Beers of London

Civilian_Target

I've just moved to London and I'm suddenly bewildered by the arsenal of taps at my locals, in fact, every pub here seems to come with a wide variety of beers, ales and whatever else on tap. My nearest has about 15 on tap, of which I've heard of 6 and tried about 5 of the stranger ones. Sometimes its good, but frequenly I get poured what appears to be a glass of watered down treacle.

Has anyone got any good recommendations in not-to-strange London beers or ales?

The Sweeper

Hmmmm - odds are you're probably drinking in a chain pub - look at the menus next time you're there. You could be in a Wetherspoons, an Ember Inn, a Punch Tavern, a Ram, a Pitcher and Piano, a Slug n Lettuce or hundreds more... and half of those probably have shares in the groups that own the other half.

If you're in a chain pub that does ale, note the following:

1. It is considered acceptable behaviour to request a taste of a certain beer before ordering a pint of it, e.g. "can I try some of the Bishop's Finger please". You'll get a drop in the bottom of a glass so you can taste it and see if it's worth buying a pint. (It's not really kosher to try this with mainstream beer - "Can I have a taste of your carlsberg" won't go down as well.)
2. Often times these pubs have a beer list to go with their taps, with descriptions that'll help point you in the right direction.
3. Find out which brewery is linked to your local and try some of their beers from the supermarket first if you're too shy to request a taste in a glass.

The cheap as chips option is Wetherspoons, famous for the 'bottle of lager for a pound twenty' type deals. Spoons often has an impressive range of bottled lagers from around the world, and has been known to do quite a good pint of ale, as it stocks a range of options from a number of brewers. Star beers include Greene King IPA (excellent session ale, especially at 3.6% abv), Hall & Woodhouse Tanglefoot, Fuller's London Pride, Directors - but again, remember you can try before you buy.

Fullers would be my favourite brewer. Star beers include London Pride, Honeydew (more likely to be in a bottle than on tap), Discovery and India Pale-Ale.

Badger is another brewery that produces some of my personal favourites - TangleFoot, Golden Glory, Champion and Blandford Fly - and Badger is part of Hall & Woodhouse Inns.

Of course, the most confusing part of it is that oftentimes the chain pubs aren't called by the chain pub names...

For instance the Ship & Shovell in Charing Cross is a Hall & Woodhouse Inn, which means you'll get the Badger range of ales.

Confused?

You should be.

If you tell me what your locals are I may be able to recommend something...

Civilian_Target

I'm in South Ealing. My local's called "The Rose and Crown" and doesn't appear to be part of any chain, the nearest thing that seems to be a chain pub is O'Neills up the road.

London Pride's not bad, I thought Discovery was awful though!

The Sweeper

The Rose and Crown is a Fuller's pub, it's got a big 'Fullers' sign on the wall outside of it on the second floor, and a Fuller's logo on the cornerboard that advertises 'Food and Beer'.

What sort of flavours do you like/not like in beer? If you hated Discovery, there's a chance you may love Honeydew - if they're stocking it...

Civilian_Target

Ah, you know it? Clearly I didn't notice it was a Fuller's pub, but it is quite the nice place. I'll try Honeydew next time I'm there (probably later).

The Sweeper

Hee hee - have you seen this pub?

http://www.function-rooms-uk.co.uk/Photos/md176_1.jpg

But no really, if you look down this page on the Fuller's website: http://www.fullers.co.uk/frames.phtml you'll see it listed (assuming there's only one Rose and Crown in Ealing). Also on the fullers.co.uk website, you can read about their ales with descriptions of tastes.

Honeydew is a golden lager with a refreshing honey aftertaste. One of my CAMRA mates thinks it's perfumed slop, but then he only likes his ale when it tastes like socks and is served at room temperature with a dead wasp floating in it.

oblivious

The London water profile and style of brewing lead towards very low carbonated beers. I would recommend young’s, such as their Waggle Dance a nice light honey ale, Winter Warmer and they produce a good range of pale ale/bitters. Fullers are another London brewery, their London porter (stout’s granddaddy) is also good, and they do a nice range of other beers as well. Theakston Old Peculier, form Yorkshire is very, very nice beer, it and old ale. Samuel Smith also do some very good beers.

Hope this helps