Beer Culture with Des de Moor

Zythos Bierfestival 2012

Des — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:25:10 +0000

Zythos Bierfestival 2012, Brabanthal, Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, België

The most important beer festival in one of the world’s greatest beer countries just got bigger still. After several years packing out a smallish hall in the obscure town of Sint-Niklaas, the Zythos Bierfestival (ZBF) almost doubled in size in 2012 in its new home for at least the next four years, the Brabanthal in the historic brewing and university city of Leuven. The welcome additional space and extended choice should help ensure ZBF remains one of the world’s top beer events, and a fine showcase for the diverse and increasingly dynamic Belgian brewing scene.

This way for good beer...

Unlike British beer festivals, ZBF allocates a small stand per brewery and this year the number of stands grew from 56 to 96. With a few sharers, 104 breweries and beer firms were represented, from tiny hobby outfits to multinationals, offering over 400 different craft and other specialist beers – with a waiting list of brewers who failed to secure a stand. Total attendance over the weekend of 28-29 April was up by 3,000 to 13,000, with plenty of room to grow still further over the coming years.

In contrast to Sint-Niklaas, a pleasant but ordinary small town with excellent transport links, Leuven has much to offer as a host city. 30km east of Brussels on the main road and rail routes east towards Liège and Köln, it was for many centuries an important brewing centre. Its most successful old-established brewery, Artois, has since bloated into global giant AB InBev and the city remains the international headquarters of the world’s biggest brewing group. But it’s long boasted an excellent independent brewpub, Domus, and in the past few years several small breweries have started up in the vicinity.

Besides its brewing links, Leuven is the provincial capital of Flemish Brabant and a fascinating and historic place in its own right, with some astonishing and important built heritage like the elaborate Gothic town hall and two peaceful mediaeval beguinages that enjoy World Heritage Site status. Significantly, it’s also home to the oldest and biggest university in the Low Countries, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven, otherwise known as KU Leuven). A massive student population supports Belgium’s biggest collection of student pubs, occupying practically every ground floor of the long, narrow rectangle of the Oude Markt (Old Market Place) in the city centre. Needless to say, the university boasts a brewing faculty which has made a major contribution to the national industry.

The festival venue stands rather apart from all this. The Brabanthal is a giant box of an exhibition and convention centre next to a dual carriageway on the eastern edge of town. Regular attenders will have missed the convenience of the short stumble from Sint-Niklaas station to the Stadsfeestzaal almost opposite, but in mitigation a free shuttle bus operated every 15 minutes to and from Leuven station. I opted instead for a pleasant half-hour walk, plotting a route through the redeveloped former Philips factory site, the parkland and waterside of the Abdij van ‘t Park (Park Abbey) and along a track across fields. I confess to catching the bus back, though.

Zythos Bierfestival 2012

In common with the Stadsfeestzaal, the Brabanthal is a hanger-like space with a concrete floor and no natural light, but developed an adequate atmosphere when full of decorated brewery bars and crowds of eager drinkers, and the additional space was really welcome. Plentiful tables lined the walls around the bars, with much more standing and circulation room between them. Additionally the marginally more luxurious foyer offered more seating as well as hot and soft drinks in an extensive cafeteria, and spreading room for other stands, including a much expanded bottle shop stocked with unusual beers from small breweries. An outdoor food area enabled the enjoyment of that national staple, chips (fries) lathered with mayonnaise (or filled rolls and pitas or pizza slices) without the frying fumes detracting from the appreciation of beer aromas. There was also an extended outdoor smoking area – the festival has been smoke free for several years anyway and last year Belgian law caught up with it.

Armand Debelder presides at the 3 Fonteinen stand, Zythos Bierfestival 2012

One of the advantages of the brewery bars is that they are usually staffed by the breweries, giving drinkers the opportunity to meet the people behind the beers. Numerous brewers were in evidence at the festival – I spotted people from Brasserie de la Senne, Rulles, Alvinne and Tilquin. Lambic legend Armand Debelder was happily dispensing his own excellent beers at the 3 Fonteinen stand.

