Beer in London

squonk · 02-09-2014 1:46pm #1

Heading to London on Thursday for a long weekend. What's worth checking out over there beer wise? I'll be based near Shoreditch so was definitely going to check out the Brewdog pub there. Just looking to find what other beer related things I can do?

sarkozy · 02-09-2014 2:02pm

Camden Brewery? And Partizan beers, which I'm dying to try. Also Meantime, obviously.

afatbollix · 02-09-2014 2:04pm

My mate works for Camden town Brewery. Its a great place to go try some beers as they have started to have guest beers on tap.

Its right under Kentish town west overground stop.

irish_goat · 02-09-2014 3:26pm

I quite enjoyed the Fuller's tour. http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/wordpress/brewery-tour-review-fullers-london/

BeerNut · 02-09-2014 4:02pm

Around Shoreditch you have Duke's Brew and Que, which is the Beavertown tap, and London Fields Brewery.

drumswan · 02-09-2014 7:32pm

Google Bermondsey beer mile, a stroll around several breweries including Partizan and The Kernel early Saturdays.

Would recommend heading to The Euston Tap and The Craft Beer Co, both superb and worth traveling to.

drumswan · 02-09-2014 7:33pm

Oh and drink as much Siren as you can, it's out of this world

snowblind · 02-09-2014 8:12pm

Yeah Siren and Alpha State were my favourites at a recent beer fest in London. Partizan very close to those though

BeardySi · 03-09-2014 12:39am

Pop into the Market Porter beside Borough Market - lots of great beers and real ales and some of the best food in London across the road!

oblivious · 03-09-2014 7:55am

Treadhead wrote: »

Pop into the Market Porter beside Borough Market - lots of great beers and real ales and some of the best food in London across the road!

Great pubs, also the Royal Oak is just down the road ans Harveys Brewery only tap house in London. Its a great traditional pub

squonk · 03-09-2014 1:34pm

Thanks! Already booked into the Fullers Tour which should be good! I'll check out some of those pubs as well! Lots of great leads and I'll never get to them all but I'll have a great excuse to go back!

iambrazil · 03-09-2014 4:01pm

The Harp (opposite Charing Cross station). About to be or just taken over by Fuller's. Check out one of the best pubs in London before they get to change it too much.

any branch of Craft Beer Co.

here are a few pubs I like that serve good beer but wouldn't be known as a craft beer locations...

Pride of Spitalfields (off Brick Lane) - a few cask ales...usually Brewer's Gold, ESB and maybe a Truman's. just a really good pub with a friendly cat.

The Royal Oak - near London Bridge. Have a pint of Harvey's Best here if you don't get one in the Harp!

if you've got mobile data then I'd recommend the Craft Beer London app.

sarkozy · 04-09-2014 9:57am

I cannot wait for my next trip to London. I usually hit up Borough Market for a snack, and usually end up in Smithfield/Brick Lane/Shoreditch. English beers/ales has often been a blind spot of mine beyond simply trying whatever ales are on tap in whatever establishment I'm in. Ah, feck it, maybe I'll pop over for a weekend next month ...

rainbow kirby · 04-09-2014 1:50pm

If you can actually get in the door, the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town has a fabulous beer and cider selection.

Keep an eye out for CAMRA festivals too, they can be great

iambrazil · 04-09-2014 4:48pm

I forgot to mention another favourite of mine. The Old Coffee House in Soho.

They have lots of Brodie's beers on. Usually four casks as well as the same amount of keg lines featuring strong IPAs and sours etc. It's another place with a good mixed crowd, not just beer nerds! Most of the lads in there the last time I was in were drinking Fosters or Old Mout cider.

n97 mini · 05-09-2014 10:54am

drumswan wrote: »

Google Bermondsey beer mile, a stroll around several breweries including Partizan and The Kernel early Saturdays.

Would recommend heading to The Euston Tap and The Craft Beer Co, both superb and worth traveling to.

+1 to all this. Get to the beer mile early and only on Saturday. There are several micros and they will all serve beer and chat to the public. There are works going on in London Bridge station which makes South Bermondsey Station awkward to get to, so you might need to go to one of the other stations like Canada Water.

Euston tap is super, just outside the front of Euston Station.

squonk · 06-09-2014 1:06am

Will definitely try Bermondsey my next visit but I just don't have time this one. Went on the Fullers tour today and was highly impressed. I'll do a proper post on my experience later but it was an honest, informative and fun tour with great food to start in the Mayston Arms and great beer to finish with for free post tour. I posted last week about Diageos cynical craft rollout. These guys are the opposite. A small brewery seemingly punching well above its weight gaining followers worldwide. More power to them!

oblivious · 07-09-2014 5:17pm

n97 mini wrote: »

+1 to all this. Get to the beer mile early and only on Saturday. There are several micros and they will all serve beer and chat to the public. There are works going on in London Bridge station which makes South Bermondsey Station awkward to get to, so you might need to go to one of the other stations like Canada Water.

Euston tap is super, just outside the front of Euston Station.

I think the kernal may have changed there opening times as the mile was turning into a piss fest

squonk · 18-09-2014 4:40pm

Meant to get back to this with an update but I haven't had a chance so far. So, first off, thanks to you guys for some great suggestions and things to do of a beer related nature. I ended up having a great time.

Fullers Tour
I signed up for the tour of the Fullers Brewery. I headed along on the Friday afternoon and started off at the Mawson Arms which is where the tour starts from. It's a nice pub and is full of Fullers employees at lunchtime. While I was there I ordered a Black Cab Porter which was really very nice and the bangers and mash were fantastic as well. Once we got started the tour turned out to be brilliant. As said above you get some fluorescent jackets to wear but the tour starts off down behind the brewery on the banks of the Thames where you get an overview of the company history. Next it's onto the older part of the brewery where you get to see some of the old equipment they used to use. You also get to sample various types of malts which, I think, gives you a real appreciation for beer if you're a non brewer like myself. You're also taken into the Hop store as well and have a jar of hops passed around to sniff! They then take you into the actual production area. I thought this was pretty impressive. I thought they'd just play it safe with showing visitors the decommissioned Victorian era gear but the live tanks were a treat, especially as they were quite hot to the touch as well. We were brought all around the kegging line as well. I'd definitely recommend the tour. It's a bit out from the center of the city but 30-40 minutes on the tube will get you there.

For bars, I popped into Brewdog in Shoreditch. It was a very funky, trendy place and I enjoyed it but it did come across to me personally as just a bit too cool for school. The most unusual thing I tried there was a Chipotle stout. Not quite my taste, well, not a pint of it anyway. Great pub but a lot of high-octane stuff on draught. I like to stay at 5% and under for a nice bit of a night but many of the beers were 5% and up.

The Craft Beer Company in Covent Garden was good craic too though I didn't get to stay long. It's a nice pub with a good selection of beer. I'll go back.

The Holborn Whippet turned out my favorite. I'm not mad about their practice of writing the beers being served from the central brickwork block encasing taps on a blackboard. Being partially sighted I found it a bit hard to read. Again, just a bit too much trendy and not enough practicality. That being said I had a very nice evening there with some great ales and stouts. I will most definitely be back. I loved the place.

Beer in London

Comments