It’s little Aazlad’s Christening in a few weeks and I’m hoping to buy a keg of decent ale for the after show party. My local brewery sells 72 pint kegs for £85 but the beer can be hit and miss. Few breweries advertise this on their website. Any recommendations in the northwest? Cheers.

Pretty sure my mate got a black sheep keg for his 18th. He’s from Lancaster so I’m assuming he got it local. Might be worth a shot?

not strictly in the north west but Saltaire Brewery in Shipley (near Bratfud) does kegs in various sizes

http://saltairebrewery.co.uk/saltaire/

“Cask ales in 5 litre mini-kegs can be filled while you wait, but 20 litre containers must be pre-ordered at least 24 hours before collection. 5 litre mini-kegs can also be pre-ordered to save you time.”

Bank top brewery in Bolton. Always a good pint. Flat cap is their signature ale.

I’d highly recommend it. We did recently for our housewarming party and it went down a storm,. Our local Brewery is Greenfield Brewery in Saddleworth, we had their ‘Thirst Born’ ale pale gold in colour and great as a session ale website definately best to ring up and pre order, their website is only one page.

Dunham Massey brewery do some cracking beers and do kegs too. Based just south of Altrincham

Thanks guys.

Greenfield is also my local brewery. I do like the Thirst Born and the Dobcross. The Silver Owl is also very good but may be a bit hoppy for the masses.

moorehouses, Bank top both fine.

try http://www.blackedgebrewery.co.uk however very nice pint!

Bradfield do kegs. Best to ask for it ‘bright’ if they can do it. No need to let it settle then just crack on!

What?!! Silver Owl is brilliant.

I had a great time at Two Towers brewery in Birmingham & they also sell polypins etc

Ask at your local independent off licence – years ago I was suprised to find mine could source various beers in ‘bright’ condition (ie ready to drink without needing to settle) in polypin quantities.

Pretty much any brewery will if you can go direct as well

Speak to your local pub that sells a beer you like. They should be able to help.

We had a ferkin (80ish pints) of Black Cat and another of Blonde Witch from Moorhouse’s in Burnley for our wedding reception four years ago. They were quite happy to deal with the general public and just took a cheque as payment. Also provided taps and plugs.

Make sure you know what you’re doing re: letting it settle and tapping or it can end in tears…

very true about Silver Owl Aazlad. as nice as it is. They did do a summer season ale called Summer Ice which is designed to be very easy drinking, for people who don’t drink ale, but it may be a bit boring for your taste. whether they have some left or not i don’t know. Have you had some of the Millstone Brewery Ales? i really wish they sold to the public.

Flat cap, from bank top brewery is beautiful beer
The champagne of the North !

http://www.banktopbrewery.com/delivery.html

Had a pint of the Bank Top Mild last week, lovely. Perhaps not the beer to buy in quantity for a “do” though but I can vouch for the brewery quality.

We had a keg of Hen Harrier for our weddin from Bowland Brewery. Bloody lovely!

We did this some years back for our wedding and like ekul had Black Sheep. Brewery were very helpful but are about 90 miles north of you and that may be too far.

You need the kit to tap the barrel and someone who knows how to do it. Luckily the bride had the necessary skill set.

Local independent pub should be able to help but may charge markup. If you pick a beer, brewery should be able to tell you nearest one to you.

Not sure about getting kegs but you can get 36 pint polypins from Hopback.
Multi-award winning beers 8)

Gents. Real ale comes in casks, fizzy lager comes in a keg. /pedant

Any small brewery will help you out. Polypins are good for 40 pints bright, ready to drink. Casks come in all sorts of sizes these days, gone are the traditional 9, 18, etc gallons only. If you ask a brewery nicely they will do you one bright rather than green, which will allow you to drink straight away, rather than letting it settle clear.

If you ask a brewery nicely they will do you one bright rather than green

Ask them for it ‘racked bright’, as opposed to ‘unracked’. Racking being the process of transferring to a container (cask/keg etc) for a customer. Oh and ‘green’ beer has no condition i.e. it’s not ready yet, irrelevant to whether it’s settled or not. /pendant 🙂