Elite Event: Hoppy Christmas 2 @ Brewdog

A terrific way to celebrate what’s certainly been an ‘event-​ful’ 2014… sorry not sorry.
It was great to be back in BrewDog again at Christmas time, with a similar format to last year (mini beer school, hot buffet and head-​scratchingly difficult quiz from Jonny).
We quite possibly had the highest concentration of Christmas jumpers in the city centre that night — and I must say I was initially pleased to think I’d gotten away with ‘recycling’ my festve knitwear from last year, until a few Elites (who-​shall-​not-​be-​named-​and-​shamed) pointed out that they’d seen it before ;)
Thanks again to BrewDog’s own Becky for most likely making herself hoarse from talking over the reams of drinkers and giving us all some background to the beers we got to try. The Brixton Porter was a personal fave — I may have done some minesweeping of untouched beers on the adjacent table later that night…
Ravenous after lining our stomachs with liquid goodness, we set about enjoying the food that was laid out for us. In hindsight, I think the BBQ-​inspired food was much better last year, as their recent change of menu has raised some eyebrows around town becuase if it wasn’t broken, why fix it? Anyway, the mini burgers were indeed tasty and disappeared before you could say «gastric bypass needed.»
Had lots of fun with my awesome team (‘Merry Quizmas’) for the subsequent quiz — our wide-​ranging areas of expertise obviously proving too much for the others ;). We did share our winnings though — note to Emily B: that chocolate reindeer you found when you awoke the next day was one of our prizes — I ate the other one before I left BD! :)
Judging by how delicate I felt the next day and how sedate I was at my office Christmas do, it was obviously a very good night indeed!
Lovely to chat to Unilocalers old and new; here’s to a ‘cracker’ of a New Year and 2015!

Well, what can I say that hasn’t already been said before.
Unilocalmas 1, was one of my first Unilocal events, and here we are back at Brewdogmass.
A celebration of all that is Unilocal,combined with the hoppy delights of Brewdog and some tasty miniburgers. Mmm NOM. A true delight to be invited to enjoy the company of some fellow Unilocalers, some of whom had pretty damn impressive xmas outfits. Well done you guys!
I joined in a little late as was a Hunger Games, but it was really nice that people had saved me a couple of the tasters. Sadly I couldn’t hear the details of the description of the last beer, but I am sure it was very knowledgeable, as we’ve found many a time in Brewdog.
Our team managed to avoid the booby prize due the efforts of my valiant team mates, before joining in with a pretty loud rendition of the famous song ‘Jonny Jonny Jonny’ — quite a quirky number!
A few more beers rounded off a pretty great start to the season of jollyness. How will xmas day compete? :O
Enjoy xmas everyone. Stay hoppy!

I had been really looking forward to my first Unilocal Christmas party and Jonny did not disappoint with this fabulous fun filled bash at Brew Dog.
A welcome drink was offered and I went for the Punk IPA which set the tone perfectly for the evening. The whole mezzanine level had been decorated with Unilocal branded table covers and stickers as well as chocolate and crackers.
Beer School was very interesting. I like beer, but I tend to stick to what I know that I like. We tried three very different beers. Becky from Brew Dog told us about each one, the different flavours to look out for and where their name originated from.
Hot food was provided, different mini burgers or ‘sliders’ with fries and wings. It did appear that there might not be quite enough food to go around but I think everyone got something. I was quite hungry but also wanted to be fair to those at the back of the queue so didn’t take too much but went back for another slider after everyone had got something.
We split into teams for a quiz. Not to be taken desperately seriously but our little team of 4 people came second without any use of the internet so the moral victory was ours!
A great Christmas party mingling with fellow Unilocalers, meeting new people, getting to know others better. Really looking forward to more amazing Unilocal events in 2015. Three cheers for JQ!!!

