Manchester, hype, hype, hype. Manchester, hype, hype, hype.

It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. The pinnacle of the current scene. Never before have such a blend of ingredients come together to create this! I’m sooo excited, everyone’s full of excitement, we’ve all been talking about this day for weeks, months, ok not quite years but it’s felt like it! Ever since the schedule was drawn up and the media made known what elements were going in the mix, there have been many many folk salivating at the prospect of what’s to come. Well it’s finally here, the big reveal, the grand launch, time for kick off!!!!

Yeah so today’s Manchester Derby is quoted as the most expensive game of football ever assembled. Sky sports have been whipping up a storm for weeks. Guardiola v Mourinho, Imbrahimavic v Guardiola, Manchester city v Manchester United, there is no game with greater sub-text and more narrative than this one. The fact that it’ll probably be a tentative cagey affair that’ll end 0-0 doesn’t matter in the build up.

That’s hype. That’s where a commercial enterprise is taking a product to the masses and building it up to be near nirvana in an effort to sell and attract customers.

In contrast, in a small corner of Manchester tucked away from it all is Cloudwater. Now I have heard a few interviews recently with Paul Jones and in each and every case he’s asked about hype. I can really sense that the term is becoming a real frustration to him.

It’s become such a dirty word in the modern beer scene. But actually, in contrast to the way others promote their products I think beer is the least hyped industry out there!

I had originally wanted to get to the crux of what constitutes hype. Which elements are perceived to be hype and which elements are perceived to be negative traits. But actually, who cares.

My wife said to me that for her where hype is a negative is when the product doesn’t live up to expectation. Oversell and under-deliver. Isn’t that the same in every walk of life. Craft beer isn’t heavily promoted by individual breweries. It’s far more organic than that. And if I’m honest as a consumer I would say Cloudwater are the least likely brewery to under-deliver.

I’m sure there are many breweries who do under-deliver but they ultimately won’t survive as commercial enterprises.

So for me, it’s hype schmype….. Don’t let that word become an albatross.