London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London : Clerkenwell & Smithfield
Contemporary pub
82 Leather Lane EC1N 7TR
email info@thecraftbeerco.com Web http://thecraftbeerco.com f thecraftbeerco tw thecraftbeerco
Open 1100 (12o0 Sun)-2300 (2230 Sun)
Cask beers 15 (Kent, unusual guests), Other beers 21 keg, 300 bottles, Also malts, bourbons, other specialist spirits
Food Pork pies, Scotch eggs, snacks only
Craft Beer Co, London EC1
While it’s delightful to see many ordinary pubs and bars modestly but significantly revamping their beer offer in response to growing consumer interest in fine beer, the multiplying number of serious specialist places where even beer geeks will be dazzled by the range is also impressive. The Craft Beer Co is the latest and arguably the most ambitious of these, and, based on what I saw at the launch party at the end of June 2011, stands a good chance of being the most successful.
Its beer range is extensive, unusual and notably well chosen – as a relatively well travelled beer writer in my home city I was impressed that I’d only previously tried four of the 36 draught beers on offer. But unlike other places with a comparable range, it’s in a lovely old Victorian pub that would be a pleasant place to visit even if it just had a couple of handpumps with Doom Bar and Landlord. It’s big enough to be spacious but small enough to be intimate, with a main bar area preserving heavy wood fittings, a spectacular mirrored ceiling and chandelier, and upstairs a contrasting, more contemporary space with designer radiators.
The view from the pumps -- Craft Beer Co, London EC1
There’s not a wasted choice on the beer selection. The battery of handpumps dispenses British microbrews in a range of styles. Besides the usual “craft” suspects like Bristol, Dark Star and Otley are little seen names like Five Towns, Fyne, Green Daemon, Ilkley and Magic Rock, with the house pale ale supplied by Kent. The house lager, meanwhile, is brewed by cult favourite Mikkeller at Proef in Flanders, with Camden Town Hells and Rothaus Märzen also regular; other keg selections included rare unfiltered lambic, kriek and faro from Girardin, Kernel Black IPA, Struise Black Albert, saisons from Stillwater, four more from Mikkeller and extreme beers from Southern Tier. The beautifully presented bottled list is big on US imports with many exclusives, Cigar City, Dark Horse, Duck-Rabbit, Maine, Sly Fox, Stillwater and Weyerbacher among them. Scandinavia also has strong representation in the form of Beer Here, Evil Twin, To Øl and XBeeriment besides more familiar names. Bierwerk from South Africa is another exclusive, and Westvleteren is stocked at an undeclared price. Mainstream industrial beer is conspicuous by its absence. The pub’s own customised glasses are generously lined for full measure and aroma space.
Under the same ownership as Cask in Pimlico and like its sister pub another previously decaying boozer leased free of tie from Greene King, Craft Beer Co nonetheless has its own separate identity and brand. It also has the advantage of location on a historic market street in an interesting area of central London just west of the river Fleet, where legal overspill from Holborn meets the residential southeastern reaches of the London Borough of Camden. Owner Martin Hayes is confident he can use the pub’s inherent attractions to draw a broad audience into enjoying such a seriously impressive lineup, and he may well be right. For anyone with an interest in great beer, it’s an instant must-visit choice.
Insider tip. Ask about bottled specials and have a good look in the fridges — there’s more than shown on the printed list.
National Rail Farringdon Underground Chancery Lane, Farringdon Cycling LCN+ 0, 7, 39
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