The whole spectrum of Belgian specialist brewing was represented. At one extreme, AB InBev put in an appearance for the first time I can remember, and quite right too given their local links. They were showcasing the Leffe abbey brands, including a new 5.5% beer, Nectar. At the other extreme were several new and often very small breweries, some run only as spare time hobbies. Danny, Dijkwaert, Donum Ignis, Gruut, Herberg, Hof ten Dormaal, Jessenhofke, Leite, Lupus, Maenhout, Nieuwhuys, Paenhuys, Pakhuis, Pirlot, Sint Canarus, Vlier, Wieze and Wilderen were among the less familiar names.

This profusion of newcomers, often showcasing distinctive and innovative beers, reflects the current healthy state of Belgian brewing. Given the reverence with which the country is regarded by beer connoisseurs internationally, and the uncritical view of most Belgian drinkers that their national beers are the best in the world, complacency is not unknown, but international awareness happily works both ways. 11million hl – more than half the country’s production – is now exported and Belgian brewers seem well attuned to changing tastes in the world market, which are increasingly feeding back into the home market too.

What is it about beer festivals and embarassing headgear? Pink elephants on parade at Zythos Bierfestival 2012.

The happy result is that the country’s numerous surviving unique traditional styles seem secure, as attested by the recent arrival of a new geuze blender, Tilquin, though brewers no longer feel hidebound by them at the expense of experimentation. Unusual hybrids based on abbey beers and wheat beers, wood aged extreme stouts and pale ales with generous dosings of US hops were all on offer alongside classic lambics, tripels, saisons and spéciales belges. And with a 15cl glass of any beer available for a standard €1.40 token, there were plenty of bargains to be had at the rarified end of the market.

'Thou shalt enjoy'. The 11th commandment being obeyed at Zythos Bierfestival 2012.

Alongside the Great American and Great British Beer Festivals, the Zythos Bierfestival is arguably one of the world’s top three events for serious beer lovers, reflected in the increasingly international attendance. A rainbow of English accents could be heard across the hall, and there were plenty of Scandinavians and Italians in evidence as well as Belgians and Dutch. The new venue and the attractions of the host city make it even more of a must-visit than ever, so make a note in your diary now for 27-28 April 2013.

Zythos Bierfestival 2012: festival glasses and ballot papers waiting to be filled.

Insider tip. Admission is free, but if you’re a member of an EBCU (European Beer Consumer Union) affiliated organisation, you can also claim two free tokens (jetons) at the Zythos stand by showing your membership card. If you’re a member of more than one EBCU organisation, you’ll get two tokens for each membership. I can’t help feeling a little greedy every year for claiming six tokens with a flash of my CAMRA, PINT and Zythos cards.

On a personal note, Leuven is also the place where I underwent a major beer epiphany, almost exactly 20 years before, when my then partner, who was on a six month placement at KU Leuven, introduced me to Hoegaarden at the Oase, one of those many student bars on the Oude Markt. A few weeks later we bought a copy of Michael Jackson’s The Great Beers of Belgium between us and I never looked back. I found the Oase again the other day, though it was too early in the day for it to be open, but I’m glad to report that the Domus brewpub, another of our favourite haunts back then, is still going strong, and brewing again after a challenging period.

See also Zythos Bierfestival 2010.

Beer picks

3 Fonteinen Faro 5.5% Beersel, Vlaams-Brabant, Vlaanderen
Dochter van de Korenaar Peated Oak Aged Embrasse 9% Baarle-Hertog, Antwerpen, Vlaanderen
Roman/Antwerps Seef Bier 6.5% Oudenaarde, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen

Roman/Antwerps Seef Bier

Des — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:16:35 +0000

Zythos Bierfestival 2012

ABV: 6.5%
Origin: Oudenaarde, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen
Website: www.seef.be

Roman / Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie Seef Bier

The consolidation and transformation of the brewing industry and the beer market in the 20^th century swept away numerous local and regional beer styles, with beers once ubiquitous in their own territories rapidly declining and almost being wiped from memory. Porter is perhaps the best known example, but there are more, and some are only now being rediscovered as the growing interest in specialist and craft beer drives a corresponding interest in brewing history.

One such rediscovered style is ‘seefbier’, which for over a century before World War II was the signature beer style of the city of Antwerpen and its surroundings. It’s mentioned by several Flemish authors, and in folk poems and songs. According to Domien Sleeckx, writing in 1863, seef was “a white beer [‘wit bier’]…that foamed like Champagne, went to the head like port, and cost 10¢ a litre” (my translation). Lode Baekelmans, in 1904, made a similarly effervescent comparison in dubbing it “poor man’s Champagne”. It gave its name, which most likely derives from Latin sapa or Dutch sap, meaning juice or sap, to a district of the city, the Seefhoek to the north of the city centre. Incidentally, it’s not pronounced to rhyme with ‘beef’ as it looks to English speakers — try saying ‘safe’ in a Yorkshire accent and you’ll get closer.

Yet seefbier completely vanished. Today we think of the Belgian pale ale, De Koninck, as the signal Antwerpenaar beer – a style developed to compete with the seemingly unstoppable postwar popularity of golden lager, the latter now of course outstripping in volume all other beers in Antwerpen as it does throughout Belgium.

But seefbier has returned from the dead. Industry figure Johan Van Dyck, the marketing director at Duvel-Moortgat, became intrigued by the style a few years back and set about researching its elusive history. Seefbier brewers tended to keep their recipes secret, but Johan finally tracked down a brewer’s handwritten notes, which he analysed with Freddy Delvaux, brewing scientist at KU Leuven, and his son Filip, who had worked with Dogfish Head on their attempt at recreating an ancient Egyptian beer.

Previously, that description of seef as a ‘witbier’ or white beer had misled people into assuming it was a spiced wheat beer in the Brabant style typified by Hoegaarden, itself a revival of a temporarily extinct local speciality. But the research indicated a beer quite unlike any contemporary example, made from a mixed grist bill including oats and buckwheat as well as barley malt and wheat. The ‘wit’ description turned out simply to indicate a cloudy beer that was lighter in colour than most of its contemporaries.

Over several test brews, Johan and Filip evolved a new version of seef using the four grains, Belgian hops and an historic yeast strain not much removed genetically from a baker’s yeast. Johan set up his own beer firm, the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, with the initial aim of marketing the revived beer. It would have been a nice idea to brew it at De Koninck, but this proved impractical, so in December 2011 the first commercial brew of seefbier in many decades emerged from the mash tun at small family brewery Roman in Oudenaarde, and was finally launched to the public in March 2012.

I found it at the Zythos Bierfestival, bottle conditioned and poured from the bottle. It emerged a cloudy deep yellow with a smooth white head. A lightly spicy aroma had notes of ginger, clove and lemonade citrus. A soft and refreshing but very interesting palate yielded liquorice, custard, tangerine, fresh white bread, banana and vanilla cream.

The softness persisted into the finish, with a citrus peel tang, an unctuous smoothness perhaps from the oats, and a late note of hops. Overall it was a very cheerful and refreshing beer, and amazingly easy going for a relatively robust gravity. Distinctive and indeed different from any other beer I’ve tried, it’s a worthy resurrection which makes you wonder what other potential delights might be still be hidden in dusty and forgotten notebooks of long dead brewers.

Update 17 May 2012. After I posted this, Johan Van Dyck from Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie got in touch with some more information. The beer was officially launched on 9 March at Antwerpen town hall where the Mayor, Patrick Janssens, declared it the second official beer of the city, after De Koninck of course. The beer proved so popular that what was planned as seven months’ worth was sold out in a fortnight. Seef Bier was also submitted to the World Beer Cup in San Diego, California, earlier this month — “a bit over-courageous maybe,” reflects Johan — and ended up winning a gold medal in the Other Belgian-Style Ale category. In the process of researching the recipe, Johan unearthed numerous interesting old recipes that have inspired other ideas for new beers, but for the time being he is focusing on Seef.

I’m grateful to the following source for background information:
Johan ‘Wanne’ Madelijns (2012), ‘Johan Van Dyck wil oude bieren nieuw leven inblazen’ in De Zytholoog 36 (February 2012)

Dochter van de Korenaar Peated Oak Aged Embrasse

Des — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:05:30 +0000

Zythos Bierfestival 2012

ABV: 9%
Origin: Baarle-Hertog, Antwerpen, Vlaanderen
Website: www.dedochtervandekorenaar.be

De Dochter van de Korenaar Peated Oak Aged Embrasse, Zythos Bierfestival, Leuven 2012

De Dochter van de Korenaar (‘the ear of corn’s daughter’, a poetic expression for beer) is a Belgian brewery, but only just. It was founded by a former home brewer, Ronald Mengerink, originally from Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands, who lived for a time in France. When he finally went professional in 2007, Ronald located his brewery adjacent to his home in the intriguing location of Baarle-Hertog.

