Cooper Hall, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, is switching from imported premium lager to a new wave of award-nominated Manchester crafted artisan lager brewed in Ardwick.

Manchester Union Lager, launched earlier this year, is the only dedicated craft lager brewery in the city and uses a rare-to-the-UK decoction mash technique (utilised in traditional Czech breweries) to produce its bold flavours and mouthfeel.

Simon Ching, owner of Cooper Hall, said: “Selling an authentic beer like Pilsner Urquell was important to us because we aim to deliver the best beer experience we can. It was fresh from the brewery in Plzen within two to three days and was delivered unpasteurised and full of flavour, so we saw it as a better offering than all other lagers traditionally on offer to UK pubs and bars.

“I recently got to try Manchester Union Lager at a bar launch and was blown away, by not only the taste but the techniques they adopted. They brew in a similar way to Pilsner Urquell and because the beer is brewed one mile away instead of nearly 1,000 miles away, it’s the freshest lager we could hope to deliver to our customers.”

Jamie Scahill, of Manchester Union, added: “It’s not only our lager that is making waves locally: Cloudwater, which is based around the corner from us, was voted second best brewery in the world in 2017 and their Double IPA is known all over the globe.

“Manchester’s brewing scene is exploding right now and it’s really exciting and encouraging for us to see people like Simon having the courage to follow their belief and make the switch”

Manchester Union Lager has been nominated for Artisan food and drink producer of the year by Manchester Food and Drink festival and will be available at Cooper Hall from 4pm this Friday (August 23).