It wasn’t until around 200 years ago that a bunch of people in Bavaria struck it lucky and invented lager. Ever since then we can’t get enough of the fizzy stuff and enter any pub today and you can be thankful for those blokes that you can order a pint of Stella and then smash a chair over someone’s face.
Around the same time that those fellas were making lager in Bavaria, the first workers unions were being set up in Manchester as a direct result of the massive boom seen during the Industrial Revolution. It these two parallels stories that make the basis for a new lager in town – Manchester Union.
Everyone knows that those Europeans across the Channel make the best lager, with whole countries basing their entire tourism on the fizzy golden ale, so it’s with this that Manchester Union have decided to make a Czech lager but with a ‘Mancunian swagger’. The idea is that they want something that every Mancunian will be proud to drink – much like we were with Boddingtons in the 80’s.
I’ve had some of this lager and I must say – it’s very unique. It’s unlike any typical lager that you’ve ever had and this is all down to the rather unusual and unique way in which it is brewed.
Now, I sat in front of a very informative PowerPoint slideshow last week which explained the whole process but seeing as I know very little about brewing – I’m still a bit confused. Here’s what the gang at Manchester Union said:
“Manchester Union brewery is the only commercial brewery in the UK that uses a decoction mash technique to move wort and malt around the brewhouse into tanks at boiling temperatures which releases the melanoidin to give Manchester Union Lager it’s unique mouthfeel and flavour. Each drop of our lager takes 80, 640 minutes to brew, that’s 8 weeks!”
There’s a lot of strange words in there so if you understood that – well done. If you didn’t – don’t worry – it doesn’t really matter how it’s made, it’s all about what it tastes like and where you can try it. I’ll be honest with you – I liked it. I liked it a lot.
Manchester Union Lager will be going into full production in September so you can probably expect to see it in boozers across the city from October. To keep up to date on what’s going on – follow them:
