Last weekend during a trip to Manchester my friend and I discovered Albert's Schloss. Located under the famous Albert Hall on Peter Street, the bar-restaurant has been designed as a Bavarian palace, Bavaria being a region of Southern Germany where the locals consume the most beer on the planet. The average annual consumption in the area is 170 litres per person!
Albert's Schloss is so dedicated to sourcing the best beer that they make weekly beer runs to the Pilsner factory in the Czech Republic to fill the bars 4 x 900 pint copper tanks.
The beer sourced must be drunk within seven days and a board on the barrels counts down the days remaining. This commitment to fresh beer, alongside a unique Alpine cocktail menu, mean Albert's Schloss has become one of the city’s most exciting venues.
The interior is part chateau part Alpine retreat, only with a gigantic bar taking centre stage. Copper piping and wood features heavily with most of the materials being reclaimed, including doors from the former BBC studios on Oxford Road. There are roaring fires, a gentleman’s snug and cozy booths to squish into with your friends.
My favourite feature had to be a button which you can press to have a bottle of Prosecco delivered straight to your table. I’m thinking of installing one of those at home!
We visited on Saturday evening and immediately made full use of the drinks on offer. My memory is a little hazy but I can recall drinking some of the bar’s own range of schnapps, which comes in flavours including chocolate, salted caramel, mint, and orange. In between drinks we danced the night away in front of the band. Live music plays on Friday and Saturday nights, featuring saxophonists and performers who dance on the tables in amongst the crowd.
The bar has an incredible atmosphere. Downstairs there is a free photo booth for visitors to get snap some obligatory selfies.
The following morning we awoke with seriously sore heads and in much need of a hangover cure before catching our trains home. We managed to drag ourselves back to Albert’s having spied the brunch menu the night before.
A lot of the brunch menu comes from Schloss’s own in-house bakery which creates pretzels, doughnuts and sourdough loaves. Over 200 items are baked fresh everyday and it has become one of Manchester’s finest artisan bakeries.
We both ordered a steaming pot of tea to revive us while we drooled over the menu. I chose poached eggs on a potato rösti with hollandaise and a side of buttery sourdough.
My friend had smashed avocado, feta and poached eggs on rye with a side of bacon.
It was the perfect hangover cure, comfort food sat by a fire while drinking copious amounts of tea. The waiter who served us was excellent. We didn’t catch his name but he was so helpful making sure we had everything we needed and explained that we could help ourselves to some freshly made fruit juice. We’ll definitely return next time we’re in Manchester!
Thank you Albert's Schloss, you might have ruined us with drunken debauchery on Saturday night but you thoroughly made up for it with your delicious Sunday brunch.
27 Peter Street, Manchester, M2 5QR
0161 833 4040