There are plenty of ways to do St Patrick’s Day in Manchester, but very few involve a meet-and-greet with the internet’s favourite pint reviewer alongside a room full of Guinness devotees, a special edition t-shirt and live music.
That changes on Tuesday 17 March, when Manchester’s Finest presents An Afternoon of Creamers with Prime Mutton at The Bay Horse Tavern – a St Patrick’s Day gathering dedicated to Guinness, good company and one of the most joyfully unlikely cult heroes to emerge from Manchester in recent years.
Running from 3pm until 6pm, the event is essentially a full-blown Muttonista Meetup, with people expected to descend on the city centre pub for an afternoon in the company of Prime Mutton, the moustachioed Manchester beer reviewer whose “absolute creamer” verdict has become gospel among his followers.
If you’ve somehow missed him, Prime Mutton – real name Jason Hackett – is the pub-reviewing phenomenon who has built a huge following through the simple act of standing in bars and telling people whether the pint in front of him is worth their time. No studio lighting, no over-produced edits, no forced influencer chat. Just a man, a pub and a pint, usually drained in four or five committed gulps before a verdict is delivered.
And somehow, that has turned him into something close to folk hero status.
His followers – known, naturally, as Muttonistas – have been turning up in pubs across the UK and beyond to watch him do his thing in person. The Guardian followed him to New York, where crowds packed into bars just to hear whether their Guinness would be declared an “absolute creamer”, and even Golden Globe and Emmy-winning, Oscar-and Bafta-nominated actor Paul Giamatti, turned up in a Muttonista shirt asking for a photo.
There’s something about Hackett that cuts through. Maybe it’s because he feels gloriously untouched by the usual machinery of internet fame. Maybe it’s the fact that in a sea of polished nonsense, he remains a middle-aged bloke in a pork pie hat who just really loves a pint. Or maybe people simply like the fact he seems, by all accounts, like a very decent man having a very nice time in pubs.
Either way, St Patrick’s Day feels like the right occasion to bring the Muttonistas together properly.
And The Bay Horse Tavern is the right venue for it. One of the city centre’s most enduring pub addresses, its roots stretch back to 1812, long before the Northern Quarter became the Northern Quarter. It still has that old-school Victorian boozer look about it too, the sort of place that feels like it’s seen a lot and plans on seeing plenty more.
Tickets are £10, and that gets you a pint of Guinness on arrival plus a special edition Prime Mutton t-shirt, designed by The Bay Horse Tavern and Manchester’s Finest for the occasion. In the spirit of pubs, pints and gentle disorder, t-shirts will be available first come, first served when it comes to sizing. We’ll have a mix from Medium to XL, so arriving early might be wise if you have a preference.
After that first pint, Guinness will continue to be poured at The Bay Horse’s usual happy hour price of £4.50 throughout the event, and in fact happy hour will be running until 8pm, so there’s every chance this “afternoon” ends up stretching its legs a bit.
There’ll be a meet-and-greet with Prime Mutton, plus the all-important chance for a selfie with the man himself, which for committed followers will likely feel somewhere between meeting a pub saint and bumping into a very friendly celebrity.
Soundtracking it all is live music from Dee Dee Murden, performing through the day while the pints go down and the room gradually fills with people hoping their St Patrick’s Day includes at least one properly judged Guinness.
And really, that’s the appeal of the whole thing. This isn’t some overworked branded experience trying to manufacture craic in a room that doesn’t want it. It’s a Manchester pub, on St Patrick’s Day, serving Guinness at happy hour prices, with live music and one of the city’s most oddly beloved modern characters holding court among his people.
Which sounds, to be fair, like an absolute creamer.
……….
An Afternoon of Creamers with Prime Mutton on St Patrick’s Day
– Pint of Guinness or Guinness 0.0%
– Special edition Prime Mutton x Bay Horse x Manchester’s Finest T-shirt
– Prime Mutton Pint Review
– Meet & Greet / photo opportunities with Prime Mutton
– £4.50 happy hour prices on Guinness throughout the event
When: Tuesday 17 March, 3pm – 6pm
Where: The Bay Horse Tavern, 35-37 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA
Cost: £10
