Tag Archives: london

European Craft Beer Pub Guide

I’ve done a lot of travelling in the past few years and I made an effort to seek out fine craft beer establishments wherever I went.  I was reminiscing with a friend the other day and I thought I might as well post a list of my favourite European craft beer drinking establishments.  Keep in mind that this is not an all encompassing list, but a list of places I visited and liked.  That being said, I truly believe these are the cream of the crop and that any beer enthusiast should seek them out.

Mikkeller – Copenhagen, Denmark
The impressive and cosy bar of the Danish craft beer geniuses.  What impresses me most about Mikkeller is their creativity and range.  They also server American and other European craft beers in their bar.

‘t Arendsnest – Amsterdam, Netherlands
You could argue there are better beer bars in Amsterdam, but this is this only one that serves only Dutch craft beer.  The bar itself is a beautiful wood paneled brown cafe located right on a ridiculously pretty canal.

Delirium Cafe – Brussels, Belgium
It’s grungy, smokey, crowded and you’ll never want to leave.  The quintessential Brussels beer bar is famous for it’s massive beer list featuring almost every Belgian beer available.  The staff are super knowledgeable and also rude.  I remember being scared to order, but it’s worth it in the end.

‘t Brugs Beertje – Bruges, Belgium
The classic Bruges brown cafe.  I highly recommend watching In Bruges then heading to this place for a gay beer or seven.  It might not be the best beer bar in Bruges, but it’s the classic and a must visit.

Akkurat –  Stockholm, Sweden
Surely the best beer bar in Sweden, featuring craft beer from around the world and from Sweden’s burgeoning craft beer scene.

Bir & Fud – Rome, Italy
Serving only Italian craft beer, this place is in the hip Trastavere neighbourhood of Rome. I didn’t know Italy had a craft beer scene until I visited this place, turns out craft is taking off in Italy.

Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà – Rome, Italy
Across the street from Bir & Fud, this place takes care of the rest of the world and serves top notch stuff from Northern Europe and America.

Craft – London, UK
Can you believe I lived just over a mile away from this place and I only went there twice? I should be punished.  Founded in the summer of 2011, this place immediately became the top beer bar in London.  They have the very best from all over the world; tons of Mikkeller, English and American stuff.

Brewdog – London, UK
The punks at Brewdog are on a pub opening tear in the UK.  The London joint opened in December and has been packed since.  Features tons of Brewdog one-off stuff, as well as quality craft from around the world.

Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Okay, not a pub, but an essential and amazing experience.  I found most German beer halls to be very similar, so why not enjoy them at their grandest scale.  I went twice and I’d go again at the drop of a hat.  Check out my experience.

't Arendsnest in Amsterdam

‘t Arendsnest in Amsterdam, loved it

Brewdog Camden

Us guys at Brewdog, I miss it so bad

Delirium Cafe Brussels

If you can’t have fun at Delirium Cafe, just suicide yourself now

I went to a lot of fantastic pubs in Europe, but these are the standouts from a beer perspective.  Let me know if you think there’s somewhere else I need to go, I only need an excuse…

Cheers,

Chris

The Tides of Change: Craft Beer is Booming

BEER IN LONDON WAS JUST OKAY

When I moved to London in early 2010 I thought I was going to a beer mecca.  I mean, what beer nerd doesn’t hold the English ale in high regard?  While London does have a fantastic social pub scene and numerous epic historic/cosy pubs, the beer itself wasn’t what I expected.  In Vancouver, we revere cask beer, but then the cask beer we get here is almost always incredibly fresh and of very high quality.  In an English pub, there are always at least three beer machines pumping cask ale, but how long has it been sitting there?  I’ve consumed enough stale english ale to last me a lifetime.

BUT THEN IT GOT REALLY GOOD

I did my best to find cool beer stuff in London, seeking out highly regarded pubs, hitting up GBBF, and otherwise searching for good beer (Uto Beer had the only good selection in town). Then BOOM! three new craft beer joints opened up within two miles of my place.  It just goes to show you that people are starting to demand craft beer, even in a place like London where lager is consumed by the bucket-full after work.  Craft, The Euston Tap, Brewdog, and The Kernel all started up in London after I got there, and these are epic places.

