Beer Passport August(ish): Orbit, Anspach & Hobday, Great Beyond, Thornbridge “Wild Swan”

If August has been relatively quiet on the Beer Passport front, that is mainly because I was out of the country for a while.  See https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/bevet-breizh-long-live-brittany

But I have not been completely idle.

Orbit
I have been to Orbit - just off Walworth Road in Camberwell - a few times.  It is an easy cycle away from my boat and also a natural stopping off point at the end of a day at The Oval.

They are rightly proud of their core range, which they describe as being inspired by European brewing traditions.  Their “Nico” Kolsch is a staple, as is the rice lager and tzatziki sour.  I have tried and enjoyed all of these.  But they can also be relied upon to have a roster of specials.  This time I worked my way through halves of all of the specials.  A “chuckleberry” (gooseberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant) sour.  A standard issue IPA and also a west coast IPA.  A Vienna lager called “Enclosed in Amber” which was, well, amber.  All very strong.  I took a quick look in their fridge and came away with two bottles (because after all I need more bottles in my shamefully empty beer cupboard.. not) both at a daunting 7.8%. The Lentebock (traditional Dutch spring beer). And the Cuvee de Cologne (barrel aged strong Kolsch - which I have since drunk and it just didn’t quite do it for me).

Overall, I would classify Orbit in what a French tourist guide would call the “merite un detour” category.  Two stars out of three, as the competition for that third star in London is so ferocious. Well worth a visit if you are nearby.

Speaking of the competition being ferocious…

Anspach and Hobday

Regular readers will know well the esteem in which I hold this brewery and this venue, my champions of 2025. So when they advertised a “Masterclass” of pales and IPAs at the Arch House in Bermondsey, I had to be there.

Let me tell you about these A&H events.  You book in advance and pay around £25.  When you show up at the Arch House, you declare yourself and are offered a free pint.  (I opted for ⅔ of “The Porter” because I didn’t want something that was covered in the tasting and because it is such an amazing beer - although I did worry a bit that it might have overwhelmed some of the more delicate offerings that followed).  Then you take yourself to the balcony room upstairs that looks down on the bar and the main taproom.  You will always be on a table with pleasant and enthusiastic strangers, which is part of the fun.

We were greeted by Helen the German beer sommelier from the A&H team, who ran the evening, telling us the highly interesting story about her sommelier studies in Munich and how she was thinking in terms of a Masters  (I see from the website that her last name is “Busch” but it is a pretty common name, so I am assuming no connection with the AB Inbev dynasty).

We were then served thirds of eight different beers.  Six from A&H (see the photo).  Plus two very welcome guests - the Gold from Five Points and the Krush from Oakham.  I think many of us were a bit sceptical of beers with actual fruit puree in them (I heard the phrase “Jubel is beer for people who don’t like beer” uttered a few times).  But A&H, being A&H, have made a resounding success out of “Fruitopolis”.  The tasting culminated with “The IPA” - rock solidly brilliant as always - and the wonderful surprise that was the “Tack” NEIPA collab with the Swedes of O/O.  It was a bit rushed at the end because the local licensing rules are strict about the taprooms closing at 10 on a Thursday, but I had time for a pint of London Black with the new friends at my table.

Helen told us that they would be doing a “Christmas” tasting in December.  Oooh, I couldn’t possibly, oh go on then why not…

Great Beyond

I messaged my other half from Shoreditch, where I had a meeting.  She had forgotten about the meeting and clearly suspected that I had bunked off to go to a brewery.  I am grateful to her for prompting me to look at the map, upon which I spotted that Great Beyond Taproom was indeed only a short "hop" away.

Great Beyond is a cheerful railway arch sort of affair, just round the corner from Hoxton overground.  I visited last year as part of an expedition with my son down the A10 from Dalston (see https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/beer-passport-autumn-diary-venues-38-50 ).  It was founded in 2022 by three friends who had met working for Fourpure in South Bermondsey.  Their story is good worthy stuff - a vision of doing a strong core range of beers and embedded into the local community, etc, etc.  Anyway, I entered and eventually managed to grasp what the deal was with the Beer Passport BOGOF - basically you buy and pay for a beer from the full range, and then you get a free pint of either the Hoxton Lager or Hoxton Pale.  I spotted the Hijinx Hazy IPA on the menu, so very much enjoyed a pint of that - a classic Citra-heavy east coaster.  Then my free pint of the lager, which was a very solid quality unfiltered Helles.  I was enjoying myself, so I temporarily forgot my resolution of “two-halves-max-on-a-week-night” and went back to the bar to see what else was available outside the core range.  

