If Manchester is a beer-positive city, then the area around Piccadilly Station heading due south has become the epicentre of craft activities. So much so people are now taking walking tours of the various microbreweries that have sprung up in the area, and Sureshot Taproom is certainly punching up with the best. An intimate taproom bar behind a bright red door in a railway arch, think homegrown setup wearing the city’s attitude proudly on its sleeve, world class pints, cans and bottles all bearing the kind of eye-catching design touches you expect from this town. And a business that clearly understands the power of good branding.
In total, there are 10 taps served by 10 different tank beers at the blue tile-backed bar, in addition to a host of draft cocktails, mead, spirits and wines. Every Wednesday, the choice changes up, with a focus on regular guest and collaborative brews to keep things fresh. Popular varieties are all amazingly named, emphasising the down to earth and wry-witted nature of the business. For example, Let’s Go Somewhere There’s Cheese, Let Me Tell You About My Mother, and Small Man’s Wetsuit. The list could go on, with pale ale, IPA, DDH and West Coast pales the areas of specialism here.
To accompany all those drinks check the board for prices of locally sourced snacks, which switch regularly, alongside the rotating pop up food vendors, making this the kind of archway beneath a railway line you really can spend all day in. Or under. Especially given the packed events diary, with evenings dedicated to block parties, movie nights, subject-specific workshops, and the usual quizzes. Adding to all that, each Wednesday to Friday it’s Sure Pours, which Sureshot Taproom attests to being “Manchester’s best beery happy hour”. Customers can “fill up on pitcher-worthy pours of favourites” through to 6PM. Oh, and bookings are not necessary.