Beer News : November 2015

London is awash with beer. Not just any old beer - great beer. Call it craft beer if you like, but let's not argue about it - enjoy it. And yes, it tends to be more expensive than Stella. Shock horror.

I'm going to speedily run through a load of new places that have opened up recently, and look ahead to a couple of beery events that are coming up before Christmas.

Let's start with three big hitters - Brewdog, Camden Town Brewery and Craft Beer Co. - all of whom have opened up new boozers in November.

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Brewdog Soho - 21 Poland Street, Soho, W1F 8QG

Hot on the heels of launching DogEatDog in Angel, Brewdog have opened up a two-floor beer bar on Poland Street just seconds away from Oxford Street. Each floor has 20 taps (the same lines) full of Brewdog brews and guest beers (e.g. Mikeller, Ballast Point, Stone), and there's a full food menu on offer too.

Brewdog often design stripped back bars, but they let loose every now and then too. The Battersea Rise outpost is particularly funky, and the neon red-lights all over this 5th London site are a welcome nod to Soho. There's even a craft beer sex-line in the basement...

Five Brewdog bars not enough for you? They will soon be launching Brewdog Clerkenwell having taken over the short-lived Fourteenth Colonie restaurant and bar down the road from the Zetter Townhouse. It's due to open on December 11th.

More photos from Brewdog Soho are up on Matt The Tumblr and Facebook

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Camden's Daughter - 289-291 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2JS

Camden Town Brewery started life in the basement of The Horseshoe Pub in Hampstead (now a refurbished CTB outpost) when Jasper Cuppaige started brewing beer for fun back in 2010. He soon moved the operation into seven Victorian railway arches by Kentish Town West station, and never looked back. They are now one of the most successful breweries in London, and you'll probably have seen their beers (especially their cans) all over town.

Earlier this year, they announced that they were taking over the ever-so-slightly dodgy O'Reilly's pub on Kentish Town Road. They have finally finished the refurb and launched Camden's Daughter, a "beer and snack bar" with a focus on kebabs (including a takeaway hatch). Sounds great right? Not to E.Mono kebabs next door, an extremely popular local joint that Giles Coren famously gave 8/10 to back in 2012. All's fair in love and war I guess.

Camden's Daughter has 13 taps, mostly their own beers with a few guests (including Kernel, Burning Sky and Tiny Rebel on our visit) plus more in the fridges.

Lamb, chicken and veggie kebabs will set you back £4.50, and they are fine examples of the genre, if not mindblowing. Tempting snacks include Aubergine Dip + Flatbread and Fried Chicken + Hot Sauce, and the Chips with Lamb Gray & Cheese are hard to resist. There are also set meals (though no prices visible for those yet), kids discounts (£4 for a chicken wrap and chips), and an £8 weekend breakfast served from 11am-3pm Sat-Sun.

On that note, Camden's Daughter opens every day at 11am, serving Crosstown Doughnuts and Caravan Coffee - £4 for unlimited filter coffee and a doughnut from 11am-3pm every day. Not too shabby.

Whilst you are in Kentish Town for beer, you might want to check out Caps and Taps, and Clapton Craft - two specialist bottle and growler refill shops that coincidentally opened very near each other a couple of months ago.

More photos from Camden's Daughter are up on Matt The Tumblr

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Craft Beer Co. St Mary Axe - 29-31 Mitre Street, EC3A 5BU

Craft Beer Co. pubs come in all shapes and sizes. Brixton's quirky outpost with dreadful seats is probably my favourite just ahead of the more conventional Clapham Common pub and beer garden, whilst the Covent Garden site is too thin leading to total carnage at peak times, and has a pretty soulless basement. So what would a brand new Craft Beer Co. right next to the Gherkin bring?