I enjoyed a half of another pale, then got talking to Fergus behind the bar.  I lamented the fact that many of the non-core were either sold out or “coming soon”.  Fergus said that they had sold out of a few beers because of a very busy Bank Holiday, and we agreed that this was a good thing.  He added that the In Bloom DIPA would be pouring the following day - I winced - and he could get me a can in the meantime.  He then came over with hot news - a keg of In Bloom was literally in transit to the taproom if I was able to wait around.  It took a bit longer than predicted but I was in no particular hurry.  Eventually Fergus brought a third of In Bloom over to my table (“patience is rewarded, mate… don’t worry, this one’s on us”).  It was delicious.  Not wishing to take advantage of his generosity, I bought a can as well.

So well done, Fergus.  I am labouring this story a bit because I am reflecting on the current national debate on the closure of “community pubs” (a phrase which, like “family farmers”, is calculated to make a business in a competitive market sound like a national treasure).  There is often a lamentation that Something Should Be Done About the closure of a particular pub.  And then some quiet dissenting comments below the line saying that actually this particular place didn’t do much to attract or retain customers.  I would probably have recommended Great Beyond to friends anyway based on beer quality; Fergus has ensured that I definitely will.

Thornbridge at the “Wild Swan”

Thornbridge continues to be one of the country’s top breweries.  I have enjoyed visiting them on their home turf in Derbyshire (see https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/jai-pur-you-are-my-fantasy ).  So when they opened a pub in London - the Wild Swan on Fetter Lane - it went to the top of my bucket list.  I decided that it would be an ideal place to take a friend who likes more traditional beers, as it would cater both for his taste and for my slightly more offbeat preferences.

(They are not in the Passport.  At least not yet.  Over to you, Phil and Mike…)

When we arrived, I pointed out to my friend the Lord Marples best bitter on cask, which he drank and enjoyed.  I myself decided that the opportunity of fresh cask Jaipur could not be passed up - as I have previously written, Thornbridge have somehow perfected the trick which others have not of strong hoppy IPAs on cask.  I then moved on to the Pondera West Coast IPA.  Then I saw Necessary Evil imperial stout on tap at the bar (albeit “mid strength” Necessary Evil at “only” 10% - yes, what does that say about me…) and, after a little pondering, ordered a third of it.  My friend joined me, and from the look on his face it was a rather new experience - I hope a good one.

Left to myself as my friend pleaded that he would fall over if he had any more, I wandered to the bar and started sampling, courtesy of the enthusiastic and knowledgeable Sinead (another example of a member of bar staff adding real value to the visit).  The “Melba” peach IPA was not quite my thing.  Next I tasted the Wild Swan XPA (Sinead explained that the pub was named after the beer not the other way round) and it was very tasty in a session sort of way.  Although I would ideally have had it earlier in the session before my taste buds had suffered the joyous assault of some of the stronger fare.  I ended with the Midwest Weisse.  It was displayed at the taps right next to the guest Weihenstephaner, which is a daunting challenge for any wheat beer but it held up extremely well - some Weisses can taste over-sweet and synthetic, but this was lovely.

Finally, I could not stop myself from picking up a couple of cans.  My other half thinks I may have found just the one which captures my personality.

So, an August / first couple of days of September reasonably well spent.  Interspersed with the occasional visit to the Oval (Hobbs Best Bitter from Pilgrim Brewery is my current favourite) and to Sambrooks while shopping in Wandsworth (I was caught unawares by the unusual experience of some water coming down from the sky so took shelter and enjoyed a Junction Premium Bitter while watching some very angsty expat Kiwis and Saffas “enjoying” the rugby).

And I cycled everywhere, so it was all healthy.  Honest.