Best real ale & cask pubs in Manchester

Manchester is one of the best real ale cities in the country, and it has been since long before craft beer turned up. The North West has more independent regional brewers than anywhere else in England - Holt's, Hydes, Robinsons, Lees and Marble all brew within the M60 - and they all own pubs. That means cask ale here is both cheaper and more varied than almost anywhere else in the UK.

Tied houses are the great undiscovered bargain of the city. A Joseph Holt pub will pour Holt's Bitter at around £3.50 a pint, often in a Grade-II-listed Victorian interior, and the regulars will look at you like you're mad if you order anything else. Hydes pubs do the same with their Original. Robinsons tied houses tend to be slightly more upmarket but still cheap by city standards. None of them are trying to be craft destinations - they're community boozers that happen to brew their own beer.

The free-house side of the scene is where you'll find rotating guest ales, dark beers, milds and the occasional collaboration brew. The Marble Arch Inn, Port Street Beer House and The Smithfield Market Tavern are the city-centre benchmarks; further out, places like the Magnet in Stockport and the Crown in Heaton Lane are CAMRA regulars for good reason.

If you're new to cask, start with a session bitter from a tied house - Holt's Bitter or Hydes Original are the textbook introductions. Once you've got the hang of the temperature and condition, work your way up to milds, porters and stouts. Manchester's water is famously well-suited to brewing pale and bitter ales, which is why so many of them are good.