10 cask ales, 18 kegs, and a great selection of bottles for starters. The page dedicated to Lambics is tempting, but high prices for small bottles of Cantillon, Oud Beersel & co. are still off-putting. The décor is very tasteful, both externally and on the inside, and the basement is a cut above Covent Garden. There's plenty of space, atmospheric candles, comfy seats, and eye catching paraphernalia adorning the walls. Great news for City boys and girls, though of course it's only open Mon-Fri.

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The Resting Hare - Woburn Walk, WC1H 0JL

Fans of Holborn Whippet, Pelt Trader and Euston Tap - rejoice! A fourth pub has arrived, just round the corner from the mighty Euston Tap, on Woburn Walk. The Resting Hare has 9 beer taps (and 1 cider) on a tap island behind the bar, plus 4 hand pulls, wine, and cocktails on offer. The beer aims to cater to all with everything from Bitburger to Wild Beer Co.

It's a big site, with outdoor space that will come into its own in the summer months. A large kitchen with a Josper grill is currently being built beneath the bar. They aim to start serving food in January.

N.B. They have also finally got the go ahead for Waterloo Tap which is great news for the area. However, it won't be ready til late February at the earliest. Good things come to those who wait!

More photos from The Resting Share are up on Matt The Tumblr.

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The Other Room Beer Bar - 60 Tower Bridge Road SE1 4TR

My good friends at Bermondsey Arts Club have quietly opened a modest beer bar a few doors down from their basement boozer on Tower Bridge Road. Six taps will be mostly pouring Bermondsey based beers, with three of them permanently dedicated to Fourpure brews. It's a dark, cosy joint, perfect for this time of year, with low-lit booths and some stylish design touches. The plethora of paintings will keep you entertained, as will Thomas the friendly the bartender from Montpelier. They are currently working on a Californian dinner and brunch menu.

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Bottle Shop News

I recently put up a post on bottle shop bars in collaboration with Jezza at Beer Guide London, which we'll endeavour to keep up to date! 

The latest addition to that superior-sub-category is We Brought Beer's second site in Clapham Junction which I finally got round to visiting. As you can see on Tumblr, I was quite taken with their neon blue lights. The new shop is bigger than the Balham original, with a garden out back and a useful tasting room upstairs for ‘meet the brewer’ events and brewing workshops. Once again, there are 4 draft lines for growler fills and on-site drinking, along with 400+ bottles to drink in or takeaway. There’s also plenty of equipment for the avid home brewer.

P.S. They've recently launched an bottle / growler club monthly subscription service - more details here.

Elsewhere, One Mile End brewery have taken over The Alma on Chapel Market (Islington), turning it into a pub / bottle shop / hotel hybrid! And the mysterious Inkspot Brewery have opened up Art & Craft - a small bottle shop and growler station in Streatham selling beer, cider, coffee and art.

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Brewery Taproom News

A year or so go, I was up-to-date on brewery taprooms, but now they are opening at such a rate that I just can't keep up. There are currently 79 breweries operating within the M25, many of which open up to serve their beer fresh to locals and beer tourists. See Jezza's full list on Beer Guide London here. Recently I've been in to Mondo Brewing in Battersea, Canopy Beer Co. in Herne Hill, and Bullfinch Brewery, also in Herne Hill.

Mondo Brewing hit the ground running in the backstreets of Battersea with a massive brewkit and an epic taproom with up to 15 taps (including a couple of guests) in operation. Sit at the bar and chat to the friendly owners who will happily give you a tour of the brewery, or a grab a large table, order in pizza, and settle in. Check opening times here.

Photo Credit : Beer Guide London

Canopy Beer Co.'s taproom near Brockwell Park is part of their brewery railway arch - a no frills , family friendly space with a few fresh beers available on tap or in bottles, plus local cider, gin, wine and soft drinks. Outside, there's some canopy covered seating next to an eye-catching wall of technicolor doodles which you can contribute to if you so wish! Check opening times here.

