We will be travelling to London on 26th November with my two brothers for 7 days. We all are craft beer enthusiasts who already are ecstatic about this trip.
As usual we started to research the London craft scene which is gigantic compared to İstanbul and even other European cities. We are already aware of great craft brewers such as Verdant, DEYA, Cloudwater etc. After a little bit of research we came to a conclusion that we need to get advice from an educated local, otherwise there are limitless options and we will always regret the choice we didn’t make.
In this regard, I would like to ask you for your help and guidance. Below I will state what we are looking for. Hope you will be able to help us find the right places which we can fit in 7 days.
We love NEIPAs, so any place that specialises in these kinds of beers,
Places where we can find an extensive selection of Verdant, DEYA, Cloudwater or any other British Brewery beer that we should try. We are open to suggestions obviously.
Places where we can find American beers such as Trillium, Monkish, Tree House etc., if there is such a place in London. (Bottle shops included)
Places where we can find northern european beers such as Gamma Brewery.
Also any place that doesn’t fit in above descriptions and you think we should visit is appreciated. We also love west coast IPAs, Pale ales, imperial stouts etc.
Places with good craft beer and GREAT food that we shouldn’t miss because of the food.
No answers from the natives yet? I’ll try to give some advices although I’m not English - but I’ve been planning pub-crawls over there for a lot of years.
A good starting point is https://www.beerguideldn.com . They are very up-to-date with breweries in London and pubs where you can find good beer.
Hopefully my friend and I will be in England in the middle of November. We have made a spreadsheet based on this guide with information about opening hours as of Nov. 1st. There even is a map.
I have not answered your direct questions. We are more interested cask-beers but you should visit one of the Craft Beer Co. pubs to see if they have got what you are looking for. The Craft Beer Co. chain, supermarkets and places like Brewdog and Mikkeller should keep you busy for the week.
As you note, London is a massive city. You could spend a whole day in certain neighbourhoods focusing only on the beer. A few recommendations based your requests:
Bermondsey is a must. Cloudwater has their own taproom in Bermondsey. They sometimes have high-profile breweries on tap, like Trillium. I think they have a lot of Trillium sour in bottles now as well. Also in Bermondsey is the Kernel Brewery taproom (Arch 7). In my opinion Kernel is the best brewery in the UK, so if I were you I would carve out a good chunk of time for their taproom. Huge selection, great quality and also some of the best value you will find in London. They make great pale ale/IPA but their stouts are truly world class. There are a load of other breweries and bar/taprooms in Bermondsey, all walking distance from each other. I would also recommend London Beer Factory, Anspach & Hobday, Moor, Brew By Numbers, Craft Beer Junction, Three Hills (The Outpost). I am probably forgetting some places. I would probably not recommend Southwark Brewing, Bianca Road, Spartan, Partizan or Fourpure.
Hackney Central. If you want Verdant, then The Experiment is the place to go. It’s a shared taproom with a brewery called Pressure Drop (which for my money is perhaps better than Verdant). They usually have 6 beers each from Verdant and Pressure Drop, along with 10+ cans from each brewery, of the most recent releases. Within walking distance you have some great pubs, namely the Cock Tavern (which sometimes has Deya on tap) and the Pembury Tavern. There are some other breweries nearby but I wouldn’t prioritise them (Deviant & Dandy and Hackney Church). There’s also a place called the Hackney Tap that is pretty decent. They serve gyoza, but I haven’t tried the food yet.
There are some good bottle shops not too far from the Hackney Central area. Check them out on a map to see if you’re willing to venture to them: Clapton Craft and All Good Beer. If you want to buy beer, I would also suggest considering an online shop, if you’re staying in a hotel (for example) that could receive a delivery. Lots of online shops have next day delivery and have huge selections. I would recommend the House of Trembling Madness.
Hackney Wick. You can take the Overground train two stops from Hackney Central to Hackney Wick. In Hackney Wick you have Beer Merchants Tap, which has perhaps the largest selection of bottles and cans of any bar in London. They also have some interesting stuff on tap usually. In the same area you have an excellent brewery taproom in Howling Hops, and Old Street Brewery is also decent. Howling Hops does a lot of NEIPA style stuff.
I don’t think you will find any Monkish or Tree House in London.
As for Northern European stuff, Beer Merchants Tap is probably your best bet.
In terms of timing, you no longer need to visit Bermondsey on a Saturday as most of the places there are also open on other days (e.g. Wed-Sun). Check the times to see what works. For Hackney, The Experiment is open Wed-Sun so plan accordingly. I think all the other places in Hackney that I mentioned are open every day.
For good food, I would recommend the Pembury Tavern. They have some of the best pizza in London, in my view.
When it comes to food, off the top of my head I can’t think of many beer places that also do great food. My recommendation would be to just do a little research on the area where you’re going for beer to find the best food in the area. For example, in Bermondsey, there’s a great ramen place called Bone Daddies. They might even have some decent beer in Bone Daddies, I can’t remember.
But most of the brewery taprooms in London don’t do their own food. Some will have food trucks outside, some will let you order in food (from specific vendors) or bring your own.
If you can post the general area where you’re staying in London, I can make some more convenient recommendations as well, for both beer and food. Assuming you are staying somewhere in Zone 1 or 2.
