Best Breweries in Manchester & Top Craft Beer Pubs
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Cheers to the Manchester brewery scene – when visiting Manchester for craft beers and taproom tipples, you are spoilt for choice with so many Manchester breweries.
Spanning industrial estate taprooms to red brick craft beer bars beneath railway arches, Manchester’s breweries are some of the best in the UK.
From the beautiful craft beer bar that is Track Brewing Co to the inner-city delights of Bundobust Brewing, there is plenty to raise a glass (or several) in Manchester. All of these Manchester breweries are within a 20 minute walking distance of Manchester City Centre.
Incidentally, we know some of these breweries were started in other Northern cities like Leeds and Bradford but they all have excellent brewery taprooms in Manchester with good beer.
From Seven Bro7hers to Sureshot, Balance Brewing to Northern Monk, these are the best craft beer bars and breweries in Manchester.
Please note all these breweries were photographed and open as of July 2024:
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Table of Contents
Manchester Breweries and Craft Beer Bars Map
Manchester Breweries and Craft Beer Bars
1. Track Brewing Co – Brewery & Taproom
We start our best breweries in Manchester guide with Track Brewing, which is home to the best looking taproom in Manchester, and a short walk from Piccadilly Station.
Not only is the craft beer and cider at Track Brewing really good, but the interiors of the taproom look like something out of a showroom catalogue – the guy behind the bar (who was very helpful with his beer suggestions) mentioned the taproom had been open since 2021. The brewery began life as a small taproom beneath Piccadilly Station in 2014 and then moved here.
The brewery bar is huge with a direct view of all the brewing vats – the craft beer menu behind the bar is a work of art too, with colourful classing wooden stylings. Outside, there is a huge beer garden (dog friendly) and Track Brewing merchandise is available.
After a few tastings, we worked our way through Track Brewing’s four IPAs on tap, which were all 6% ABV and above (and so very good) – expect to pay between £5 to £6.80 per pint.
Track Brewing opening times
Tuesday to Thursday: 2pm to 10pm | Friday & Saturday: 12pm to 10pm | Sunday: 12pm to 8pm
Address: Track Brewing Co – Brewery & Taproom, Unit 18, Piccadilly Trading Estate, Manchester M1 2NP (map)
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2. Cloudwater Brewery Taproom Manchester
A short walk across the road from Track Brewing brings you to Cloudwater Brewing. Founded in Manchester in 2014 – they now have several venues across the city but we’d recommend visiting the Cloudwater Brewery Taproom (as craft beer always tastes better at the source, right)?
We visited on a busy Sunday afternoon and made our way to the cute and cosy mezzanine bar upstairs – it was a good mix of people in the bar and a few peeps were eating Japanese food from the food truck outside; the food vendors change regularly.
The upstairs bar looks out over vast wooden barrels and there is an industrial craft beer chic look about the place.
On our visit to Cloudwater Brewery Taproom, there were around 24 different beers, ales and stouts on tap plus a well stocked fridge full of craft beer cans (add £1 for ‘corkage’)
We opted pint of Fuzzy Easy Pale ale (£5.50 a pint and 4.2% ABV) and a half pint of Piccadilly Nitro Porter (£5.50 a pint and 4.5% ABV). One thing we appreciated is that the half pint price works out the same as full pint prices, which is pretty rare these days. Brewery tours at Cloudwater are also available on selected days.
Cloudwater Brewery Taproom opening times:
Tuesday to Thursday: 3pm to 10pm | Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 10pm | Sunday: 12pm to 8pm
Address: Cloudwater Brewery Taproom, Arbry House, Piccadilly Trading Estate, Unit 9, Gidding Road, Manchester M1 2NP (map)
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3. Bundobust Brewery
Bundobust is an Indian street food restaurant chain with a huge brewery bar in Manchester, which was established in 2021.
We visited for a couple of pints in the run up to the Euros 2024 final where they were running a ‘They Think It’s All Okra’ food and beer pairing promo – genius!
With over 20 beers on tap at their Oxford Street brewery, Bundobust may primarily be about their Indian food (they have restaurants in Liverpool, Leeds & Birmingham) but they take their craft beer and ale offering seriously too.
