Whilst I lived in London between 1972 and 1974, I’ve only visited as an adult twice. Once in 1989, when I was an impoverished backpacker and once in 2003 when I stayed for 36 hours and the AUD was at all time lows. So this visit is my first real opportunity to sample the beer and pub culture with some coin in the kick. In summary, the pub culture is great, the beers in pubs are generally sh1te – but the brewery scene is cracking even outside of Be(e)rmondsey.
I was staying in Euston to be close to St. Pancras Station for the getaway to Europe. Fortuitously, two little breweries can be found not far away. I only realised this when I checked in a Two Tribes beer and saw they were from King’s Cross. Not a part of London, you’d associate with breweries. Nearby was Hammerton Brewery. Both were fabulous. Hammerton, for mine, was that little bit more authentic. Two Tribes was amazing and the “Campfire” concept was very cool. Like being in an open air dance party with a brewery on the side. Both worthy of visiting.
Lo don’s tap scene is suffering the same problem as Sydney’s tap scene. Brands like Beavertown, Camden Town and Magic Rock have been bought out by the bigs and like Balter and Pirate Life, dominate the taps alongside the Euroswill that is Heineken, Amstel and Madri. Camden Hells was particularly ubiquitous. Occasionally you find a pub like Anchor Tap, near Tower Bridge, that serves up Samuel Smith beers, or Greene King that has a few of their own beers – but more often than not the range is same old, same old.
Thank heavens for craft breweries then. Occasionally they sneak into the pubs, but generally to try something different – visit a taproom. The most famous and concentrated collection of microbreweries in London can be found in the Bermondsey Beer Mile. It is actually about 2.5km between the southern most brewery (Fourpure Brewing Co) and Southwark Brewing Co, which is a six minute walk from the Tower Bridge.
First visit was Southwark, which offers a solid line up of both Cask and Keg beers. Not being fully focussed I went with 3 cask beers. When in England I suppose. The Bitter was best, but I’m a keg man.
My favourite stop was Mash Paddle Brewery. I don’t know whether it was the name, the friendly fellows, the size or the experience of sipping fresh beer in the sun with my daughter and her cousin – but it felt authentic – back to basics.
At the other end of the spectrum (but no less real) is Fourpure. 10 year veterans of the Bermondsey beer scene, their name comes from their use of four ingredients in their brewing. I had seen one of their beers on tap. Their taproom is large and roomy with three separate spaces. It was quiet on this particular Sunday and @illiards had previously visited so I had to go to other breweries to get five uniques on my paddle. The London Red was my fave and the Red style is popular amongst the brewers.
We left plenty on the table for a return visit. We did pay a visit to Cloudwater. They are a brewer for Manchester that has crammed 20 taps into a tiny but beautiful space. London. I shall return.
back of the ferry 