Connoisseurs of geopolitical eccentricity will be familiar with Baarle-Hertog, an enclave of the Belgian province of Antwerpen in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant – or rather several enclaves totalling 7.5km², some of which in themselves contain enclaves of the Netherlands. These enclaves are a legacy of 11^th and 12^th century land deals between the Dukes of Brabant, the Lords of Breda and the Counts of Holland that somehow managed to exert their influence beyond the foundation of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1831. The boundaries even bisect individual buildings and what life must have been like there before Schengen and the euro is hard to imagine.

De Dochter van de Korenaar is a small, artisanal setup and I have to confess my early experiences with its beers were not happy ones. But the quality has got more consistent in recent years and Ronald’s experimental approach has caught the interest of an increasingly globally aware young market of beer fans in both Belgium and the Netherlands.

Embrasse, first sold in 2008, is one of the brewery’s most highly rated beers, described as a cross between a strong, dark Trappist and an imperial stout, with a generous dose of hops more typical of the latter. It’s also been the basis of various oak matured special editions, including Peated Oak Aged (the English term is used), ripened for three months in oak barrels formerly filled with Connemara peated whiskey from the Cooley distillery in Ireland.

Last year Peated Oak Aged Embrasse was voted beer of the festival at the Zythos Bierfestival, and this year it was back, served from a suitably rugged looking barrel by handpump with the assistance of a CO₂ cask breather.

The resulting beer was a very dark amber brown with a thick and bubbly head. A rich woody, leathery and meaty aroma had notes of black treacle as well as a definite whiff of peated malt whiskey. The thick chocolate palate was tingly with gentle carbonation, with oaky vanilla, tangy orange fruit, and lots of dark cakey malt, still with whiskey evident.

The woody vanillins became slightly more pronounced on a tangy finish, with more of that orange fruit, a pleasant sweetness and a roasty malt note that sat in the mouth, without the burnt quality of some beers in this style. A splendid beer that certainly redeemed my earlier disappointments.

3 Fonteinen Faro

Des — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:56:09 +0000

Zythos Bierfestival 2012

ABV: 5.5%
Origin: Beersel, Vlaams-Brabant, Vlaanderen
Website: www.3fonteinen.be

Brouwerij en stekerij 3 Fonteinen, Beersel, Vlaams-Brabant, België

The simplest way to make an acidic young lambic palatable is to bung sugar in it, and in the past this was probably the most common way of drinking lambic in its heartland in and around Brussels. Low gravity lambic, blended with a lighter beer that might not be spontaneously fermented, would have been dosed with brown sugar at the pub just before serving. The resulting drink, known as ‘faro’, was, like mild in England, an everyday refresher popular with manual workers from factories and farms.

These days faro is a minority style, usually made from standard strength lambic and pre-mixed with brown sugar, and perhaps some caramel, at the brewery or blender. The sweetening needs to be done shortly before serving, or the beer has to be pasteurised first, otherwise the sugar will prompt a refermentation and the beer will lose its sweetish, relatively still character.

I find the style fascinating, and 3 Fonteinen’s version is one of the rarest, usually only reliably on sale in Beersel itself, so I pounced on it when I spotted it at ZBF, served from a handpump. I wasn’t disappointed.

The beer was mid-amber in colour with a bubbly white head, perked up by the pump. A gentle aroma had notes of oranges, oil and perhaps some cinnamon spice. A lusciously soft and slightly spicy palate was gently sweet and beautifully balanced, with a distinct lambic rasp and notes of orange and grapefruit pith. There was a more candyish note in a chewy, lightly nutty finish. Some bottled faro is sickly sweet – this wasn’t, but comforting and sublimely drinkable.

For more on the brewer and blender see 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek.

Powder Keg Diplomacy SW11

Des — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:45:01 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Battersea and Clapham

Powder Keg Diplomacy, London SW11

Bar (Lost Society)
147 St Johns Hill SW11 1TQ
T 020 7450 6457 w www.powderkegdiplomacy.co.uk
Open 1600 (1000 Sat-Sun)-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome daytimes.
Cask beer 3 (Dark Star, unusual guests), Other beer 5 keg, 40+ bottles, Also Cocktails, 30 wines, home made soft drinks and spirit infusions.
Food Gastro British menu, Outdoor Tables on street, Wifi. No disabled toilet but will assist with access.
Seasonal events, occasional beer and cocktail tastings.

