We are literally rippling with excitement at the prospect of celebrating our fifth birthday in our home city of Manchester on Saturday May 11th. Not only have we teamed up with four of the city’s finest breweries (who have very kindly allowed us to hijack their first Block Party of the year along with their taprooms) but we’ve also got full a schedule of talks, tastings, food, music, plus we have a few extra surprises up our sleeves as well!

(Of course, they won’t be a surprise to our Patreon subscribers, whom we’ll be informing of our antics well in advance. Sign up here if you want the skinny on where to grab a free pint or half before it runs out.)

How do you take part in these festivities? Simply turn up. Attendance (bar a couple of ticketed tastings) is free. Each taproom at Cloudwater, Track, Balance and Sureshot will have its own feel and vibe, food, music, and each of them is pouring guest beer from Overtone, The Kernel, Burning Sky and Elusive, respectively. You’ll also find beer from Wiper and True at the Cloudwater and Balance taprooms!

All venues are within a 10 minute walk of Manchester Piccadilly train station, and access is also available via local buses and the Metro tram system (nearest stops are Piccadilly and New Islington.) In the event it gets busy there may be a short wait to get into some venues, but from experience these queues move quickly as people move on, so you shouldn’t be waiting for long, if at all.

Here’s the full lowdown on what’s happening:

TALKS AND TASTINGS

First things first, let's talk talks and tastings. We expect the day to be busy, particularly later into the afternoon and evening, so we’ve scheduled these for the first few hours of the day. This also means that we can chill out and enjoy our birthday once the hard work is completed! We’ve scheduled a mix of chats and fun tastings to help convey the mellow Pelli vibes throughout the entire day. Make sure you also check out our two ticketed tastings hosted by our own Katie Mather and Burum Collective’s Rachel Hendry. Spaces are limited, and these will be BRILL.

Cloudwater, 12:30pm — Matt and Katie chat about the first five years of Pellicle, and the state of consumer drinks writing in the UK. [FREE]

To kick things off, join our editors Matt Curtis and Katie Mather as they chat about Pellicle’s first five years, share their favourite features, talk about the creation of some of their own, and chat about what’s in the magazine's future. This is free to attend and will take place upstairs in Cloudwater Unit 9, where two of our collab beers will also be pouring. There should also be time for a Q&A, and a chance to come and say hello! (Sadly Lily can’t join us, because she’s on her hen do, and we hope she has an amazing time!)

Track, 2pm — A Toast to Pellicle! [FREE]

Join Matt as he makes a brief toast to Pellicle in the Track Taproom as we tap our Track collab, the appropriately named OPTIMISM FOREVER. This is a short and sweet event but if you want to say a very loud CHEERS to us, this will be your chance to do it. We’ve also got a special Pellicle-themed pizza menu from Slice Culture available in Track, and you can read more details about this below.

Sureshot, 2pm — Meet the Brewer with Andy Parker of Elusive [FREE]

The actual nicest man in beer, Elusive Brewing’s Andy Parker, will be in attendance at our Block Party and hosting a relaxed meet the brewer session at 2pm in Sureshot. This isn’t a ticketed tasting so doesn’t include any beer, but if you’ve ever wanted the opportunity to talk to Andy about his award winning beers, such as Oregon Trail IPA, this is the perfect opportunity.

Balance, 2:30pm — Balance Beer and Vegan Food Pairing with Katie Mather [£20, includes four Balance beers, and four nibbles. TICKETS HERE]

Our Katie is a wizard when it comes to tasting notes, and she’s a dab hand when it comes to food pairings too. For this tasting we’ll be taking four of Balance’s ‘food-led’ saisons; wild, barrel-matured beers that have been infused with everything from damsons and cherries, to mushrooms and foraged herbs. Each sample of beer will be served alongside a matching vegan amuse bouche, demonstrating how well these beers work with food.

Tickets are £20 per person and there are just 15 spaces available. Book your space here.

Sureshot, 4pm — Beer and Crisp Pairing with Burum Collective’s Rachel Hendry [£10, includes three Sureshot beers and some crisps. TICKETS HERE]

Yes, it’s true, we’ve only gone and got Burum Collective’s amazing Rachel Hendry to come and host a beer and crisp pairing. That’s right, the Scampi Fry/Babycham queen herself. This fun event is designed showcase the lighter side of beer and food pairing, and will feature three thirds of Sureshot or Elusive beer, each one paired with a round of crisps from the taproom’s excellent, and very generous snack selection.

This event is limited to just 10 spaces, and tickets are £10 each. Get yours here.

