The Biermeister's Passport Awards 2025
This has been a veritable year of beer for the Biermeister.
Not everything has been based around London. I have also enjoyed trips to France and Spain and have dutifully explored the local talent. It will not astonish you that when you arrive in southern Spain after a long journey, the temperature is 30 degrees and you are drinking with a view of medieval Andalucia, a cold Cruzcampo is really rather nice. It may astonish you to that I discovered some half decent French beer when in Normandy - Brasserie du Chaos and Brasserie Cotentine are both worth a look (the latter’s 17% Biere de Glace is unlike anything you will ever taste with the word “biere” on the label).
There was my trip to Lewes (https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/sussex-wunt-be-druv ). And then there was GBBF in Birmingham. I gather there just weren’t enough of us there for it to break even, which is a pity. I fear CAMRA needs to rethink. (https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/we-see-through-a-cask-darkly-gbbf-2025 )
But for the most part the turning point came during a visit to Mondo in Battersea in April when I saw two other customers claiming their half price flights with this thing called a Beer Passport. So I researched it, bought it and made it my mission to exploit it in full, beginning with a local triple bill of Distortion, Mondo and Battersea on 2 May. On 13 December I decided to call it quits after visiting my 61st venue in eight months - a strenuous undertaking in anyone’s book. The honour of being the last venue fell to the Against the Grain Cidery in Bermondsey (For the record, the full list is here https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/annex-beer-passport-the-story-so-far )
I started trying to keep a simple top 10 of breweries visited, but it was a bit apples and pears so I began to categorise. To repeat my mantra from previous blogs, I have not had a single bad pint. (Although I have had enough pints of hazy pale to last a lifetime… variety is always welcome, guys). Not everyone can win prizes - not that I am actually handing out any prizes, sorry… - but my thanks and congratulations to all these breweries for what you do.
Anyway, let’s get started with some themed category awards, with occasionally tenuous links to song titles and/or lyrics*.
“I Want to Ride my Bicycle” Award for those venues which are sufficiently local to be within easy cycling distance from Battersea.
Winner: Mondo SW11. The staples of Road Soda, Dennis Hopp’r and Little Victories are reliably tasty and there is usually something more experimental and delicious that I haven’t had before. If I have a “local”, Mondo is it. (And I spent the summer single-handedly trying to convert my fellow Surrey members to Little Victories when it secured a place in the Long Room Bar at the Oval).
Honourable mention: Bohem at the Queen’s Arms SW8. A tip off from the Bohem taproom in Bounds Green - really friendly, great set of their own Czech-style lagers and well-chosen guest ales (last time it was the likes of Elusive and Saint Monday).
“Out in the Fields” Award for venues in a rural setting with outdoor seating. On the right day (i.e. warm and dry) these give you the fondest memories of great beer in a peaceful environment.
Joint Winners: Creative Juices WD3 and Perivale UB6. Creative Juices is a bit of a hike (an infrequent by London standards bus from Rickmansworth) but the Slinky Vagabond West Coast IPA is worth the journey alone, the vibes are really relaxed and I lucked out on the day with food from the Weeping Chef (Masterchef finalist Alec Tomasso). Perivale was just utterly charming and intriguing with their ability to craft fine beers out of the likes of seaweed and Japanese Knotweed (!).
“It’s a Small World After All” Award for tiny venues that you think really should be bigger but maybe that would kill the magic.
Winner: Brightwater (“Claygate Station Platform 3”) KT18. This is just unique. The “smallest pub in England” (inside seating capacity: 1) which looks as if someone has carefully placed a picturesque garden shed on the pavement outside Claygate Station. There is just about room inside for Alex the brewer to dispense a couple of his staples (Daisy Gold Golden Ale is the most noted) while various locals emerge from the station and mill around on benches outside (“sorry, love, train was late… yes, again, what can you do?”)
