How Dry was my January?
Last year was a very intensive year of beer as I systematically worked my way around 61 Beer Passport venues. See my previous blog to recap https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/the-biermeister-s-passport-awards-2025
So time to take a bit of a breather. My sprint finish to 2025 was closely followed by Christmas and everything that goes with it. I was left a bit heavy and breathless. My GP was sympathetic up to a point, but asked me impertinent questions such as “so how many units a week actually do you drink” and “have you ever thought of losing a little bit of weight”.
Fair questions. I am in no mood to deny myself fine food and drink. But actually I really don’t need as much of it as I used to, so the large portions have increasingly been driven by force of habit as opposed to genuine need. The thing about the Passport is that you “have to” have at least two pints at most places in order to “get the benefit” of the offer. Then you spot the Barleywine / Imperial Stout / DIPA and think it would be a pity not to try it. Then you spot the fridge and transfer its contents into your backpack (which, in turn, later moves your brain into a mode of “gosh, you have so many cans and bottles, are you ever going to drink them?”). Then you think it would be nice to have a bite to eat with your beer, and let’s just say you don’t often see salad on the menu in a taproom. Not so much dirty burgers as filthy, deliciously obscene burgers. And I think that by the end I had my own personal delivery guy from Yard Sale Pizza following me around London.
Thank you, reader, for letting me share this with you. I am not lecturing you so much as reminding myself. The whole Dry January thing is way too lecture-y as it is, and frankly January is the worst time of year to give up any indulgence entirely. I would just put it out there that we should all be a bit mindful about what we are consuming. We know booze places a strain on the system. Across the board targets regarding weekly units are meaningless. Different people can handle it to different extents, and at different times. Listen to your body and be good to yourself.
Anyway, having got that out of the way, let me tell you what I have been drinking.
I have my 2026 Passport and my eyes turned initially to the newly added venues. There are ten or so. (Depends whether you include additional venues of existing breweries).
I began my year at German Kraft. I was unable to get to their place in Dalston last year, which seemed to have closed by the time I was staking out east London. So I was keen to explore their bar at the Mercato Metropolitano food court, near Elephant & Castle. Friday evening was just beginning and the atmosphere was heating up. It is a bit confusing because Mercato Metropolitano is large and they have a number of different outlets. My Passport was initially met with blank incomprehension, but I was eventually steered towards one particular bar, which had the brewery vats behind it. There followed a brief hiatus as they searched for their stamp. Eventually they just gave up and served me a free pint of their Helles (their offer is “First Pint Free”). It did what it said on the tin - this was a very tasty fresh and clean tasting German-style lager. I said that the atmosphere was heating up - people were arriving at the bar and I managed to sell the Passport to the person behind me. The temperature was not. This is an outdoor space covered by a temporary-looking structure. You might, if you are interested, want to wait a couple of months until things heat up a bit. And, how shall I put it, gentlemen of my vintage need to be ready for the possibility that we may be somewhat the oldest person there.
Next was Southey in Penge. Penge is very much south east London commuter belt, which invites the slur that it is a bit boring. This is not entirely fair. On my way from the station, I walked past the very fine set of buildings that make up Waterman’s Square. This was built in 1840 as the Free Watermen’s and Lightermen’s Almshouses, set up for the “aged and decayed” (the Victorians didn’t believe in mincing their words to spare peoples’ feelings) retired members of the Company in question. And Crystal Palace Park is not far off. But other than that, yes, Penge probably doesn’t have a lot to detain the casual visitor to London. But Southey is nice. Pretty old building in a mews just off the high street. (Fun fact: it is on Southey Street, which is named after the Poet Laureate Robert Southey, most famous for “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”). Their offer was a half price flight. Of the beers that I chose, my favourite was the cask pale - the lady serving me discoursed knowledgeably and enthusiastically on the malt and hops that went into it. The craft offerings not quite so much.
If I lived in Penge, I would be a Southey regular. It stands with a number of the other Passport venues in south east London residential areas - Brockley, Gypsy Hill, Sydenham (Ignition), Herne Hill (Bullfinch). If it sounds like I am damning with faint praise, that is only because the competition in London is so exceptionally tough.
Then, last week, a venue which is not new to me, but is new to the Passport: Cloudwater’s London outpost in prime position on Enid Street, Bermondsey. The place where Manchester parks one of its very considerable tanks on London’s lawn. See my Manchester blog for more. https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/manchester-we-strive-for-perfection-and-if-we-fail-we-might-have-to-settle-for-excellence
The beers were very much up to the high standard that you would expect. Again the offer was a half price flight. I started with “Wanderlust”, their glorious Pillars collaboration Kolsch. Then the Citra and Krush DDA IPA, a typically deliciously intricate Cloudwater affair with frozen cryo hops direct from the Yakima valley in the USA. Then the “Kraai” black IPA, a collaboration with the legendary Dutch brewer Menno Olivier who specialises in dark beers - and this avoided the harshness that you sometimes get with a black IPA. Forgetting for a moment my wise advice to myself above, yes I did then have an extra beer and yes it was the “Welcome to Manchester” barleywine… but you don’t go to Cloudwater every day.
That’s it for now. I have other plans. As I said, I will focus on new and favourite Passport venues. After listening to a fascinating BBC Food Programme documentary, I will also explore a couple of London examples of the “Desi Pub”, as originally established by Britain’s Indian community to beat the (formal and informal) colour bars which operated shockingly late into the 20th century.
And then - drum roll - I will be venturing to Belgium in May for the Toer de Gueuze. https://toerdegeuze.be/en/. A once-in-two-years event where fourteen of the top Lambic breweries to the south west of Brussels open their doors for a weekend. Can’t wait.