October - Joshua Brooks
106 Princess St, Manchester M1 6NG
NOTE: Now transferred to the newly formed Central Manchester Branch
The Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA Pub of the Month for October is Joshua Brooks on Princess Street in Manchester City Centre.
Until about 18 months ago, this would have been a surprising choice for a CAMRA award. Little or no cask beer had been sold since the pub opened in the mid-1990s and it was more of a club than a pub.,
There's still a lively club in the basement which hosts a variety of music nights and even theatre. However hand in hand with the refurbishment downstairs, came a new look for the pub premises on the ground floor with a more pubby feel and an greater emphasis on the beer.
"Real Ale" says the sign on the wall and indeed there is. There are six handpumps on the bar which dispense an ever changing range of guest beers and these are far from what you might call "the usual suspects". New beers from new micro breweries around the country vie for bar space with more familiar names.
Asked what he aims to stock, enthusiastic manager Jon Turner simply says "whatever seems exciting". Jon has been at Joshua Brooks for about four and a half years now and has overseen its transformation into something of an unsung gem on the City Centre cask beer scene. And it's not only with cask beers that the transformation has taken place. The fridges behind the bar feature bottles from the USA and closer to home including beers from RedWillow and Thornbridge, and even the keg range is not what you might expect with always on draft American beer sold along with Black Isle Stout which has ousted Guinness.
There is a good food offer including Pieminster Pies and CAMRA members can join the Joshua Brooks Club and pay just £2.50 a pint on a pint on Fridays. All well worth celebrating and join us when we do this and present our award on Tuesday 23 October.