Honourable Mention: Muswell Hillbillies N10. I visited on a Saturday night and navigated my way down a quiet mews of Muswell Hill Broadway to a venue the size of someone’s living room, packed with good humoured beer drinkers and 70s soul / disco emerging from the record player in the corner. Only about 3 or 4 choices of beer, but all really nice.
“It’s a Small Beer After All” Award for tasty low alcohol stuff goes to, er, Small Beer SE16. Category of their own, really. I tried both the porter and the hazy, both 2.5%, and have concluded that this can help me on those evenings when I really shouldn’t be drinking.
“Drinking with the Devil” Award for places that you probably wouldn’t take the vicar for a quick pint because of the imagery and accompanying music.
Winner: Saint Monday E8. A spin-off from the Camden Black Heart music bar. Music and posters are all a little bit dark and evil. I like it. And the beer is out of this world, including the 6.66% (of course) Strata IPA.
Honourable mention: Werewolf NW1. “Keep Camden Creepy” is the slogan outside. American style beers with horror film-themed titles. Good beer and utterly bonkers decor.
“Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please” Award for lager which rises above the mass-produced norm.
Winner: Pillars E17. The first ever UK craft lager brewery, and it's still no contest, really. I remember looking around in disgust at a Bermondsey venue when someone asked for a “pint of lager” without looking at what was on offer. At Pillars I would forgive you for doing that. But you then have to get your head around the choices. Do you want the Pilsner, the Helles, the Haus, the Pale Lager. The good news is that there is no wrong answer. Their Festbier famously defeated Augustiner in a blind tasting of my friends! And their Icebock… wow
“Drink up Thy Zyder” Award for the best cider venue - you can pretty much always get a decent cider as one of the options at the beer venues, but some of them specialise.
Winners: Kind of depends whether you like it rough or smooth. Umbrella Cider House E2 served me really tasty apple and rhubarb ciders in pleasant surroundings in Bethnal Green with a well stocked fridge for takeout. Against the Grain SE16 is a corrugated iron unit in the hard of the Bermondsey Beer Mile, with an apple cider that is not at all sweet and a 7.6% flat scrumpy. I must confess that I like it rough, myself… so AtG takes the prize.
“Someone’s Always Playing Corporation Games” Award for brilliant venues that have completely not been spoiled by their supposedly malevolent big corporate owners. I mean, can we all just grow up about this a bit?
Winner: Fullers (Asahi) W4. This was the dominant brewery when I lived in South West London. Good though London Pride is, they have far more to offer than that. The brewery shop contains a charming bar. The HPA Special Bitter was delicious. And boy did I get lucky that they were pouring the 180th anniversary 8.4% Vintage Ale - just amazing.
Honourable Mention: Brixton (Heineken) SW9. Lovely scruffy lively characterful taproom with some interesting beers to try over and above the standard ones that you already know.
Other Honourable Mention: Camden (AB InBev) NW5. Yeah OK, shoot me now. The beer hall is a bit of a barn, but their two Oktoberfest variants of Hells - and their IPA - were all very nice.
“I’m So Excited” Award for breweries who wouldn’t dream of engaging in hyperbolic PR to market themselves
Winner: Supercute SW9. “Supercute is a movement, not just a bar. Supercute embodies the spirit of rebellion and creativity… We’re dedicated to shaking up the norm and offer an uplifting experience that stands out in the urban landscape. Supercute wants you to dance!” With thanks to the flamboyant Mr Hammant Patel Villa, founder of Supercute, for this. Their branding is unique. And their beer is good, both at their venue near Loughborough Junction and in the Harlem Brewing Company site in Brixton Market.
[*My thanks to Queen, Gary Moore, Disney, Rainbow, Splodgenessabounds, The Wurzels, Starship and the Pointer Sisters for the inspiration for the award titles]
Grand Champion - Shortlist
Having dispensed with the specialist categories, it is time to adjudicate on which venues were just the best. The beers that knocked my socks off and stopped me putting them back on.
Of the ones mentioned above, Fullers and Saint Monday make the shortlist.
