My trek today took me to a part of London I’ve never had cause to visit before, Bethnal Green. A part of the botf craft beer passion is that it gets us to all sorts of places you’d never normally visit. From Bethnal Green I trekked down Bethnal Green Rd to Shoreditch then up Old Rd to Finsbury. It was all very cool and hipster – once I passed the stretch of offies, kebab shops and bookmakers on Bethnal Green Rd that is. Oh, and it’s pretty grim around the Finsbury end also.
London botf observation #3: Londoners work gentlemens’ hours. Being keen to add additional shareholder value, your correspondent rocked up to the London office at 800am on Day 1 ready to get started. Bzzzzt. Building locked. Tumbleweeds, sound of crickets etc. Around 930am people started drifting in like Brown’s cows. At 5pm the place empties like I pulled a gun. I’m not complaining mind you. I’ve very quickly acclimatised.
In no particular order, Mother Kelly’s, Brewdog @ Shoreditch and the walkie talkie building
Today’s walk was prompted by a triptych of venues clustered in this part of town. I kicked off at Mother Kelly’s situated in a rail arch at Bethnal Green. With 23 taps and a wall of takeaways it is craft heaven. I could see a food cart setting up also for later food options. The nice big outside beer garden was superb.
After punching out a few orange whips, next stop was Brewdog at Shoreditch. One of the seemingly scores of Brewdog outlets across London it was a tad utilitarian and only encouraged a single pint out of me.
Last stop was Old Fountain. It’s a classic old boozer (in architecture, not in beer choice) with a small roof terrace. On this night it was as full as a tick so while used to drinking alone (often the curse of the dedicated botf correspondent) it was a stretch to do this while standing cheek-by-jowl with total strangers. Another single pinter.
Mother Kelly’s
Address: 251 Paradise Row, London, E2 9LE (select for map)
Tube: Bethnal Green
Brewdog Shoreditch
Address: 51-55 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA (select for map)
Tube: Shoreditch High Street
Old Fountain
Address: 3 Baldwin St, London EC1V 9NU (select for map)
Tube: Old Street
back of the ferry 