A decade ago the idea of installing cask ale handpumps in a hip and youthful London cocktail bar would have seemed ridiculous. Now the owners of such places are commissioning their own brand beers and planning to start a brewery. Powder Keg Diplomacy is the most recently opened and the most beer friendly of a small family of venues centred around Battersea and Clapham, of which the best known is Lost Society. Opened late in 2011 in a former restaurant premises that had lain unoccupied for two years, it really is a demonstration of how the image of fine beer is changing.

The smallish venue has a fin de siècle colonial Victorian theme – a ceiling map of the British Empire at its height, hatstands, cut glass, a lovely rear conservatory with a ceiling fan – but it’s accomplished with a sense of taste and isn’t intrusive or tacky. Besides a range of expertly mixed cocktails, unusual alcoholic infusions and home made soft drinks prepared by attentive, informative and occasionally uncomfortably overpolite staff, there’s a beer list that shows all the right signs of tender loving care.

Dark Star Hophead is a regular cask beer, joined by guests from breweries like Bristol, Ilkley, Magic Rock and Windsor & Eton. Kegs are all British craft beers including offerings from Harviestoun, Magic Rock and Meantime, except for the Belgian-brewed house lager. An excellent British-dominated bottled list includes Green Jack, Hopdaemon, Kernel, Marble, Redchurch and Thornbridge, with “colonial” guests from the US and Australia – the owners have a personal connection with the Mountain Goat brewery in Richmond, Victoria.

Decent food at approaching decent restaurant prices, cooked up by chef Warren Beasley, runs from substantial bar snacks like oysters and braised haggis balls to main courses like ale-braised oxtail, hake fillet, hung steaks and celeriac and potato hotpot. Beer matching recommendations, sadly, are missing from the menu, but otherwise PKD shines a light for a new generation of cool beer friendly hangouts.

National Rail Overground Clapham Junction Cycling LCN+ 29, links to 3 37 CS8

Prince Blücher TW2

Des — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:36:29 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill

Prince Blücher, Twickenham TW2 (London)

Contemporary pub (Fuller’s)
124 The Green, Twickenham TW2 5AG
T 020 8894 1824 w www.fullers.co.uk
Open 1100 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome until 2100.
Cask beer 4 (Fuller’s) Cask Marque, Other beer 1 keg, 9 bottles (mainly Fuller’s), Also 28 wines.
Food Enhanced pub grub, Outdoor Large beer garden, Wifi.
Thu quiz, big screen sport, functions.

This smart but homely place on Twickenham Green, like many pubs round here, has something of a rugby theme, welcoming “all the rugby clubs of England” – but its welcome also extends to drinkers who don’t know their tries from their conversions. An old fashioned exterior, complete with door glass naming separate bars, conceals a much bigger interior than expected, opened out and contemporarily furnished though with several distinct areas including some cosy sofa-strewn corners. It’s also very child friendly with a play area in the extensive garden.

Run by a former Fuller’s cellarman of the year, this is one of the pubs the brewery is targeting as a showcase beer venue. Chiswick, ESB, Pride and a seasonal occupy the handpumps, and there’s a good range of Fuller’s bottles including 1845, Bengal Lancer, London Porter and latest Past Masters issues. A sturdy pub grub menu – steak and ESB pie, honey roast ham, Pride-battered cod, burgers, wild mushroom risotto – is complemented by kids’ meals, daily specials and two for £10 lunchtime deals.

Pub trivia. It’s unusual to find a British pub named after a German who wasn’t also a British royal, but Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt (1742-1819), enjoyed a fan following here for contributing to the defeat of Napoléon as the commander of the Prussian forces at Waterloo. He had a locomotive named after him as well as pubs.

National Rail Strawberry Hill, Twickenham Bus First Cross Road (110 Twickenham, Hounslow, 490 Twickenham, Feltham) Cycling Link to LCN+ 37, Hampton Wick, Brentford Walking Thames Path

Fox TW1

Des — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:26:07 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill

The Fox, Twickenham TW1 (London). Pic: Twickenham Taverns.

