Hydes Brewery has opened The Beer Studio bar in south Manchester to celebrate its craft beer range
Since its move from Manchester’s Moss Side to Salford over three years ago, the 152-year-old Hydes Brewery has been experimenting with craft beers at its small brewhouse The Beer Studio. Through innovative uses of malt and hops, it has been winning fans with its unique brews such as the new Styrian Aurora, an intensely hoppy copper-toned ale using Vienna malts.
It has created a “shop window” for the range by opening its first craft beer bar, The Beer Studio Bar & Kitchen, in the former Sir Joseph Whitworth pub in part of an old church in the student area of Fallowfield, south Manchester. It offers seven cask beers, including a regularly changing pair from The Beer Studio, plus 16 keg beers and over 50 bottled beers from around the world.
It has a strong list of beer cocktails, priced from £4.95 to £5.50, ranging from a Gringo, made with tequila and grapefruit topped with an IPA, to a Weissen Sour, combining bourbon, bitters and citrus with Erdinger beer. There are also bottled and draught ciders and a short list of wines.
The often-quirky food offering includes flatbreads and sharing platters such as the German Market board at £9.95, loaded with pork schnitzel, currywurst, bratwurst and leberkäse served with sauerkraut, mustard, red onion chutney and rye bread. These, along with the main courses, are listed on the menu with recommendations for beer pairings. For instance, the Studio Fried Chicken goes well with Brooklyn Lager while the house burger with cheese is recommended with Anchor Steam.
Hydes brought in hospitality specialist DV8 Design to create a modern venue with “a unique urban design” though the use of earthy colour palettes and upcycled decorative elements. “The concept was to restore a fairly tired-looking site into a contemporary hub for those who like craft beer and quirky street-style food,” says DV8 managing director Lee Birchall. “With that in mind, we wanted to reflect the cool vibe contained within The Beer Studio’s branding throughout the entire interior design.”
As well as having a mix of wood and exposed brick, there are subtle woodland hints from the use of rustic furniture, featuring worn-effect leathers, together with a warm colour scheme. Added visual appeal comes from the variety of vintage and modernistic wall art as well as barrel-style pendants and industrial lighting to reflect the brewery. “With The Beer Studio being a cutting-edge provider of craft beer, it felt only right to devise a playful yet authentic-looking design,” Lee adds.
The Fallowfield bar’s success means that Hydes may look at opening more of them in other parts of the north-west, says managing director Chris Hopkins. “The Beer Studio Bar & Kitchen provides us with a perfect shop window and branding opportunity for our Beer Studio beer range. Given that the position of our new bar is ideally located on one of the busiest bus routes in Europe, we feel sure that brand awareness will rise significantly and exponentially.”
The Beer Studio, 256 Wilmslow Road, Manchester M14 6LB
Tel: 0161 249 0271
www.thebeerstudiofallowfield.co.uk
Behind the scenes
Design: DV8 Design
Contractor: Beechcroft
Furniture: Carlick Contract Furniture
Lighting: E2 Lighting
