beer so that we can get the Crossed Grain symbol, and the process of removing gluten has helped us make better beer. Coming to the Campanile Hotel in Salford to stock our beer really is coming back to where it all started.”
He added: “The SPA is a beer for Salford — it’s a great everyman beer. We’re all about using the best ingredients and making beers that let the quality shine through. It’s an easy-to-drink pale ale for the people of Salford that everybody can enjoy.”
Craig Hodgkinson, general manager of Campanile Hotel, said: “This will be a brilliant event to celebrate Salford and the great range of food and drink we have here.
“It will be extra special to welcome First Chop Brewery back to Salford, after their fire this time last year, and we will continue to stock three of their beers after the festival too.”