Bullfinch Brewery built up a loyal following whilst brewing out of Anspach & Hobday's archway in Bermondsey, but now they've settled down in a slightly more spacious arch, not far from Canopy Beer Co. in Herne Hill. It's a really nice spot for a pint, especially as they've avoided the dreaded foldaway "Bermondsey" benches that are not built for beer drinkers. Expect up to 12 beers from 8 kegs and 4 handpumps. Check opening times here.

Elsewhere, Moncada Brewery (Notting Hill), Signature Brew (Leyton) and Brixton Brewery have recently made their taprooms permanent.

Older taprooms still on my to-do list include Wild Card Brewery (Walthamstow), London Beer Factory (Gipsy Hill) and Gipsy Hill Brewing, plus Weird Beard Brew (Ealing) and Hammerton (Islington) that occasionally open. Redchurch Brewery continue to go from strength to strength, and their lovely Bethnal Green taproom round the corner from Mother Kelly's is now open three days a week.

Taprooms in Bermondsey are constantly changing their times, and improving (or scaling down) their offering - Twitter is your best bet for keeping up with them. Kernel recently stopped selling beer to drink in on Saturdays, whilst online shop Eebria have set up a taproom round the corner from Partizan.

Over in Hackney Wick, Crate Brewery have launched Mick's Garage next door to their brewery, with Crate beers, Shukshuk BBQ from Berber & Q, and a fermented tea bar! It's a shame it wasn't up and running in time for my London Fields to Hackney Wick jaunt.

Meanwhile, Late Knights Brewery have quietly opened up a new Beer Rebellion in Sydenham, their 5th pub in London, and 7th in the UK. Sneaky.

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Brewery News

A few new breweries have popped up, and many more are on the way - I'm expecting some to emerge from UBrew soon.

- Maregade Brew Co. is a new brewery operating out of the basement of The Cock Tavern near Hackney Central.  It was recently vacated by Howling Hops after they built an awesome tank bar in Hackney Wick next door to Crate Brewery. Maregade beers are already on offer at the pub upstairs.

- Wimbledon Brewery is a 30 barrel operation headed up by Derek Prentice in Collier's Wood (not Wimbledon!) - a taproom is on the way. 

- Long Arm Brewing Co. - The ETM group (Jugged Hare, The Botanist Sloane Square) created its own craft beer brand at The Ealing Tavern, and their Long Arm Brewing Co. beers are now making their way around London, in bottle, cask and keg form. There are currently four beers to choose from - Lucky Penny pale ale, Birdie Flipper red ale, IPA OK, and Shadow Wolf smoked stout. Click here for more photos from a recent press launch at Flight Club Darts bar in Shoreditch.

Photo Credit : Marcel Le Bachelet

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Beer Events

There are tap takeovers, meet the brewer events, and beer launches almost every day around London at the likes of We Brought Beer (Balham / Battersea), The Rake (London Bridge), and The King's Arms (Bethnal Green). Leighton's London Beer Guide Twitter feed (not to be confused with Jezza's Beer Guide London feed!) does a great job of spotting events in good time. Here's a few that I'm looking forward to:

- 26th Nov - Beer "Speed Dating" - Find your ideal beer at We Brought Beer

- 28th Nov - London Brewers' Market - 26 breweries take over Old Spitalfields Market

- 4th Dec - Carols at Anspach & Hobday - 'tis the saison to be jolly? No?

- 4th Dec - Brew By Numbers 3rd Birthday - Taproom party and launch of Baltic Porter series

- 13th Dec - Weird Beard Open Day - Christmas Cranberry Stouts & Tequila-Barrel Aged beers

I'm actually putting together a choir for the Christmas Carols at A&H on the 4th December. If you are a singer who likes a beer or two, get in touch below. We always need more tenors and altos!

That's all for now folks!

