They say… 
Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
|
 The Craft Beer Co, London SW9. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Brixton
Bar, specialist (Craft)
11 Brixton Station Road SW9 8PD
T 020 7274 8383 w thecraftbeerco.com/location/brixton-london f craftbeercosw9 tw thecraftbeerco
Open 1600 (1200 Fri-Sun)-2300 (2400 Thu, 0200 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun, 1 hour later for Mon-Thu Brixton Academy shows). Children welcome at lunchtimes.
Cask beer 10 (Kent, 9 unusual guests), Other beer 20 keg (10 UK, 10 international), 120 bottles (mainly Belgian & US), Also 12 rums, 20+ bourbons and malts, other specialist spirits.
Food Pork pies and Scotch eggs only, Outdoor Front terrace, Wifi. No disabled toilet but flat access.
Beer tastings.
Until recently Brixton was an area of London surprisingly poor in fine beer, but with first the Crown and Anchor reopening in Brixton Road and now with the arrival of London’s second Craft Beer Co branch, the choice for local beer fans has rapidly improved.
Craft, opened in October 2012 in what was once the Hive Bar, doesn’t have the advantage of the Crown’s spacious old fashioned pub building, but it does boast a central site, just round the corner from the Tube, handy for the Academy music venue and markets and a few doors down from Brixton Recreation Centre. This last near neighbour accounts for the succession of track suited and beshorted types passing the big picture windows. A few of them even call in: members of Brixton’s successful Angels Ultimate Frisbee team have made the place a post-practice haunt.
Although the place is small, with a single downstairs bar mainly given to vertical drinking and an additional space with tables up some rickety stairs, it’s nicely and neatly designed, with a preponderance of copper that nods to brewing kit. A copper tube arching over the bar carries the keg clips, while fridges beneath the bar surface display their wares to customers.
As you’d expect from a Craft, the beer choice is exemplary. 10 handpumps dispense the house pale from Kent brewery, rotating options from Dark Star and Thornbridge and guests from the likes of Fyne, Ilkley, Northern, Leeds, Revolutions or Tiny Rebel. 18 keg lines are split between British craft kegs, quality traditional imports like Boon Kriek or Rothaus Weissbier, and beers from international extremists like De Molen and Mikkeller, this last supplying the house lager.
Mikkeller also contributes over 30 entries in the bottled range, alongside New Zealaners 8 Wired, Londoners Kernel and new Dutch cuckoo brewer Rooie Dop. The rest are split between Belgium – mainly Trappists (Achel, Orval, Rochefort) and proper lambics (3 Fonteinen, Boon, Tilquin) – and the USA. Names rarely seen in London include some exclusives to the chain – a typical roll call might incude AleSmith, Anchorage, Cigar City, Clown Shoes, Diamond Knot, Element, Hoppin’ Frog, Jester King, Port, Sly Fox and Weyerbacher. All are also available to take away with a “buy five, get one free” offer.
National Rail Underground Brixton Cycling Link to LCN+ 25
 The Lamb Brewery, London W4. PIc: Convivial. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Chiswick
Contemporary pub, brewpub (Convivial)
9 Barley Mow Passage W4 4PH
T 020 8994 1880 w www.lambbrewery.com f !lambbrewery tw BarleyMowPub
Open 1100 (1000 Sat-Sun)-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until mid-evening.
Cask beer 6 (Lamb, Botanist, 3 sometimes local guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 7 keg (Lamb, international), 25 bottles, Also Around 20 wines.
Food Steaks, traditional and contemporary upmarket pub grub, beer tasting menus, Outdoor Large enclosed front terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Beer tastings, brewery demonstrations and activities.
Attractively situated in a little alleyway on the eastern apex of Turnham Green, and fronted by a lovely terrace, the Lamb is an independent brewpub in the heart of Fuller’s country. Owners Convivial first dipped their toes into the mash tun in 2011 when sister pub the Botanist on Kew Green added a brewery. Its success prompted a radical reworking of the former Barley Mow, reopened as the Lamb in September 2012.
The brewhouse itself is right by the front door, but the brewing theme spreads throughout the long, narrow single bar area of the chalet-style building, with a copper bar matching the brewing vessels, and beer-related bits and pieces in display cabinets and on walls.