They also have a second basement bar and restaurant in Piccadilly Gardens, close to the Wetherspoons.
Bundobust brew lots of their own beers like a 4.5% Oetee oatmeal stout (£6.30 a pint) plus have several collaboration craft beers with other breweries like their Mango Lassi Dazzler brewed with Northern Monk – Vault City is also a regular on tap.
We enjoyed their New England White IPA (6% and £5.40 for ⅔) paired with the Bundobust fried okra dish – the beer was good but the fried okra in chick pea flower, pepper and mango dust was amazing!
Bundobust Brewery Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 12pm to 9.30pm | Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 10pm | Sunday: 12pm to 8pm
Address: Bundobust Brewery, St James’s Bldg, Bundobust Brewery, 61-69 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EQ (map)
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4. Northern Monk Refectory MCR
Originally from Leeds, Northern Monk brewery has a red brick taproom tucked away in the side-streets of the Ancoats area.
The main bar is quite compact and cosy, with wooden beans, a ‘Hit The North’ neon sign plus a couple of well stocked beer fridges. There is a small seating area outside plus a larger seating area (complete with photo booth) behind the bar.
Dog friendly and dead easy to get to from the city centre (about a 10 minute walk from Piccadilly), Northern Monk Refectory MCR had 20 different draught beers and ales on when we visited plus four casks.
Prices were reasonable and we went for a guest stout plus their classic Northern Monk Faith Hazy Pale Ale (5.4%).
Northern Monk are known for their more interesting beer collabs like their Northern Monk X Aunt Bessies Aunt Jam Roly Poly and Custard Pale Ale, but there is so much to choose from here including guest breweries like Basqueland and Galway Bay.
Handily, this is one of the few breweries in Manchester that is open on a Monday night.
Northern Monk Refectory MCR opening hours:
Sunday and Monday: 12pm to 10pm | Tuesday to Wednesday: 12pm to 11pm | Thursday: 12pm to 12am | Friday and Sunday: 12pm to 1am
Address: Northern Monk Refectory MCR, 10 Tariff Street, Manchester M1 2FF (map)
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5. Vocation Brewing / Vocation & Co. Manchester @ Society Manchester
A Yorkshire based brewery with a very cool craft beer bar in Manchester, Vocation Brewing is based at Society Manchester, a modern street food complex near Manchester Oxford Road station which even has a small outdoor eating and drinking area overlooking a pond.
Based on our recent trip, we think Vocation & Co has the biggest selection of draft craft beer in Manchester – we spotted 33 different beers on tap and rate this as one of the best brewery bars in Manchester.
As well as your classic Vocation beers like Crush Hour pale (so many beer puns in here), they also have more unusual beers like Vocation Pastel De Nata vanilla and cinnamon pastry stout (7.5% and £5.40 for 2/3s – too sweet for our liking.
Very popular with students and local workers, the Society food court next to the Vocation bar has several street food vendors, including pizza, Korean fried chicken and burgers. Enjoy!
Vocation & Co. Manchester opening hours
Sunday to Thursday: 12pm to 11pm | Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 12am
Address: Vocation & Co, Society, 100 Barbirolli Square, Manchester M2 3BD (map)
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6. Seven Bro7hers Brewery Beer House Ancoats
Founded by the McAvoy Brothers (yes there are 7) and their sisters, Seven Bro7hers Brewery has a few taprooms and Manchester brewery bars across the city including Salford Quays / MediaCity, Liverpool, Ancoats and the original brewery in Salford.
We visited the Seven Bro7hers Brewery Beer House Ancoats (after a massive feast at Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza across the road) and were surprised at how busy it was on a Sunday night.
The bar has a loft style feel to it, with the main bar upstairs, and a bigger seating area in the basement, with mosaic artworks affixed to the red brick walls.
Popular with students, Seven Bro7hers Ancoats has lots of midweek special offers and events, like £4 pints, pub quizzes and even a monthly dog social – we spotted a few dogs in the bar on our visit so it popular for pints and puppies; or try some board games with craft beers.
On our visit, there were around 8 different Seven Bro7hers Brewery beers, ales and stouts on tap including a watermelon pale ale and Helles beer – pints at Seven Bro7hers Brewery cost between £5.50 and £6.10 (as of July 2024).