AND IT’S GOOD OTHER PLACES TOO

While in London I travelled to other places in Europe as much as I possibly could. I loved the traditional beer cultures of Germany and Belgium, but I also noticed that other countries are starting to forge their own craft brewing traditions.  I had an incredible time checking out awesome beer places in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and even Rome, among others.  What’s interesting is that craft beer establishments all have something in common, they are very young.  The idea of craft brewing is relatively new and it’s spreading throughout the world.  We can trace the roots of craft beer back to the CAMRA movement in the UK during the seventies.  Strange though that the Americans really took craft and ran with it, showing us the way.  We on the west coast are lucky to be situated so near epic beer towns like Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco.  Even in these places, craft beer didn’t get going until the eighties.

BEER IS EXPLODING IN VANCOUVER

Now I’m back in Vancouver and BOOM! doesn’t do the local beer scene justice.  Beer has exploded all over the lower mainland.  It’s tough to find a restaurant worth eating at that doesn’t serve craft beer. My non beer nerd friends have impressive selections in their fridges.  The Big Ridge Liquor Store in Surrey has a selection that rivals Brewery Creek.  I went to a Belgian Beer pairing dinner at Uli’s in White Rock last night (in White Rock! that’s crazy). We have a Vancouver Craft Beer Week (coming soon, buy tickets now) and a BC Craft Beer Month.  There are all sorts of new BC breweries like Hoyne, Tofino, Parallel 49, Townsite, and Coal Harbour, not to mention beer bars sprouting up all over the place.  It’s not just the Alibi Room anymore, though it’s still the best in my opinion.  Then there are numerous cask nights and events listed every week in the CAMRA Vancouver newsletter (which you should subscribe to).  And when I left there were only a few local beer blogs kicking around, but now there are at least twenty.  There are too many cool things to list, but I think you get the idea.

Craft beer is becoming mainstream around these parts.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

I think there are quite a few reasons craft beer is taking off.  Most importantly, craft beer tastes better. It’s probably healthier too, though I can’t prove it.  Craft beer tends to be made with just the four key ingredients, whereas many macro lagers aren’t even vegetarian (so what else is in them?).  Craft beer is also relatively local in that it is brewed locally by locals and hops and water come from here (barley comes from the prairies).  After the financial crisis, I know I’d rather buy beer from that guy I saw at the pub than a giant international purveyor of piss water like AB InBev.  Vancouver is also lucky to be a laid back place where creativity flourishes.  The craft beer influence from nearby Seattle and Portland surely doesn’t hurt either.

What I like best about craft beer is the passion.  Erik summed up his passion for craft beer perfectly.  Making beer is hard work and not all that lucrative hereabouts.  To brew beer you haver to absolutely love it, and our brewers do.  This shines through in the local community and I think people appreciate it.  I sure do.

Brewdog in London, drinking beer is fun

Brewdog in London, drinking beer is tasty and fun

PERSPECTIVE

I’ve noticed some people getting really worked up about beer lately.  I think it’s important to remember that beer is an extracurricular activity in our culture.  It used to be food, but now it’s just fun.  When I saw CAMRA’s FUSS Campaign (which I do agree with in principle), I wondered why people care more about serving sizes than helping people who actually need help?  In the grand scheme of things, beer isn’t a real issue.  That being said, BC has the stupidest liquor laws on the planet. In Germany, everyone drinks in parks and it’s considered civilized.  I want that.

Cheers,

Chris

Saturdays at The Kernel Brewery in London

The Kernel Brewery is a very good brewery in London.  I first tasted their beer at the Euston Tap, where I had their delightful Centennial/Citra Pale Ale.  It’s hard to find particularly inventive brewers in London, but Kernel makes fantastic strong IPAs and dark beers.  I like them a lot.

Recently, The Kernel started having open houses on Saturday at their Maltby Street location in Bermondsey, London.  Their brewery is conveniently located along the Maltby Street market. Be warned, it’s incredibly hipstery at this market, so much so there’s a shop selling only vintage fixie bikes.  If that bothers you, steer clear.  If you can look past the ironically dressed clientele, visiting The Kernel on a Saturday is very nice.

Kernel Brewery at Tanner Street market

Kernel Brewery at Maltby Street market

They have a table setup where you can order a pint or buy some of their beer in bottles.  We had the basic stout and one of their IPAs at the market and I took home bottles of the Centennial/Citra pale ale, 2010 Centennial IPA, Export India Porter, and Imperial Brown Stout.  I haven’t had them yet, but, from what I’ve tasted so far, I can’t imagine they’ll disappoint.

