First Beers of Spring
After a grim wet February and a cold windy March, we are finally getting to that wonderful time of the year where it is possible to drink a beer out of doors. So I have done so. Repeatedly.
I hadn’t planned to work from a bar on that Wednesday afternoon before Easter, but some offers are just too good to pass up. Like the one contained in the email from BrewDog(‘s administrators) offering half price food and drink all week at their remaining bars. I checked the small print for interest, but there appeared to be none. Fortunately I am one of the lucky few Punks No Longer With Equity to have a BrewDog bar within easy reach - in my case the mega-bar at Waterloo - so it was a pleasant cycle ride which ended up with me being installed outside with my laptop.
I am guessing that the rationale for the deal was to liquidate the stock. I had expected to be offered an average choice of Punk / Lost / Hazy Jane. To my pleasant surprise the range was rather better than that. I began with a Nanodog Bamburg Bock, followed by a small batch locally produced porter called Arrows, followed by an “English IPA” (again small batch locally produced) called Joust. All in the 6-7% range, all high quality. The bar still seemed in good shape, although I had one bad experience with a member of staff who was unable to answer the most basic of questions about the beer. I will be genuinely interested to see if the beer range is preserved, and will of course grab any offers that continue to be offered. (My good lady joined me at the end to enjoy a Hawkes Pineapple Cider).
One of the features of the last month has been the soap opera around the sale and closure of BrewDog as an independent entity. (https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/every-dog-has-its-day ). Played out on the Equity Punk Forum, with various people bewailing the fact that the loss of their investment must have been foul play for which they are entitled to compensation. With the pot occasionally stirred by Cap’n James Watt posting on LinkedIn that while he is far too discreet to say anything about the final negotiations, had he been allowed to buy BrewDog back then he would of course have compensated the Punks. The administrators have now sensibly closed the Forum…
The following day it was a lovely sunny evening, so once again I got on my bike. This time I braved some quite interesting London traffic to get myself across to Bermondsey with my Beer Passport.
My first stopping point was Hiver. An old favourite, but featuring in the Passport for the first time. The story of Hiver goes back to 2013 when Hannah Rhodes got enthused about the importance of protecting and nurturing London bees, and connected this with her experience in the brewing industry to decide to make honey beer. I had never tasted a honey beer that really did it for me before I discovered Hiver. But their Blonde is pure (slightly sweet) pleasure and their IPA is a wonderful combination of flavours with the honey just manifesting next to the classic IPA-ish bitterness (I had a pint of each under the Passport’s BOGOF deal). I was served by a wonderfully enthusiastic member of bar staff who told me that they would soon be bringing bees to the site to help strengthen the message.
I then walked under the railway arches to Druid Street and the Fabal lager beerhall, which was a new venue for me. What I didn’t know - and only discovered when I got there - was that it is the sister venue of Hiver, set up in 2019 to produce high quality lager (the word “fabal” captures the idea of a craftsman). It was a lively venue, possibly aimed at slightly younger people than me. Again there were only two options for the Passport deal - the lager and the dry-hopped pilsner - so I had both. Good solid stuff, although I think the lager crown of London stays with Pillars for the time being.
Finally for the evening, I reflected on the fact that I was on Druid Street and therefore Anspach & Hobday was just down the road. The esteem in which I hold this venue will be well known to my loyal readers. (https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/the-biermeister-s-passport-awards-2025) . The esteem in which I hold their porters in particular. Looking for something new, I happened upon their “North Sea Porter”, a collaboration with the Danish “gypsy brewing collective” To OL. Around 7% and reliably amazing.
I recorded my Bermondsey trip for posterity using my new vlogging camera. For those of you who have not yet discovered my YouTube channel, start here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8kyuoESQlQ
and obviously a small like or subscription would be much appreciated.
Over Easter itself, I cracked my last remaining 750ml bottle from the Manchester spontaneous fermentation obsessives (in a good way) Balance . Much appreciated by my offspring, and a nice warm-up for my upcoming trip to Belgium for the Tour de Gueuze (watch this space)
Then, after Easter, I ended up treating my lady to lunch at the “London and South Western” (prop JD Wetherspoon) while we were out and about around Clapham Junction at lunchtime. I have long since stopped sneering at Spoons from a beer quality perspective. They always seem to have a brilliant deal on a high quality craft offering. This time it was the Sumo Pale by Mad Squirrel, whose beers I remembered fondly from a visit to their bar in Chesham. At £4 a pint. At the table next to us were a group of gentlemen who would have been the answer had you asked AI to draw you a group of Spoons customers. They were drinking Bud Light. But with a sense of irony (“few more pints of that, mate, and you’ll be lighter than when you came in”).
Last Wednesday was another gorgeous day, so once again I ended up seeking al fresco beer, this time at Clapton Craft in Balham. They were doing a promotion with Two Flints of Windsor. Two Flints had not particularly captured my attention - compared with their outstanding neighbours Indie Rabble - when I visited Windsor with the Passport last year. (https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/travels-with-my-passport-4-all-four-corners-of-the-earth). But I graciously gave them the benefit of the doubt and sampled their Kodiak West Coast IPA (a good “westie” is worth its weight in gold and this one was very good) and the powerful Nelson Sauvin DIPA. I had previously marked Two Flints down as a purveyor of nondescript hazy pale, and clearly this was unfair so I am happy to withdraw that aspersion. I raided the Clapton Craft fridge having spotted a bottle of Cloudwater Sujo Sour (gosh…a pleasure awaits) and staggered on my way.
To complete the story of my week (and a bit), last Friday was the first day of the first County Championship match of the year at the Oval. I thought it would be a good day to be there, and sure enough we were privileged to see Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope ride out a difficult start and notch up a 200 partnership.
There is quite a strong read-across between Country Championship cricket and cask ale in terms of the devotees - I heard a few gentlemen in the crowd planning their visit to St Albans next weekend for the CAMRA Annual Conference - and the Long Room Bar at the Oval is a shrine to the cask. (Other bars offer the very tasty Reliance Pale Ale from Brixton. I am equally comfortable with either). The dominant tipple is Shere Drop from the Surrey Hills Brewery. I have nothing against Shere Drop, but I get frustrated at my fellow members who wilfully fail to consider what else is on offer. The other offerings rotate a bit. I tried two different pints. Firstly the Leveson Buck from the Titsey Brewery, which is a newcomer to the Passport - and a very interesting looking one up on the North Downs Way - that I will be visiting later this year. Only 3.7% but with a hoppy kick. Then the SW19 Blonde from the Wimbledon Brewery (to which I paid an enjoyable visit last year on their industrial estate premises near Colliers Wood), which was a typically light and sweet summer ale.
I should probably now ease off a bit with my trip to Belgium coming up in a few weeks, but seeing all this written down makes me think back fondly on a very pleasant start to spring.