COLLABORATION BEERS

You know, it probably would’ve made sense if we’d made five collaboration beers. But, honestly, we just aren’t that organised. Still, we did manage to help make no less than three very special beers with our friends at Cloudwater, Elusive, Track, and Wiper and True. Funnily enough these happen to be a mild and two west coast IPAs—it’s almost as if our editor-in-chief planned it this way! Here’s what we’ve brewed and where you can find them on the day:

Our Mutual Friends, Cask Mild with Wiper and True

When our pals at Bristol’s Wiper and True asked if they could brew a cask mild for our party we jumped at the chance! We’ve got two casks of this sumptuous dark mild pouring at Cloudwater Unit 9, and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Optimism Forever, DDH West Coast IPA with Track

Last year we brewed a fantastic, traditional American IPA with our pals at Track which we called Always Trust the Optimist. Optimism is a hugely important theme at Pellicle, and so this year we’ve returned to the idea and flipped it on its head, brewing up a super modern, DDH West Coast IPA that we’ve called Optimism Forever. Using a ultra pale, pilsner malt base, this beer features lashings of Strata, Idaho 7 and Nelson Sauvin hops, delivering precise flavours of peach, passionfruit, gooseberry and white grape. This will be pouring at the Track Taproom all day long following a special tapping at 2pm!

Together We Will Devour the Very Gods, West Coast Double Red IPA with Cloudwater and Elusive

For this birthday beer we asked a very simple question: what would it taste like if we combined Cloudwater’s Crystallography DIPA with Elusive’s Double Sunset Oregon Trail? The answer is a monstrous red double IPA built to devour the very gods! Expect mountains of Simcoe, C-hops and Ahtanum delivering a massive citrus hit, carefully balanced with oodles of lovely malt. This is a beer for the purists, for those who remember the good old days. Join us, as family!

In addition to this, Balance will have bottle pours of Wiper and True’s Orchard Ale available, and you can read all about this magnificent beer here.

FOOD (Including THE PELLICLE PIZZA PALACE)

We’ve worked with our friends at Slice Culture to come up with a very special, one off pizza menu for our birthday Block Party. These are all exclusive to the day (for now, at least) and will be available until they sell out. (Please, please, please come early if you want a pizza, as we expect these to be popular!) Here’s what we’ll be baking on the day:

The Pellicle — Inspired by the Sicilian family recipe pizzas from Matt’s former neighbourhood pizzeria, this pie combines Sicilian fennel sausage with peppers, red onion and fresh basil on a classic cheese and tomato base. A riot of colour inspired by our logo, it is literally deliciousness personified.

The Optimist — A pizza designed to invoke nostalgia, this features a barbeque sauce base, chicken, and red onion. It’s an indulgent, flavour sensation. Like dipping a nug into the pot of barbeque sauce in maccas for the first time. Yum yum.

Artichokes Forever — Artichoke is a dream ingredient for pizza, and for this pie Mike the Slice has made it 2x as dreamy by turning the artichokes into a cream, and then combining it with black olives. Rumour has it (ooh) that this may, one day, become a permanent Slice Culture menu item!

The Butter Pie — White pizza, potato, onion, white sauce. Basically a Lancashire butter pie on a pizza. Designed based on the concept that potatoes belong on pizza. Do try this, it’s to die for.

MUSIC AND OTHER FOOD OPTIONS

Don’t worry if you find yourself peckish and at a distance from the Pellicle Pizza Palace, we've got you covered. There will be food at each and every venue, plus accompanying music to keep the party atmosphere rolling. Here’s what’s happening at each taproom:

Cloudwater: Food from Osaka Local (incredible Okonomiyaki, seriously) and music from Cloudsounds DJ.

Track: Pizza from Slice Culture (The Pellicle Pizza Palace) and music from The Devil's Jukebox and Andy Shake 'N' Fingerpop.

Sureshot: Food from Marley's Tacos and music from Lil' Minx DJ.

Balance: Food from Nina’s Taco Truck (vegan options galore here) and music from the Stretford Social Club Vinyl Selectors.

TIMINGS

All taprooms open at 12pm and close at 10pm, with the exception of Sureshot which will remain open until 11pm. Last orders will be called 30 minutes before the bar closes.

That’s all, we’ll see you there! And if you’re a Patreon subscriber we’ll give you some extra details plus if you’re an £8+ subscriber your discount code will work on all ticket transactions. OPTIMISM FOREVER! (Ps, thank you to Dionne Kitching for the amazing poster design. Keep your eyes peeled for a special edition Pellicle 5th anniversary t-shirt dropping very soon.)