The Goodness N22 proves that it is possible to have substance without style (and proves that I am not hopelessly biased against north London. Much). A frankly grubby industrial premises by the railway line near Alexandra Palace station, but some of the most beautifully constructed beer that I tasted - the Sunshine Kolsch and the Love Supreme DDH Hazy IPA were both absolute exemplars of their kind.
Indie Rabble, Windsor proves that it is possible to have both. A beautiful venue, a force for good with numerous community partnerships (their slogan is “Down With Bad Things”) and beers that win multiple awards. The “It’s Friday Somewhere Zest Coast IPA” cuts through a myriad of hazy pales and really stands out.
I also had a late contender in the form of Gravity Well E10, which I visited at the end of November. Partly because of the impressively executed strong beers - if it’s 8% it really has to be right - and partly because it is such a lovely well designed and decorated space, which at 4 pm on a Friday was full both of “craft boys” and of parents with little ones.
I haven’t really talked about the Bermondsey Beer Mile yet. Let’s just say that it lives up to the hype with an unparalleled concentration of riches on Enid Street and Druid Street. The Passport’s coverage is patchy - no Kernel, no Cloudwater (to be rectified in 2026?) - but it provides two venues to the shortlist. Mash Paddle SE16 not only make great beer but teach others how to make it - they describe themselves as “London’s only incubator for start-up brewers”. I have very good memories indeed of their Belgian-style dubbels when I visited. Bianca Road SE16 was a new discovery for me but their Cracked Summer lemon and black pepper saison was one of the most interesting things I tasted all year.
All of these made a strong case for a podium finish. Ultimately there were two that stood out even against this stiff competition. It comes down to a head to head between two power postcodes. SW9 v SE16. Brixton v Bermondsey.
RUNNER-UP: LONDON BEER LAB SW9
I first visited this place in May. I was immediately charmed. I do like a nice grubby railway arch taproom. I was also knocked out by the beer board, with an absolute wealth of options. I was served by an impressively bearded gentleman who explained to me their philosophy of constant experimentation, with the roster of “Nanos”, and made some great recommendations. Everything that I tasted was absolutely delicious, up to and including the Jean Claude Van Damn 14% dessert ale. I inked them firmly into my top 10.
Then, when it came to the end of the year and they were there or thereabouts in terms of the top prizes, I felt that I needed to give them a second go. So I signed up for one of their Friday night beer tastings. It was every bit as good as I had hoped. Ten beers on offer, starting with the lager and taking in every style on the way through to the mighty Jean Claude. My bearded friend was the master of ceremonies for the more complex beers. His talk was like the best kind of chemistry lesson. Not for nothing is this place called a “lab”, and you could hear how the taste is no accident but grounded in hard science. But there was also humour and, yes, soul. Some time I must join them for one of their brewing sessions.
So how could they not be the Champion? Well…
CHAMPION: ANSPACH & HOBDAY SE16
Because these guys are my Champions of 2025.
They are less wildly prolific than London Beer Lab in terms of styles, although they do offer a range. For example when I first visited them, they were modest about their lager - yes, it was good, but they steered me elsewhere (Pillars) if I wanted something exceptional. I actually like that. Then there are certain areas where they are truly exceptional. Their 6% IPA is one of them. But above all, their fame lies in Porter. It started with The Porter at 6%. More recently they have ridden the wave of porter mania with London Black breaking through as a competitor to the Irish stuff.
So I had a very positive view of them. Then I attended their “Rare and Vintage” tasting evening, which blew me away. A succession of absolutely stunning variants on the strong / barrel aged porter, curated with painstaking care by Paul Anspach himself (see self-indulgent selfie below). Have I let this one evening influence me? Yes, but I don’t think this is undue. Frankly this was genius and, as Paul explained, with a sustainable model based around London Black as the commercial underpinning.
So there we are. I will be taking up the Passport again next year and plan to do a good few visits. But this year has been a special one-off project and has left me deeply optimistic for the brewing of beer around London.
Biermeister over and out. See you in 2026.