Manchester Union Brewery is launching two new brews — a black lager named After Dusk, and Pivot pale ale. The beers feature some of the characteristics that make the brewery’s original Manchester Union Lager so popular.
Originally brewed as a special for the UK’s biggest lager festival, We Are Lager, After Dusk is a Bohemian lager, and a favourite of the brewery. Though an often misunderstood style, black lager’s complex malt bill delivers bready and dark fruit flavours, with a classic Saaz hop bitterness recognisable from the brewery’s original lager.
Created in collaboration with some of the city’s top independent music venues, After Dusk plans to shine a light on, and continue to drive awareness of, Manchester’s favourite venues during these testing times.
Each can of After Dusk will show iconic images of venues including the Albert Hall, Hidden, Band on the Wall, Matt & Phred’s, and Mint Lounge, with a QR code that can be scanned on a smartphone to take drinkers to the venue’s website. There, they will be able to access live streamed events, gig tickets, and radio stations while the venues are unable to open.
While the brewery originally planned to focus solely on brewing good lager, due to tank space and the length needed to brew (three times longer than ale), the ongoing Manchester lockdown has meant that the business has now needed to pivot and expand its offering.
The second new brew, Pivot, is a take on the classic Manchester Pale Ale, but using central European malt and hops. It’s a style that became the staple of the region thanks, in part, to the soft water the city enjoys from the Lake District.
A pale ale meets lager, the brewers add pilsner malt to the bill to help keep it crisp, while blending aromatic, tangerine-like German Hallertau Mandarina hops with a citrusy British Chinook, to deliver a full-flavoured ale.
‘A perfect opprotunity to support Manchester’s independent music venues’
Will Evans co-founder of Manchester Union Brewery, said: “We’ve previously made a range of kegged lagers from pilsners to red lagers, black lagers and Oktoberfest lagers, just never in cans, but the addition of the pale ale is an unorthodox step for a lager brewery.
“We always planned to eventually do a wider range of beers, and with Manchester being in lockdown virtually continuously since March, we thought it would be a prudent move to pivot into ale earlier than planned — hence the name!
“We wanted to be able to develop a wider selection of beers for people to enjoy at home over the Christmas period and beyond. Now people can buy a box of 12 beers which contains four of each different beer, each with its own unique style.”
Co-founder, Jamie Scahill, added: “As a brewery, we have close connections with the music scene, as many of our friends are DJs, play in bands, run club nights, and I personally know how hard it’s been as I run my own club night, Funkademia, and music festival, Highest Point.
“After Dusk offered a perfect opportunity to support Manchester’s independent music venues during these testing times, and If just one more person clicks a link and buys a ticket then we feel we’ve helped.”
• The beers are available now — check out manchesterunionbrewery.com/shop