Bean & Hop - By The Horns - We Brought Beer - The Beer Hive - UBREW

Saturday 25th March - Don't be fooled by the first shot of Eggs Benedict, this a post about beer.  If you aren't of a beery disposition, why not try Matt The Pissed, Matt Le Tiss, or perhaps Cat The List instead?

Still with me? I'll crack on. My to-do list was starting to get a tad South London beer heavy, so I signed up 2014-15 List Leader Tim "I'm actuary an actuary" Henshaw and his unwitting cousin Dan (on loan from Birmingham) for a day of discovery.

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It all started in Earlsfield at Bean & Hop (formerly The Earlsfield Deli) with a rather excellent breakfast and some caffeine.  They specialise in coffee and local craft beer, with some top notch food thrown in for good measure.  We enjoyed some beautifully cooked eggs and bargain bacon butties from their brunch menu with Nude espresso brews on the side.  It's worth noting that they stay open late for Italian flatbread pizzas and beers on Fridays & Saturdays.  Keep your eyes peeled for special popup food events too from the likes of The Pickled Fork. 

We weren't quite ready for a beer (did I just write that?), but they had an impressive 50+ bottle selection on show, and two local rotating beers on tap.  You don't see a lot of Southfields-based Rocky Head beers on tap so grab some while you can.

Big shout out to the apologetic woman who shared a desk with us in return for a sticker of an onion.

Highlight : 21 year old Dan loudly exclaiming in a coffee-obsessed joint that he "doesn't get coffee".

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A 10 minute walk down Garratt Lane took us to a small industrial state opposite the Wimbledon Greyhound & Stock Car Racing Stadium where By The Horns Brewery lay in wait.  If you want to enjoy this stunning view, a homely white picket fence and some fake turf complete with tables sits outside their lot for your enjoyment.

By The Horns open up their taproom on Thursday & Friday evenings from 5pm-10pm and Saturdays from 12pm-6pm, and the bottle shop is open throughout the week when the bar is closed.  It's a brilliant little hangout with foosball, a big HD projector and several screens for those of a sporting persuasion - we caught the lacklustre first half of Saints vs Spurs before moving on.

More importantly though, they have up to 9 beers on tap (6 keg, 3 cask) including the occasional guest ale, and prices are very reasonable for London.  Samba King Rye Blonde, Mick The Miller Amber, and Stiff Upper Lip Pale all went down a treat.  Many more of their beers like Sour To The People and Flapper Double IPA are available in bottle form.  Beer sticks and chorizo bombs are behind the bar if you get peckish.

Brewery tours are an option, and there are often events such as comedy nights and seasonal beer launches, so keep an eye on their website - www.bythehorns.co.uk

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We strolled over to Tooting Broadway and caught a bus to Balham to reach our third stop, We Brought Beer.  It's a wonderful, compact "beer and homebrew general store" with a few seats for drinking in, either from the bottle range or the four growler refill taps on offer, much like at Hop, Burns & Black in East Dulwich (but without the hot sauce and vinyl!).  See opening times here.

We enjoyed schooners of Stone Go To IPA and The Kent Gipsy Yuzu from their taps over a friendly game of cards whilst a mix of beer geeks and Balham yuppies dropped in, presumably after brunch at M1lk over the road.  Special mention must go to one mother who said to her children aged 4-8, "Just let me know if you see anything you want". 

And I thought trips to Sainsbury's with Dad were fun...

Keep an eye on We Brought Beer's website for Meet The Brewer interviews, news on events, and updated beer lists.  And don't be surprised if a couple more branches have popped up before the end of the year - I heard mutterings about a move to Battersea Rise...

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3 down, 2 to go.  We jumped on the tube to Clapham Common where we parted ways with Dan the man before continuing on the 35 to Loughborough Junction.  Some form of protest in Brixton hindered our progress, so we continued on foot down a sunny Coldharbour Lane.  The oddest moment of the day was most certainly when a full-sized remote controlled wheelie bin appeared in front of us spraying water on unsuspecting members of the public.  I'm about 99% certain that actually happened.