Seven Bro7hers Ancoats opening times:
Monday to Thursday: 12pm to 11pm | Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 12am | Sunday: 12pm to 11pm
Address – Seven Bro7hers Brewery Beer House Ancoats, 39 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 5AF (map)
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7. Sureshot Brewery
Over to Sheffield Street now for another couple of breweries in Manchester, a very short walk from Piccadilly Station.
Located beneath the railway arches, Sureshot Brewery usually has over 10 different draft beers and ales on tap plus is one of the cheapest breweries in Manchester – a pint of ‘Dan the Absolute Madman’ pale ale starts from around £4.80.
Sureshot Brewery in Manchester began in 2020 and produced its first beers in 2022 overseen by a head brewer who has worked at many of the big breweries.
Nell’s Pizza is available to order or just grab some beer and crisp action with the Seabrooks potato chips – the craft beer can designs are also pretty cool.
Sureshot Brewery opening hours:
Wednesday: 5pm to 10pm | Thursday: 5pm to 11pm | Friday: 3pm to 11pm | Saturday: 12pm to 11pm | Sunday: 2pm to 8pm
Address: Sureshot Brewery, 5 Sheffield Street, Manchester M1 2ND (map)
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8. The Oast House
Not strictly a brewery bar in Manchester, but The Oast House is one of the better craft beer bars in the Spinningfields area of Manchester, usually packed with after work crowds and lunchtime drinkers who’ve sneaked out of the office (yep, we saw you)!
With a huge outdoor drinking area and weird looking pub that is meant to look like a traditional Oast House, this is a fun Manchester bar in the heart of the city but the prices are pretty steep. We had a half of Salt Brewery IPA (based in Bradford) and a half of Tiny Rebel Brewing and it came to £8.
The outdoor area has a stage and huge TV, popular for live events and big sports games (we enjoyed some Wimbledon tennis with our craft beers).
The Oast House Manchester opening hours:
Sunday and Monday: 11am to 11pm | Tuesday and Wednesday: 11am to 12pm | Thursday to Saturday: 11am to 1am
Address: The Oast House The Avenue, Courtyard, Manchester M3 3AY (map)
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9. Balance Brewing & Blending
Another city centre brewery located next to Sureshot Brewing, Balance Brewing is a rather good railway arch brewery bar and taproom, where you get to enjoy your brews with barrel brews.
Kind of like sitting in someone’s lounge, the red carpet and wooden chairs feel homely at Balance Brewing and they specialise in barrel aged beers plus some sensational sours.
One of the newest breweries in Manchester (one of the brewers spent time at nearby Track Brewing and Chorlton Brewing), £15 brewing tours + tastings are also available twice a month at Balance Brewing.
Balance Brewing opening hours:
Sunday: 2pm to 8pm | Thursday: 5pm to 10pm | Friday: 2pm to 10pm | Saturday: 12pm to 10pm
Address: Balance Brewing & Blending, 10 Sheffield Street, Manchester M1 2ND (map)
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Bonus Manchester Pub
10. Marble Arch Inn
Although not a Manchester brewery bar, no trip to Manchester’s pubs and craft beer scene is complete with a drink or two in the Marble Arch Inn.
Surrounded by new-build apartments and development, the old Marble Arch Inn stands like a bastion of Manchester’s original pubs and looks regal, standing amongst all the modern homogeneous architecture.
Built in the 1880s, the Old Marble Arch Inn still has many of its original features and the interior inside is like taking a step back in time (but in a good way) – it has a good beer and cask selection inside with 6 casks and about 8 other drafts on tap.
A nice mix of seasoned local drinkers, tourists and students, the Marble Arch Inn is a classic old school boozer and bar with a small beer garden out front.
We drank on a Sunday night here and there was 25% off all beers – which means you can stay for more. Cheers Manchester!
Marble Arch Inn opening hours:
Sunday – Wednesday: 12pm to 10pm | Thursday: 12pm to 11pm | Friday-Saturday: 12pm to 12am
Address: 73 Rochdale Road, Manchester M4 4HY (map)
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