Beer lovers flocked to Manchester when its Beer and Cider Festival took over Manchester Central’s great hall. A time lapse video posted to You Tube shows how the team of 330 volunteers built and dismantled the festival over four days.

Although the attendance of 14,675 was just shy of 2016’s 14,804, the festival was a day shorter than the previous year. Organisers were delighted with the public response which reinforced the festival’s position as the biggest beer and cider festival in the North.

Almost every one of the 22 bars recorded an increase in consumption, with 41,000 pints of cask ale supped. In line with its reputation for innovation, the festival showcased a wide range of high-quality beers dispensed by keg or KeyKeg, of which 7,730 pints were enjoyed. Records tumbled at the cider and perry bar with 4,300 pints consumed, an increase of 8% from the previous year. The main foreign bar, serving German, Czech Republic and Belgian beers, shifted almost 2,100 litres (3,560 pints).

Manchester brewer Cloudwater was persuaded to put a couple of its beers in cask, and drinkers responded by shifting the firkin of DDH Pale NZ Chinook in a shade over two hours. Brewery bar Tiny Rebel was not far behind with the first cask of Peaches and Cream drunk so fast, it forced the Welsh brewer to ration the remaining supply to avoid disappointing visitors later in the week. And new beers, including Stout from J W Lees, were in big demand.

Two debates drew respectable audiences, with the sexism in the brewing Industry topic aimed at the trade to focus on realistic actions to eradicate outdated marketing and behaviours. The Great Manchester Beer Debate, on the Saturday, was lubricated by some free beer and examined the price of beer, with strong contributions from those who thought it too dear and those who thought it too cheap.

This year, in a break with tradition, the festival invited every brewer in Greater Manchester to submit a beer in any style to compete for the Manchester Brewers’ Challenge. The inaugural champion, selected by judges at the trade session on Wednesday, was Alphabet Brewing’s Type A, a keg IPA weighing in at 7% ABV and described as an orangey juice bomb, using Mosaic, Simcoe, Azacca and Rakau hops.

Competitions

Almost immediately sold out at The Font Bar, organisers managed to get more stock in for the open days of the festival. Wigan’s Wily Fox provided the runner-up with Karma Citra in bottle form, pipping two cask stouts, Ramsbottom’s Irwell Works’ Marshmallow Unicorn Milk Stout, and Javanilla, from Donkeystone in Saddleworth.

The North of England cider competition, run at the festival on Friday, selected its champion as Hedge-Hoggers Old Aged Pig, produced in Seamer, North Yorkshire. Ampleforth Abbey’s ‘Traditional Still’ was named as runner up.

The North of England perry competition saw La Cantina retain its champion title for another year. Yesterday’s Dream is a medium-sweet example at 6% ABV made in Elland, West Yorkshire. The county also provided the runner up — Udders Orchard, from Huddersfield, took the honours with Waterloo Sunset.

Visitors were asked to vote for their beer of the festival. Drinkers made Peaches and Cream, from Tiny Rebel, their top tipple with last year’s choice, Bad Kitty, a porter from Brass Castle Brewery in North Yorkshire, the runner-up and Stockport Brewing’s Avant-Garde Cutting Edge, a 3.8% ABV bitter, in third.

Cider drinkers selected Cleeve Orchard Dry as their favourite, and the perry of choice was from Hecks of Somerset.

There was an emotional moment as time was called on the event. Organiser Graham Donning is standing down after a decade running the festival (initially the National Winter Ales Festival and, for the last five years, Manchester Beer and Cider Festival). Drinkers paused to applaud his contribution, and volunteers recognised his vision and drive to make the cask capital also the home of the best beer festival with a suitably large bottle of … whisky.

The festival team are already starting planning a return to Manchester Central from January 24-26, 2019.