Contemporary pub (Enterprise/Twickenham Taverns)
39 Church Street, Twickenham TW1 3NR
T 020 8892 1535 w www.thefoxpubtwickenham.co.uk f thefoxtwickenham
Open 1100-2300 (0030 Fri-Sat, 2330 Sun). Children welcome until 1930.
Cask beer 6 (Fuller’s, Sharp’s, Twickenham, 3 sometimes local guests), Other beer 2 keg, 6 bottles, Also 37 wines, a few malts.
Food Enhanced pub grub menu, interesting bar snacks, Outdoor Unusual beer garden. Disabled toilet.
Thu-Sat live music, functions.

The choice for discerning drinkers in Twickenham expanded still further late in 2011 when this historic pub in picturesque Church Street reopened after a thorough refurbishment. It claims to be oldest pub in the town, founded in 1670 as the Bell to serve ferry operators on the nearby river, then rebuilt in 1749. The main bar is rustic and traditional, with old beams and an uneven floor, the steep step down from outside indicating how the street level has risen over the centuries. But off to the side is a new and attractively contemporary space created by glassing over a side yard, leading through to an unusual beer garden decked out with palm trees, bamboo and “found sculptures” of eroded wood. A British food menu creeps into restaurant prices for dishes like calves liver and bacon, pan roasted cod loin or three bean and mushroom pie; a more snacky bar menu – smoked haddock Scotch egg, grilled goat cheese and chips – will fill you up for less.

The pub is now run by the people behind the outstanding Sussex Arms nearby, and although it has a notably more restricted beer choice than its sister venue, there’s still plenty to be getting on with. Doom Bar, Pride and local favourite Naked Ladies are the regular cask choices, while guests tend towards unusual beers and seasonals from established breweries like Caledonian, Robinsons or Wychwood, all immaculately kept. Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada Pale and Negra Modelo add a touch of class among the bottles.

Insider tip. If it’s not in use for pre-booked functions, look out for the half-hidden Oak Room, a small wood panelled delight.

National Rail Twickenham Cycling LCN+ 37, Hampton Wick, Brentford, link to NCN 4 Walking Thames Path

Cabbage Patch TW1

Des — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:10:28 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill

Rugby-themed soft furnishings at the Cabbage Patch, Twickenham TW1 (London)

Contemporary pub (Fuller’s)
67 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SZ
T 020 8892 3874 w www.cabbagepatch.co.uk
Open 0800 (1000 Sat-Sun)-2400 (0230 Fri-Sat, 2330 Sun). Children welcome until early evening, children’s menu.
Cask beer 7 (Fuller’s, Caledonian, 3 guests) Cask Marque, Also Malts, 27 wines.
Food Short enhanced pub grub menu, pizzas, breakfasts, Outdoor Large heated beer garden, Wifi.
Live music, nightclub, big screen sport, functions.

Cabbage Patch, Twickenham TW1 (London)

With the RFU’s stadium on the doorstep, pretty much every pub in Twickenham is a rugby pub, but none is more famous than the Cabbage Patch. This large and odd looking building almost opposite the station is a longstanding fan favourite before and after games, and holds an impressive collection of shirts, memorabilia and rugby related paraphernalia. Even some of the wallpaper and cushion covers have a rugby theme. But there’s plenty going on between matches in this sprawling place, including in the attached night club and music venue, home to the Eel Pie blues and R&B club, continuing a local musical tradition that began on nearby Eel Pie island in the 1960s. Refurbished early in 2012, the pub now offers a spacious, loungey environment with reasonable food that attracts a much more varied crowd than its reputation suggests, including many women.

The pub was bought by Fuller’s in 2011 though is run by leaseholders and for the time being also retains its previous tie to Heineken, so unusually it now boasts an extended range supplied by both. Expect to see ESB and London Pride alongside various Caledonian beers, seasonals from both breweries and occasional guests from people like Brains or Theakston.

Pub trivia. The pub name is a reference to the stadium, also known as ‘Billy Williams’ Cabbage Patch’. The site was once a market garden that was cleared by Williams to create a rugby pitch where the first international between England and Wales was played in 1910.

