The Marble Brewery is a small brewery

Microbrewery

A microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....

 in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 which makes cask ale

Cask ale

Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...

 from only organic

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 and vegetarian ingredients.

The brewery consists of a five barrel plant, designed and installed by Brendan Dobbin, former proprietor of the West Coast Brewing Company, Manchester. The copper and hot liquor tank are situated in the back of the Marble Arch pub behind glass observation windows. The fermenters and conditioning tanks are in the cellars. There are four fermenters with space for seven. The plant took two weeks to install and about a month for the building work to be completed.

The chief brewer (as of 2000) is James Campbell assisted by Colin Stronge and Dominic Driscoll. The previous brewer was Mark Dade. Former assistant brewer Warren McCoubrey now runs the Continental pub in Preston.

Beers

In 2000 the beers became strictly organic and later the same year they became strictly vegan. Marble's ingredients are sourced from non-intensive agriculture and they do not use isinglass finings

Finings

FiningsThe term is a mass noun rather than a plural. are substances that are usually added at or near the completion of the processing of brewing wine, beer and various nonalcoholic juice beverages. Their purpose is for removal of organic compounds; to either improve clarity or adjust flavor/aroma...

, usually made from the swim bladder of the sturgeon, to clear the beer. Despite this the beer is seldom cloudy. Marble's head brewer, James Campbell, has said "We're busier than ever. The beer sells because it tastes good, but the vegetarian side is proving good for business. I've had people tell me that they hadn't been able to drink a pint of beer since they became vegetarians 10 years before. Then they found us."

The original intention was not to brew anything at less than 4% abv

Alcohol by volume

Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....

, although there are now several exceptions to this, with 3.8% being the lowest strength available.

List of beers brewed

Current (2006) and previous beers include

• Uncut Amber 4.7%,
• Campbell Tawny 4.5%, (special for August 2006).
• Chocolate 5.5%, (seasonal for Winter)
• Chorlton Bitter 3.8%, discontinued.
• Chorlton Cum Hazy 3.8%, irregular.
• Cloudy Marble 4.0%, irregular.
• Dade's Bitter 3.8%, discontinued.
• Dobber Strong 6.5%, discontinued.
• Driscoll Tawny, 3.8% (special for August 2006).
• Festival, 4.4%, (Originally brewed for the Manchester Food and Drink festival 2005)
• Ginger Beer 6.0% discontinued.
• Ginger Marble 4.5%, regular - Nominated for 2006 'Best Vegetarian Pint' by The Vegetarian Society
• Gould Street Bitter*(G.S.B.) 3.8%, regular
• Lagonda IPA 5.2%, regular.
• Liberty IPA 4.6%, discontinued.
• Manchester Bitter 4.2%, regular.
• Marble Bitter 3.9%, irregular.
• Marble Chocolate Heavy 5.5%, irregular.
• McKenna's Revenge Porter 5.0% discontinued.
• McKenna's Reprise Porter 4.5% seasonal
• Northern Quarter (also known as N/4 Bitter) 3.8% discontinued.
• Old Lag 5.0% discontinued.
• Organic Festival Ale 4.0%, discontinued
• Port Stout 4.7%, Christmas Seasonal
• Road Rider 4.3%, irregular.
• Short Back & Sides* 3.8%, discontinued.
• Spooky Marble 3.8% - Brewed for Halloween
  Halloween
  Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
  
   1998, discontinued.
• Stoneham Lager 4.4%, discontinued.
• Stronge Tawny 5.7% (special for August 2006).
• Summer Marble 4.5%, seasonal.
• Totally Marbled 5.0%, discontinued.
• Uncut Amber 4.7%, irregular.
• Wee Star 9.0%, discontinued.

Marble Arch Inn, Manchester

The Marble Arch was built in 1888 in Ancoats

Ancoats

Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter and the northern part of Manchester's commercial centre....

, with a facade of polished red granite. It became a Grade II Listed Building on 20 June 1998. Inside, the pub has a high, glazed ceiling, ceramic walls and a bar that slopes down with the hill.

After years in the hands of various breweries, it was bought by a local CAMRA

Campaign for Real Ale

The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...

member in 1984 who made it freehouse. There have been subsequent changes of ownership, and structural alterations to accommodate the brewing plant.

Marble Beer House, Chorlton-cum-Hardy

While the building itself is not as noteworthy as the Marble Arch Inn, the Marble Beer House is the second main outlet for the Marble brand of beers although it also serves other brands.