Abel Heywood, Manchester

Was a GBG 2023 entry - not sure about 2024. Bit a soulless identikit, modern Hydes house, that leaves little in the memory. Central Bar with columns with shelves leading to booth seating around the windows. Hydes Lowry a rather forgettable pint but once we managed to get a booth, we had a fine time. Not sure I would go out my way again, with Manchester having so many choices for the beer tourist.

Hydes pub with a smacked-around L shaped interior and grubby-by-design baccy-stain painted walls. Some nice touches in the woodwork and tiling but ultimately it's a bit soulless sub-hipster (a 2014 opener, which explains why). Six cask with four Hydes on, my Hopster was a poor soapy brew but served very well (NBSS 3.5). GBG’23 listed – I can see why but I wouldn’t recommend it as an experience.

Corner pub, restaurant and hotel in Manchester's Northern Quarter. I was one of the first in on my Friday lunchtime visit. A few more arrived for food shortly after. You can either eat in the spacious ground floor bar or the upstairs restaurant. Six handpulls can be found above the corner of the bar, but be wary of the signs on each. Two said they were getting ready in the cellar, one said it would be on next and another was cask ale of the week. All 6 were clipped, but only 3 were actually available. They were Hyde's Original & Dark Ruby and also Lum Swopper from Hyde's offshoot brewery Ralf & Alf. The young barmaid seemed to be fairly new to the art of pouring beer, but was soon helped by another of the bar staff. I ended up with two halves, instead of the one I'd ordered and was then charged for a pint anyway, until I pointed out that the price seemed to be a bit steep by Manchester standards for a half and the error was rectified. The Abel Heywood is in the current Good Beer Guide. But there's better pubs in Manchester city centre that don't feature in the Guide.

Paid a visit yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon and it was fairly busy for the time of day, but no difficulty in getting a seat. Six hand pulls, one of which was unclipped, four were clipped but had a "coming soon" tag on them, and one was actually available - California Red from the Hydes Provenance range. This was fine and set me back £2.05 for a half. Service was friendly. As has been noted already, this is quite a smart looking pub. It is also a hotel. It's a Hydes pub so expect their ales, including their various sub-brands! Not somewhere that's likely to become a regular haunt (and indeed my last visit was back in 2017) but it's not bad.

I have little to add to the other reviews except that this is the opposite side of the coin to the Unicorn up the road. it was ticking over with a clientele of office workers and women finishing their late lunch. 5 ales on and I enjoyed Black Country’s take on a plum porter. a nice pub but i’ll always make a beeline for the Unicorn - this place is a bit hip and gastro for my taste.