National Rail Twickenham Cycling LCN+ Kingston, Isleworth, Hanworth, links to NCN4 Walking Thames Path

Dukes Brew & Que N1

Des — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:42:33 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Canonbury and Barnsbury

Dukes Brew and Que, London N1

Brewpub, bar (Independent, small group)
33 Downham Road N1 5AA
T 020 3006 0795 w www.dukesjoint.com f Dukes-Brew-Que tw dukesjoint
Open 1600 (1000 Sat-Sun)-2300 (2330 Thu-Sat). Children welcome until 2000.
Cask beer 6 (Beavertown, Redemption, Oakham, unusual often local guests), Other beer 5 keg, 30+ bottles, Also 1 real cider, tequilas and tequila cocktails, some specialist spirits
Food US-style barbecues and burgers, Outdoor Tables on street, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Beer matching dinners.

London gained yet another new brewery in February 2012 when the owners of the American-themed Off Broadway cocktail bar in Broadway Market, also noted for its beer range, launched this equally transatlantic brewpub and barbecue joint in the shell of the Duke of York in De Beauvoir Town, an area of distinctive 1820s development east of Kingsland Road and north of the Regent’s Canal. As the exposed brick and girders visible in the bar area attest, the place had been completely stripped and was due to be redeveloped as flats, and the side bar and the open kitchen with its adjacent brewery have all been built from scratch. A good two thirds of the floor area, presided over rather curiously by an installation involving an old pram and a doll, is dedicated to dining – yet so rapid has been the venture’s success that you’ll likely need to book ahead if you want to eat.

Drinkers, however, are always welcome at the cheerful bar. Up to six cask beers include at least one house brew (under the name Beavertown); the remainder usually come from local breweries, with various Redemption beers on regularly and others from Dark Star and East London, though Oakham JHB is a near-regular thanks to public demand. Mainstream and big brewery beers are avoided across the board – expect to see the likes of Paulaner helles, Meantime London Lager and Camden Ink on the keg taps in preference to Guinness or Stella, alongside Thornbridge Chiron, Schneider Weisse or something from BrewDog. Bottles cover several bases, with London’s Kernel and Redchurch alongside some less familiar imports – Bear Republic from the USA or the Troubadour beers brewed at Proef in Belgium.

Top quality is assured by bar and cellar manager and beer expert Hannah, formerly of Fuller’s pub the Ship in Soho (p109). “I’m OCD about cellar hygiene,” she tells me. “I can’t sleep if I know the pipes haven’t been cleaned.” Let’s wish her pleasant dreams.

Overground Haggerston Cycling LCN+ 8 10, Regents Canal towpath Walking Jubilee Greenway

Railway SM3

Des — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:28:15 +0000

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Other locations – Cheam

The Railway, Cheam SM3 (London)

Traditional pub (Admiral)
32 Station Way, Cheam SM3 8SQ
T 020 8642 7416
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Thu-Sat).
Cask beer 6 (Timothy Taylor Wells & Young’s, 3 often local guests).
Monthly quiz, monthly live music, poker, occasional big screen sport, beer festival, seasonal events, golf society.

Brother and sister Neil and Zoe took over this snug, traditional one-bar pub almost opposite Cheam station in 2007, and have steadily improved the beer offer. Courage Best and Directors still occupy two of the pumps – the pub once held the record for selling the most Courage best in London. A third is dedicated to Landlord while the three guest pumps “normally lean towards the small and local” – Ascot, Dorking, Pilgrim, Tring, Twickenham or Weltons, for example. An annual beer festival has recently been introduced, upping the beer choice to 20. There’s currently no food, but it’s planned to return, most likely along the lines of shepherd’s pie or lasagne. It’s a friendly place, well stocked with cushions and knowledgeable regulars, and a keen supporter of the Royal Marsden hospital. It also retains the tradition of hosting a golf society, once followed by every pub in Cheam.

Visitor note. You’ll be well rewarded for wandering on into Cheam village, which is listed in the Domesday survey and was once known for its brewing. The village centre is a conservation area which boasts several centuries-old timber framed houses alongside classic examples of 1930s Tudor revival shops. Only a step away, though over the London boundary in Surrey, is lovely Nonsuch Park where you can view what little remains of one of Henry VIII’s most notorious unfinished vanity projects, Nonsuch Palace, demolished in 1683 by Charles II’s mistress Barbara Villiers to pay off her gambling debts.

National Rail Cheam Cycling LCN+ 75, Epsom, Ewell, Carshalton Walking London Loop