What a fantastic event! I’ll go through each element:
The venue
I have been to Brewdog a handful of times already and I like it there, despite the steep prices. It’s a nice looking place and the staff are always helpful and friendly. Not relevant to this event but its location makes it a perfect bar for a) drinks before you go to a gig at Albert Hall or b) drinks while you wait for a table at Almost Famous.
The beer
Well as some of you know I freaking love beer. So a ‘beer school’ was a super exciting prospect for me, although I heard other Unilocalers sounding quite apprehensive about it. Becky was a friendly and informative host — I stand by my opinion that Brewdog seems oddly like a cult and so I take everything their staff say with a pinch of salt, but she was very engaging. My favourite of the beers was the porter — the flavours I picked up were coffee (of course), tobacco, and oddly a savoury flavour not unlike miso soup. I love dark, heavy, complex beers so it was right up my street. 5am Red Ale was far too drinkable, I can see myself sinking far too many of them in one sitting. The Hoppy Christmas was also lovely, perhaps not one I’d choose again but if it was in a flight I’d be very pleased. After the school had finished I treated myself to a pint of This Is Lager, which I just love!
The food
And lo, a buffet appeared to feed the increasingly tipsy Unilocalers. Sliders, fries, and chicken wings. Excellent. Just the kind of food I want with beer. The sliders were incredibly good — the meat was juicy and flavoursome and the toppings delicious. I also had one which had kale/​seaweed/​something green and leafy in it which was incredible, and I actually think that may have been the veggie/​vegan option? Whatever it was, I would happily order it. Yum. Fries were crisp and salty, which is honestly all I really want from fries, and chicken wings were delicious but pretty damn spicy.
The quiz
I love Unilocal quizzes! More Unilocal quiz time, please. Maybe I should start a regular Unilocal pub quiz event? This one had festive questions interspersed with Manchester food and drink questions. Strict teams of five didn’t work particularly well when we were all sat together, but never mind. My team came third (which I was very happy with) but oddly I have one of the chocolate reindeers given out to the winners on my bedside table. Does anyone want to claim it?!
The outfits
A Virgin Mary, a few sexy Mrs Claus’s, and a lot of Xmas jumpers. Party hats out of the crackers that were on the table as we arrived. Tinsel and stickers all over your jumper by the end of the night (cheers, Rana M!). I do love a good Xmas jumper and so I was very pleased to see so many.
The company
As always, astounding. It was lovely to have a festive get together with so many lovely people. It’s been amazing getting to know you all throughout 2014!
Overall
I had an ace time, ate delicious food, drank a lot of beer (and got a little tipsy), and hung out with a load of cool people. Looking forward to more exciting events next year — merry Christmas everyone!

What a year it’s been. A brilliant Unilocal community taking shape. A shape, Hopefully will continue to evolve into the best foodie hub in the UK next year. If JQ continues in the same rich vein of form as this year, this is a dead cert. The community has grown massively and as he pointed out at Albert’s chop house event, is now second only to London. He therefore deservedly got a standing ovation at this event! Well done mate!
Much like last year I felt the Unilocal Christmas party’s memo was very simple. Revel in the Unilocalness. A perfect opportunity to share stories all things Manchester and Unilocal related from this year. And jee whiz Batman plenty there were. The atmosphere was very jolly and I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by Unilocalers who’ve championed the Unilocal revolution throughout the year. It was a pleasure seeing my circle of Unilocal friends grow more in a year than in the last 3. Brew dog were exceptional hosts much like last year with their F&B offering, though Natalie M’s buffet nightmare returned to haunt her this year like an Xmas ghost (which I personally found hilarious-​she didn’t, initially)
We scrapped the best dressed award this year, just as well as my fancy dress attire was non existent. It was great to see a few people make the effort. The fact it was only a few did however make me feel a bit better. Nothing worse than turning up to a party all kitted out when everyone else is in casual wear.
Then came the master stroke. Something that no one had anticipated. There were Daim bars at our table. Hallelujah praise the Lord I rejoiced, followed by Craig David can I get a reeeeeeeewind. Which I did thanks to Andrew Y’s generosity! The party was already the best ever! (ok, that’s an exaggeration. My obsession with all things Daim isn’t) Post Daim bars, the party was a fun filled amazing conversation blur. We were off on one. From Amir’s beard stories, to return of Mike B’s jumper, to Hannah R’s usual sharp dry wit, it was a laughter filled roller coaster of stories Unilocal related or otherwise. Beer masterclass, drinks, quiz, food (or there lack of) all passed me by, all foggy (the good kind, not the horror movie kind)
A special shout out to Jess D who’ll be leaving us for Oz in Jan. There was a tinge of sadness amidst all the Christmas cheer as a result. But nothing some tasty beer, food and my dreadful banter couldn’t remedy.
Which brings me nicely onto the obligatory conclusive JQ appraisal. A true testament to his creation of a community feel is when someone from sunny Perth Australia comes to wet and miserable Manchester and feels at home. (Let’s just give Unilocal ALL the credit shall we Jess for the purpose of this story ;-p)
As for me, being a writer (self proclaimed obviously) naturally means That as a self loathing narcissist and an eternally lucidly confused perfectionist, I always think things can be better. So here’s to a new year of even better Unilocaling fun! May the force (of the wave) be with you Jonny Q, and to the rest: Merry Xmas Ya filthy Unilocalin animals and a happy new year! (That’s a Home Alone reference… Just in case one of you has sh*t taste in Xmas films ;-p I joke. I still love you!)