Complementing the cask beer focus of the Botanist, the Lamb pursues a more international route, mainly producing keg beers in European and US-inspired styles. Four of these – a pilsner, a weissbier, an American pale ale and a strongish stout – are regularly available alongside German imports Bitburger pils and Köstritzer Schwarzbier, plus British-brewed Sam Adams lager.
The single cask bitter, Lamb Ale, is supplemented on the handpumps by Botanist brews and other often local guests from Redemption and Sambrook’s. There’s some good stuff, too, on the bottled list, with UK choices from BrewDog, Dark Star, Oakham, St Peter’s and Thornbridge lining up alongside Achel Trappist beers, craft cans from Hawaii’s Maui, and Czech options from Budvar and Regent.
The rather upmarket atmosphere may not match everyone’s idea of a place to relax with a good pint, but it’s stylishly accomplished with good food options too. Butcher’s Block steaks, pies, mussels and chips, salads, sandwiches and Mediterranean-influenced sharing boards all appear with beer matching recommendations and with various tasting tray deals and beer-related events, the Lamb is a welcome new evangelist of the brewer’s art.
Pub trivia. The Lamb borrows its name from a now-defunct brewery in nearby Church Street, once owned by the Thrale family who once owned what later became the Barclay Perkins brewery in Southwark, a giant of its age. The Lamb claimed a shared origin with Fuller’s in the domestic brewhouse at Bedford House, and in the 19th century rivalled the Griffin brewery in local importance. It ended up in the hands of Watney, which closed it in 1922, with Fuller’s using the site for a while as warehousing. The brick tower, now converted to offices, still stands today.
Underground Turnham Green, Chiswick Park Cycling LCN+ 35 and links to Chiswick national rail Walking Link to Thames Path
 The Lofty Turtle, London SW14 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Other location – East Sheen
Bar, specialist (Independent)
505 Upper Richmond Road SW14 7DE
T 020 8878 1995 w loftyturtle.com f The-Lofty-Turtle tw theloftyturtle
Open 1700 (1200 Fri, 1100 Sat-Sun)-2400 (2330 Sun). Children welcome until 1930.
Cask beer 1 (unusual guest), Other beer 9 keg, 60 bottles, Also Cocktails, 35 wines.
Food US diner-style menu, Outdoor Front terrace, Wifi. No disabled toilet but ramped access.
Occasional live music, DJs, films, functions, major TV sports, pool, board games, retro video games.
The suburban village of East Sheen, in an area between Richmond and Putney much favoured by successful actors, is perhaps not a place you’d expect to stumble on an impressive range of beer. So the collection of brewery enamels displayed beside the comfortable front terrace of this bar among an unassuming parade of shops may come as a surprise.
The site was a struggling jazz bar and restaurant known as the Naked Turtle until January 2012 when beer loving owners Patrick and Dee reconfigured it in a style inspired by New York loft bars, with a drinks offer to match. The rejig has proved a great success, both as a bar and a party venue – something that might partly be explained by the friendliness of the place, which is warmer and more informal than the crimson-draped cocktail bar look might suggest.
A changing cask beer from the likes of Arbor, Magic Rock or Pin-up is complemented by keg beers from Brooklyn, Innis & Gunn, Samuel Adams (imported, not the Shepherd Neame version) and Stiegl plus rotating guests that might include British craft kegs alongside German imports from bigger breweries like Paulaner. A decent bottle and can range is predominantly sourced from the US – Left Hand, Maui, Odell, Stone, Victory – but stretches to Trappists from Chimay, Rochefort and Westmalle and British entries from BrewDog, Bristol, Harviestoun and Magic Rock.
With three easily separated spaces, the Turtle is well equipped for coping with groups and parties though the main bar is kept available for regulars and casual callers. There’s lots going on, too, including regular film screenings, and the well made but fun menu – burgers, hot dogs, salads, steaks, barbecue shrimp skewers, all with beer matching suggestions – is also available to take away.
National Rail Mortlake Bus Graemesdyke Avenue (numerous Richmond) Cycling LCN+ Chiswick, Richmond Park, link to NCN 4
 The Hand and Flower, London W14. Pic: Fuller’s. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Fulham and Hammersmith
Contemporary pub (Fuller’s)
1 Hammersmith Road W14 8XJ
T 020 7371 4105 w handandflower.co.uk f Handandflowerw14 tw handfw14
Open 0700 (0800 Sat, 1200 Sun)-2300 (2330 Th, 2400 F, 2230 Sn). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 6 (Fuller’s, occasional guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 5 keg, 12 bottles, Also A few wines and specialist spirits.
