The Manchester beer festival feels a bit like Christmas to me – I spend a long time looking forward to it, I have a great time on the day, but before I know it it’s all over until next year.

Unusually for me, I didn’t get a program this year.  I simply gathered my glass and let fate guide my footsteps. I soon found myself at the Irish bar, a nice new development. Being a regular visitor to Ireland I knew there would be plenty of beers that weren’t Guinness. I started off with O’Hara’s Irish Red, which I felt would be a safe bet to begin with. It was a nice red ale that wen’t down smoothly with me, but then I felt like having something a bit more, shall we say, outlandish…

Wizard King was calling me – a 12% abv Imperial Stout that was brewed in collaboration…