Alphabet Brewing Co. Taproom

No Longer In Business

Visisted April 2019. Large taproom with a nice terrace. They do thirds.

North facing railway arch based brewery with a courtyard, with an Alphabet Brewery van parked in it with the personalised number plate KEGG ALE. There's picnic tables too here and a high wall that disguises the fact that the seldom seen city centre River Medlock runs right by this venue, hopefully they don't use the water from it! The bar has a long row of keg ales from the brewer of various strengths, with the actual brewing operation more hidden than most of the other breweries operating bars in this set of railway arches.

One of the largest taprooms on the Piccadilly beer mile. There is a huge, cavernous seating area inside, with owa decent size outside area when the weather is good. Usually some food in the form of a food van outside which is very welcome as there are few other food offerings at the taprooms. About a dozen Alphabet beers on tap plus a selection of cans etc. in the fridge. Service is good. Beers served in plastic, which might not please the purist.

Another railway-arch brewery / taproom. Large outdoor seating. Rough interior. 10 beers on tap. Some food outside.

Huge taproom space under any railway arch behind Manchester Piccadilly station. The brewery is at the back of the arch. Unusual that the majority of the arch space is taken up with the taproom but it’s usually busy when I visit. Around 8-10 beers served, usually only from the brewery. I find Alphabet beers decent enough but I don’t remember any with a wow factor. There is usually a selection of 2 or 3 food trucks out the front, the food is often gluten free, vegetarian or vegan

Another archway style brewery with some outside seating as well. Service was solid. 8 of the beers are available on tap. No food on site but there were Food Trucks in the area. Prices were inline with the other area breweries.

Well I can't really be objective here because I've visited with other brewery owner outside of working hours. Nobody expected us, but we got warm reception. Guys showed us around brewery, we got beers at their taproom which is an improvised bar adjacent to the brewery. Reminded me of breweries at Bermondsey, but probably bigger than most of those breweries. There is a nice patio with benches outside, I imagine it's nice there during sunny weather. Nine out of 12 beers were on during our visit, also some bottles/cans in the fridge. In the end Joe, the owner, gave us a ride and introduced us to the brewer there. So if you're considering doing a brewery crawl in Manchester this one is worth visiting.

Visited on 23rd September 2017. A further 5 mins from Cloudwater around Square One (or under the railway and back) finds this under an arch venue. There's a nice outside space with a couple of food trucks but still under cover, inside is a large set of bench style tables, bar on the right as you look in and brewery at the rear. Had 8 beers on tap, all brewed on site. A good variety of styles and strengths, prices were good and staff were super friendly and chatty about beer. Definitely one I would go back to and a great example of a brewery taproom.

It was already fairly full when we arrived. When I saw that were only serving in plastic vessels we didn’t bother staying. Beer needs to be consumed from a glass to taste it’s best.

Me, dad and Barry visited Alphabet on Saturday 1st April 2017. We arrived pretty much at opening time but there were already a few folk milling around the various food stalls out the front. Alphabet are based under one of the arches under the railway lines running out of Manchester Picaddilly, and is about 6-7 mins walk from the railway station.

Looking at the set up here I get the impression that Alphabet are either going places or at the very least are aiming to. There styling and artwork is loud and they seem a very enthusiastic and motivated bunch. Anyway back to the brewery. As you enter the bar is on the right hand side with a set of stairs to the left hand side that leads up to the toilets.In the centre of the brewery near the front were 3-4 tables with further long wooden tables stretching back into the brewery, the brew kit could be seen at the rear of the brewery. The artwork on the walls is that of some of their core beers.

We liked it in here, the music was pumping out, though not intrusively loud, there was a turntable set up near the front of the brewery but that wasn’t in use just yet. The beer choice was good and they tasted very good as well even when served out of flimsy plastic glases. I reckon there was at least ten beers to choose from. We liked it here but we had to move onto our next stop.