Eventually we found our way to The Beer Hive, a co-operative brewery and taproom tucked away in a railway arch on Belinda Road.  It was set up recently by Clarskshaws Brewery and London Beer Lab, and more breweries will hopefully join the cooperative over the next few months.

The brewery is currently open for boozing on Saturdays from 12-6pm.  It's a fairly basic space at the moment, similar to how several of the Bermondsey breweries started out, but what more do you need than a few tables and chairs (including some ripped out car seats) when there's fresh beer around? Vegan Lauren joined Tim and I to appreciate the vegetarian Clarkshaws brews.

If you have time, you might want to pop in to Brixton Brewery, London Beer Lab, Craft Beer Co. or Crown & Anchor in the Brixton / Stockwell area, and of course there is superb food on offer all over Brixton.

We pressed on, walking towards Camberwell before getting the 42 to Bermondsey.  Stormbird in Camberwell and Orbit Brewery off Walworth Road are two more top beer stops en route. 

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Bermondsey is the beer mecca of South London, with six breweries (at the time of writing!) and The Bottle Shop taproom dotted around railways arches from Tower Bridge to Millwall ("South Bermondsey" if you like). 

The newest addition is UBREW, an open brewery and taproom near The Bottle Shop and Anspach & Hobday Brewery where paying members can come and brew their own beer, making use of professional equipment and a community of brewers on site.  There are various membership options, starting with a 3 month pass at £75 per month, and plenty of courses to get you up to speed.

The taproom is currently open on Saturdays from 11pm-7pm though that's set to expand soon.  They are currently serving a range of guest beers and bottles, but they will hopefully offer beer brewed by members in the future, including a few from the UBREW team themselves.  That said, we weren't complaining with kegs from Magic Rock & Tiny Rebel, though rowdy Northerner & List Leader 2013/14 Natalie (raised in a pub) gave the staff quite a talking to on their pint pouring technique. 

We sipped our drinks in the open air as closing time approached, bonding with some friendly Spaniards on our table over the use of the conditional perfect tense in a GCSE sentence that I've still got memorised.  Si hubria hecho mis deberes, habria ido al cerveceria con mis amigos. A*s and high fives all round.

Expect to see several nano / micro / gypsy / contract / cuckoo (what are we calling them?) breweries coming out of UBREW soon.  It looks like Beatnikz Republic might be the first to go commercial with their Farmhouse Hitchhiker NZ Farmhouse Ale amongst other beers as soon as HMRC signs off on the paperwork.

Wonderful for Beatnikz Republic Generation IPA by Liam Brazier

THAT'S ALL FOLKS.

5 points to Tim. 3 to Dan. 1 to Lauren. 1 to Natalie.

Thanks to Jezza at London Beer Guide for keeping me informed.

Redchurch Brewery - Satan's Whiskers - King's Arms

Thursday 23rd January - List Leader Natalie has been resting on her 50 point lead for the last couple of months, so when she decided to get back involved, I thought I'd make her trek to Bethnal Green and head down the dodgiest alleyway we could find.  

Powser Street is the one you want, for after a slightly unsettling walk in the dark alongside the railtracks you will find the Redchurch Brewery who open their upstairs space as a taproom on Thursdays (6.30-11pm) and occasional Saturdays (when there is often live music).  We were joined by Luke, Lee and Sam (who are fighting it out for 3rd place) and East London locals Taro and Tom.

Unlike most brewery taprooms, a lot of care has been put into the design.  It is a really good looking bar, one that deserves to be open more than once a week!

We settled in and worked our way through the 6 beers that were available on tap - Shoreditch Blonde, Great Eastern IPA, Bethnal Pale Ale, Brick Lane Lager (seasonal), Old Ford Stout and Hackney Gold. The strong IPA and Old Ford Stout (both around 7.5%) were my favourites, but the whole range is very impressive.  Brick Lane Lager and Hackney Gold are perfect for a relaxed session.  They might need to look at their pricing again - 1/2 pint = £2, 2/3 pint = £3 - I know which I would go for!

