The Molly House in the Gay Village has been named Manchester CAMRA’s Pub of the Year. It was awarded the accolade in a prize-giving ceremony this week.
Owner Henry Kennedy-Skipton accepted the framed certificate from the city’s branch of the Campaign For Real Ale from the branch chair Cath Potter hosting the small ceremony at the Richmond Street boozer, tucked away behind Canal Street.
The pub posted some snaps from the presentation on Twitter, saying: “Thrilled to be awarded Central Manchester CAMRA Pub of the Year 2023.”
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The pub, a former tailors shop which opened as a bar in 2010, has a superb range of craft beers, ales and IPAs, and supports a host of award-winning local breweries from the world-renowned Cloudwater in Piccadilly to Congleton's Beartown and Macclesfield's Red Willow. Mr Kennedy-Skipton took over the ownership in 2019, with the pub also serving an all-day tapas menu and boasting a hidden outdoor terrace on the first floor.
He said at the time: “This is an iconic venue in a vibrant part of the city. The previous owner did a great job; now the opportunity exists to improve the venue even further, something which excites me greatly. This will benefit our customers and the Village as a whole.”
The pub, part of the fabric of the village, is so named after the slang term for coffee houses, taverns and pubs which would act as meeting houses and welcome gay men in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Molly House joins other pubs in the city being recognised by the Manchester branch of CAMRA this year. The Fierce Bar on Thomas Street is to be named Cider Pub of the Year, and will be presented with the award on May 11.
After setting down some roots with bars in their hometown of Aberdeen in 2018 and then Edinburgh in 2019, The owners of The Fierce Bar felt it was time to move south of the border and open up a third venture in Manchester. Situated over two floors, the bar offers a huge range of its own core and small batch beers across 15 taps.
Meanwhile, city centre favourite the City Arms, on Kennedy Street off St Peter's Square, was given a special award too this year, for ‘consistently good beer choice and quality’. The pub is often described as one of Manchester's "proper pubs" and is a regular on beer guides due to its wide range of rotating cask and keg beers, as well as its vast selection of gins - 150 and counting.
It follows last year's winner of Manchester CAMRA's best pub, Swan Street's Smithfield Market Tavern, the taproom for the celebrated local brewery Blackjack. The pub on the edge of the Ancoats and the Northern Quarter has a wild range of craft ales, from IPAs to keg numbers from the likes of Red Willow.
Manchester pubs are receiving a host of accolades at the moment. Ancoats favourite the Crown & Kettle was recently named among the County Winners at the prestigious National Pub and Bar Awards, scooping the title for the North West. Last year, both The Church Inn in Mobberley and city centre darts bar Flight Club were named top in the North West region.
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