The beer menu, some good stuff on there

The beer menu, some good stuff on there

Me buying some Kernel beers

Me buying some Kernel beers

The Kernel bottles I took home

The Kernel bottles I took home

Vancouver, take note.  The Kernel served and sold beer out of the back of their brewery right onto the street!  There were no fights, car accidents, underage drinkers, or even drunk people!  Why can’t we do this in Vancouver?

Cheers,

Chris

Brewdog has a pub in London now

In Camden to be exact, and it’s been there for about a month.  I was really excited when I found out Brewdog opened their first non-Scottish pub in London (4th pub overall) in December.  There are few epic beer bars in London, especially when you consider the scale of London and how much time people spend down the pub.  Brewdog Camden joins Craft and The Euston Tap as beer nerd destinations in Londontown.

Erik was around over the holidays, so naturally we hit up Brewdog Camden.  I was very impressed by the look of the place, which is very clean, modern, and on brand.  I was even more impressed by the beer on offer, there were twenty odd taps and hundreds of bottles.  The bottle selection was almost solely constituted of hardcore craft beer, mostly American (mostly Californian), some Danish (mostly Mikkeller), and Hitachino Nest of Japan.  The majority of the taps were of Brewdog’s own beer, but there were also a few guest kegs from the likes of Stone and Mikkeller.  Much of the Brewdog beer on tap I’d never seen in bottles before and I believe some were experimental.  I really enjoyed the Winter Porter and the Hops Kill Nazis (a hoppy imperial red).  I didn’t love the Wasabi Stout or the Dogma, but that’s just me.

At Brewdog Camden

Us guys at Brewdog Camden

What I really liked was that both Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) and Sink the Bismarck (41% ABV) were on offer, £6 for a 25ml taste.  I’d only ever come across these beers in bottles in the UK and didn’t buy because they carry a hefty price tag, so this was my first taste.  We tried Tactical Nuclear Penguin (they were out of Bismarck) and it was a delight.  It’s very syrupy in the glass and it tastes very sweet, more like madeira than beer.  It also warms the throat in a good way, like a fine brandy or cognac might.  A bottle would be dangerous in my hands.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin Brewdog Camden

Tactical Nuclear Penguin in the glass (Hops kill Nazis in the background)

Tasting Tactical Nuclear Penguin at Brewdog Camden

Erik tasting TNP with an aristocratic air

London beer tourists, in this order, visit Craft, Brewdog Camden, and the Euston Tap.  My one criticism of Brewdog Camden is that  there aren’t many session beers to be had, which might turn off the casual beer fan.  I don’t think Brewdog cares though, beer for punks after all.

Cheers,

Chris

London Pub Guide

Euston Tap

The Euston Tap is a really good pub

When I moved to London I expected to arrive in a beer nirvana, where cask ale rains from the sky and everyone is happily just a little bit drunk all the time.  While my expectations may have been lofty, I was generally surprised at how few good pubs, from a beer perspective, I could find in London.  Sure, there are pubs everywhere and the majority of the English population is drunk a lot of the time (though not exactly happily), but where are all the good pubs?  Over time I managed to find a few here and there, no thanks to terrible pub finding websites like Fancyapint and Beer in the Evening.

It’s not like I wasn’t trying to find good pubs in London, I’m ever diligent. I even downloaded the CAMRA Good Beer Guide iPhone app, which is great for finding pubs serving cask ale.  CAMRA, however, fails to distinguish between a pub serving nicely conditioned cask ale and a nice place to hang out.  CAMRA highly recommends the Wenlock Arms in Islington, which I decided to check out.  When I walked in, I found the place full of dishevelled looking regulars staring at me like I didn’t belong there.  Though the beer was some of the best I’d drank in London to that point, I found the atmosphere to be very disconcerting.  Lucky for them, their beer gets them on the list.

Lucky for me, I eventually started working in the same office as a fellow beer enthusiast.  The list below comes courtesy of Lee Bacon aka Baconator, who I kindly thank for his good advice.  The best two places I’ve visited on hist list are The Euston Tap and Craft, which are both fantastic beer bars that, in my humble opinion, stack up with the best in the world.

North London:

London Bridge:

Old Street:

Chancery Lane / Holborn:

Covent Garden:

West London:

If you have any other suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them.

Cheers,

Chris