If beer isn't your thing, there is gin and vodka from Sacred and a selection of wines.  There isn't much going on food wise, but there was a jar of Holy F*ck nuts (made using one of The Ribman's deadly hot sauces - he also has one called Christ on a Bike!).  It was pretty empty for the duration of our stay - I really hope it picks up as it's a wonderful space to have a drink, and the beer is top notch.  Maybe time to put a sandwich board out on the main road?

Our second stop of the evening was just on the corner of the creepy Powser Street and Cambridge Heath Road.  Satan's Whiskers is a "neighbourhood cocktail bar with a penchant for old school hip hop".  It was buzzing when we arrived, and we just about managed to squeeze on to a couple of tables thanks to some kind rearranging from punters.  The décor is pretty bonkers and our waitress was bizarrely decked out in stars and stripes.

There has been a lot of talk about the high quality of their classic cocktails, but we also decided to stop for food.  Sweet potato fries were a huge success, as was the quirky Scallop and Bacon Roll with Mary-Rose sauce.

Cocktails are reasonably priced at £7.50 / £8.  Vieux Carre (Rye, Cognac, Sweet Vermouth, Benedictine, Bitters) was well balanced, as was the very drinkable El Diablo (Tequila, Ginger Syrup, Lime, Cassis, Ginger Ale).  Clementine Buck (Gin, Clementine and Ginger Ale) didn't impress the List Leader.  Sadly no-one went for the Salty Dog (Vodka, Pink Grapefruit and Pink Salt) which sounds very interesting.  There is an impressive back bar to get stuck in to if you don't fancy a mixed drink.

The vibe was fun and service was superb - a much needed hangout to drink in Bethnal Green along with Redchurch Brewery.  Check out Hunter S in Dalston and The Hemingway in Hackney from the same people.

Last but not least was The King's Arms, sister pub to the awesome Earl of Essex in Angel.  It is hidden away on a side street in between Bethnal Green and Shoreditch High Street.  The lack of punters suggest that it is possibly not the best situated boozer in London, but the quality of beer on offer will hopefully start to draw more people in.  It could be part of a brilliant beer crawl with Redchurch Brewery, Well & Bucket, Brewdog Shoreditch and Crown and Shuttle all nearby.

We stuck to halves again to get through as many beers as possible.  Burning Sky Aurora, Ska Modus Hoperandi, Lagunitas IPA, Bristol Beer Factory Nova ranked highly on our visit, but there is something for everyone here.  If the 20+ taps don't do it for you, dip into their excellent bottled list where you can find the likes of Evil Twin Even More Jesus, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard, and Westbrook Citrus Ninja Exchange.

Non-beer drinkers are well catered for with a solid range of spirits and wines.  On the food front, they don't have a kitchen space at the moment, but there are £8 meat and cheese boards with some really interesting choices on there alongside massive Pig & Hay Scotch eggs (Pork & Herb, Chorizo, Mushroom & Tarragon).

I enjoy their Beer of the Day posts on their website - the staff are all clearly passionate about beer.  Buy them one of the weird bottles if you have any spare cash, they are waiting to taste quite a few of them!

I highly recommend going out of your way to drink at The King's Arms - hopefully others will start to do so as it deserves to be busier.  The Earl of Essex is equally brilliant and similarly tucked away!  The King's Arms are having a Birra del Borga Tap Takeover tomorrow (Thursday January 30th) with head brewer Leonardo di Vincenzo which should be worth a look.

Thanks to the Team for a fun, boozy Thursday.  Luke and Sam move to 39, one ahead of 4th placed Lee on 38.  Taro moved up to 8th place with 25 points.  Anna turned up in The King's Arms to pick up a sneaky point.