Awards

The Trafford & Hulme branch Pub Of The Season for Winter 2015/16 is the Sir Ralph Abercromby in Manchester City Centre. The Sir Ralph is a Manchester institution having stood…

The Trafford & Hulme Branch Pub of The Season for Autumn 2015 is Jack In The Box, Altrincham Market Hall

The Trafford & Hulme Pub Of The Season for Summer 2015 is Pi, Shaw’s Road, Altrincham.

Pi opened in October 2012 as the third outlet for Chorlton based Pivo Inns. The original Pi on Manchester Road in Chorlton was Pub of The Season for Spring 2010 with Pi(Rose Lane) in the Liverpool suburb of Mosley Hill joining the family in 2011.

The Altrincham bar follows the same basic formula as its siblings – specialising in beer with a basic but hugely successful food menu based around the products of Bristol’s PieMinster. The concept of Pi was born out of owner Andy Ingham’s desire for a local bar that he would want to drink in – as nobody else was opening the kind of place he liked, he did it himself.

There are two handpumps on the bar, one selling permanent beer Tatton Blonde. The guest pump serves an ever changing range of guests with regularly featured breweries including RedWillow, Saltaire and Brightside. The cask ales are complemented by a wide range of distinctive draught beers – there are no national brands here – and a massive range of bottles from the “beer bible”. Essentially it’s a beer heaven.

(more…)

The Trafford & Hulme Pub Of The Season for Spring 2015 is The Sedge Lynn, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

Whilst possibly not having the trendy appeal of some of Chorlton’s other bars, the Sedge Lynn sits quietly on Manchester Road selling vast quantities of quality real ales day in day out. Its 12 handpumps will typically feature 8 different real ales alongside two traditional ciders and have seen it become one of JD Wetherspoon’s top selling real ale outlets, easily selling more real ale than most of it’s competition.

Current manager Kirstin Downham took over 18 months ago having moved from The Kingfisher in Poynton. Local readers may also remember her from Didsbury’s Milson Rhodes where she was the original manager in 2010. Since moving to Chorlton, Kirstin has continued the good work of her predecessor Leanne Kempthorne who boosted real ale sales at the pub with a more varied range and much improved quality, taking the pub into the Good Beer Guide in the process. In September last year, the pub was named the North West regional winner for Real Ale in Wetherspoons annual awards.

(more…)