The Font, Manchester

Back open for business, but no cask ale available when I bobbed in yesterday.

Lurking down a back street next to Oxford Road station it’s a student oriented place, unsurprisingly given its proximity to Manchester Metropolitan University and not much further from the real one, no I don’t mean UMIST, although that’s quite close too. Roughly on three floor levels the counter with its four pulls is on the higher level at the back, not a big place so it’s easily found. Just the one cask on, a nice Mallinsons, a touch cold but in very good nick. The keg choice is best described as mainstream craft, eg Beavertown, Camden plus a couple of popular Europeans, Flensburg and Erdinger. Bit of an old mix with furnishings as you’d expect but, apart from the wooden benches, comfortable. Probably packed at night in term time.

Visited on Saturday evening, as a last port of call before getting the train back from Oxford Road. We had been doing a few places as part of Manchester Beer Week and The Font had a White Hag tap takeover advertised as part of Beer Week, so seemed worth a try, despite having not being that taken by The Font when last visiting five years ago. Anyway at the bar, indeed either most or all of the keg lines had been taken over by White Hag (a brewery I have not tried before) but what caught our eye initially was the selection of Pomona Island beers on cask. This was a nice little bonus find as I've never had anything by them either, and Pomona Island had a stall at another event as part of beer week but had fully sold out by the time we got there. There were at least three hand pulls for cask at the bar, possibly more, and a load more on keg. There was a chalk menu board at the end of the bar. No issue at all with the beers, great to see such a decent selection from a place where I wouldn't really have expected it. However it was really busy, and as a result service was pretty slow with a bit of a scrum at the bar, with that feeling of desperation wondering if you will ever get served. It's very studenty, confirmed by the fact that they brought over the card machine by default when I had just bought two drinks. Overall not really my kind of place, but may be better in quieter periods. Don't worry about a dress code by the way; there was a chap in there in flip flops on Saturday night. The beer selection was definitely The Font's redeeming factor and although I often judge a venue on its beer I'm struggling to go higher than a 6 on the rating because it's just not my kind of place.

Large student bar on split levels next to railway viaduct. Trendy night time place with sounds pumping out even at quiet periods. Real ales available, quality is ok

Trendy modern bar with a split-level arrangement as you enter, supplemented by an additional basement seating area. Mix of furniture and relatively plain decor. The emphasis seems to be on cocktails, but there are also four handpumps offering a decent selection of real ales: Vocation 'Pride & Joy', two from Brewsmith - APA (Australian Pale Ale) and Oatmeal Stout (£4.20) - and Marble 'A Carefully Planned Pale'. Although being a good 20+ years older than anybody else when I visited late one evening, I could see the appeal and found it one of the best places for a pint in the immediate area - a very pleasant surprise.

CAMRA WhatPub - whatpub.com

CAMRA WhatPub - whatpub.com

Hidden down a side street next to the viaduct that brings the trains to and from Oxford Rd Station this is a fairly decent enough place which, I assume, is popular with students of an evening. The pub is on a variety of levels with a basement bit which wasn't open on this midweek afternoon visit. 4 handpumps on the bar with a very good selection of ales available.