A great Unilocal Christmas party and my first one hosted by the one and only Jonny Q. We were situated upstairs in Brewdog in as I got upstairs, I was greeted by the sight of lots of Christmas jumpers — and other various Christmas related outfits.
After the usual warm welcome from Jonny, I went to the bar to get my welcome drink. Unfortunately, since I was driving I was on the soft drinks for the night. Not ideal at a Christmas party in a Brewdog but oh well.
Becky from Brewdog was our host for the Beer tasting school. Everyone got to sample 3 different types. Since I was driving, I just had a sip of each so I could comment on the taste of each. The different beers were 5am Saint, Brixton Porter and the Christmasy Hoppy Christmas.
Ale/​craft beers can be a bit hit or miss for me. I think its the «hoppy-​ness» I am not keen on. However, I did like the 5am Saint. Not as keen on the Brixton Porter (tasted a bit like coffee to me? Although thats not as odd as Hannah R who thought it tasted a bit of pepperoni!) and the Hoppy Christmas was OK.
For food, Brewdog had laid out a nice selection of burgers (I think you’d call them sliders), chicken wings and fries. There were about 4 types of burgers and 3 wings — one of them with a nice spicy-​ness to it. Not too sure of the different types of burgers. There was a veggie one, one which was just a standard one with cheese I think and there was one which kind of tasted like it had chorizo in it?
To finish off the evening, it was the Christmas quiz. Full of general knowledge and Unilocal related questions. I didn’t help much apart from confirming 1 or 2 questions! Thankfully my fellow teammates were very knowledgable and we won.
Thanks to Jonny, Becky and everyone at Brewdog.

This was my first ever Unilocal social and I went in looking forward to meeting fellow Unilocalers, having a few drinks and then heading back home. However I walked out completely bowled over by the Manchester elite Unilocaling community and the lovely beers and people of Brewdog.
We were given the entire mezzanine floor to ourselves and Jonny and the organising committee had done an excellent job of setting the place up with name tags, chocolates and Unilocal goodies.
Brewdog did a beer tasting and knowledge session called beer school and gave us three very different beers each with it’s own distinctive taste and character. The 5 AM saint, brixton porter and hoppy christmas were the beers we were treated to. My favourite was the porter. Our hostess of the evening was quite friendly and appeared quite knowledgeable.
The food was fantastic and we felt that a lot of thought had gone into preparing and presenting the spread, which comprised of crispy, crunchy and well seasoned chips, mini burgers with meat and veg options, mini hash brown things and chicken wings, all of which were very appealing to the palate.
To sum it all up, we had good food, good beer and fantastic people at a brilliant venue driven by very committed and friendly people. Kudos to Jonny and the organising committee and a big thank you to Brewdog for their part in the festivities!

This was my first ever Unilocal Christmas party and i hope to be at many others and i was lucky enough to attend Hoppy Christmas 2 at Brewdog which was a fun Christmas party for us Unilocal elites and we all had a super fun Christmas time!!!
I arrived around 6:15pm and the whole place was buzzing, the Unilocal party was upstairs on the mezzanine level where all the tables was set out with loads of chocolates, crackers and many other fun things, the only way for this fun Unilocal Christmas party!
I had never been to Brewdog in Manchester before and I’m not sure why i haven’t but its a fun place and wouldn’t look out of the place in the Northern Quarter with its cool lighting and cool trend to the place! All the staff seem to have great passion for their job and they are all really friendly including Becky who was our host for the night who did a superb job in telling us which beers we would be drinking for the evening, there were 3 different IPAS altogether i especially loved the Hoppy Christmas one! So ill be coming back to Brewdog for a pint of this sometime.
The awesome food was served by Brewdog with really tasty french fries, yummy sliders, Chicken wings and potato pops, all very tasty! So ill have to come back and check out their menu sometime!
Then it was time for the quiz unfortunately us Christmas Tigers didn’t do that well, but it was fun doing the quiz!
I loved Brewdog and the passion of the staff and the cool trend to the place which will have me back anytime!
It was a pure epic Christmas party all done in epic Unilocal style by the amazing Jonny Q! Merry Christmas to all my fellow Unilocalers!

Once again I arrived flustered after pegging it from work… also I felt sheepish for wearing such an outfit. haha I had not worn something THAT short for awhile…
Anyway it was nice to discover upstairs full of chrimassy clad people… hi five to Johnny for the awesome jumper. I’m surprised there was no Unilocal ones though: p
I loved the cracker laden tables with choccies! Which I gratefully munched while sipping some very tasty craft beer. the dear lady who composed a enthusiastic presentation about every one of the three beers was fantastic, I just felt guilty that I could not hear anything that she said.
The burgers were a nice touch especially with kale.(although some ration officer might be needed next time) when a veggie burger was kindly donated to me I was well chuffed !
I really enjoyed the Xmas quiz .even if we didn’t get the highest score… a right shame Jonny didn’t leave the answers on :(
Overall this was an awesome event, as always i wanted to chat with everyone. but this community is sure growing!