Food Breakfasts, imaginative upmarket pub grub, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Seasonal parties, functions.
Taken over from Marston’s and relaunched as a Fuller’s pub in January 2012, the Hand and Flower is particularly notable for its useful location right opposite the Olympia exhibition hall, home for the time being of the Great British Beer Festival alongside numerous other events. Sadly the interior of this handsome Victorian corner building at the very top of Hammersmith Road has long since been knocked through into a single canteen-like space that feels rather noisy and brash, with loud music and inescapable big screens, so grab the “Flowers Corner” snug if you can.
The beer range is wider than average – Chiswick, HSB, London Pride, Seafarers and changing seasonals and specials on cask, Brooklyn Lager, Honey Dew and Veltins on keg and 1845, Bengal Lancer, Golden Pride and Vintage Ale alongside various Chimays, Vedett White and the rarely seen Hoegaarden Grand Cru in bottle. A few surprises – blue cheese stuffed roast figs, calves liver with black pudding mash – lurk in a menu of upmarket pub grub, and there are eight boutique bedrooms for hire upstairs.
National Rail Overground Kensington Olympia Underground Kensington Olympia, West Kensington Cycling LCN+ 35, 44, links to Putney
 The Old Pack Horse, London W4. Pic: Fuller’s. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Chiswick
Contemporary pub (Fuller’s) Regional heritage pub
434 Chiswick High Road W4 5TF
T 020 8994 2872 w oldpackhorsechiswick.co.uk f oldpackhorse tw OPHW4
Open 1100 (1200 Sun)-2400 (0100 Thu, 0200 Fri-Sat). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 7 (Fuller’s, 1-2 guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 6 keg, 14 bottles, Also 1 real cider, 20 whiskies, other specialist spirits, 25 wines.
Food Better than average Thai menu, Outdoor Front terrace, side yard, Wifi.
Retro DJs, art gallery, board games, functions.
This big pub overlooking Turnham Green reopened in November 2012 following a refurbishment that successfully combines heritage elements with a more contemporary, funky feel, functioning both as a youthful late night venue and as a fine town centre showcase for nearby owning brewery Fuller’s. A longstanding part of the brewery estate, it was rebuilt in 1910 to the designs of celebrated Edwardian pub architect T H Nowell Parr and well exemplifies his distinctively exuberant style – rich glazed ceramic faïence exterior finishes, elaborate arched doorways, Ionic columns and first floor bay windows.
Inside, a wonderful snug with an Arts and Crafts fireplace housed inside a Tudor arch provides a particularly attractive feature; elsewhere there’s an original bar back and counter and fragments of art deco stained glass. Quirky modern touches include tip-up seats, while a collage of playbills and a lightbox recall a vanished piece of local heritage, the Empire Theatre, which stood nearby until 1959.
ESB, London Pride, Seafarers and numerous Fuller’s specials and seasonals occupy the handpumps – Bengal Lancer features regularly and an external guest from a better known brewery might well be spotted. Keg offerings include Fuller’s own Honey Dew and London Porter besides Hoegaarden, Innis & Gunn and Veltins, while bottles of 1845 and Vintage Ale line up alongside a full range of Chimay Trappist beers, Anchor Steam, Delirium Tremens and Singha.
The Thai food is a cut above the cheap and cheerful stir fry standard you might expect: it can be enjoyed in a bright and cheerful restaurant at the back or elsewhere in the pub if you wish.
Underground Chiswick Park, Gunnersbury Cycling LCN+ 35 and links to Chiswick national rail
 Waitrose Westfield London, London W12 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Other locations – Shepherds Bush
Shop (Waitrose)
Westfield London W12 7GA
T 020 8749 1201 w www.waitrose.com
Open 0800 (1200 Sun)-2200 (1800 Sun).
Cask beer None, Other beer 90 bottles, Also Wines and specialist spirits.
Food Grocery food, takeaway, food court nearby. Disabled toilet in shopping centre.
Waitrose is about the best of a puzzlingly bad bunch among British national supermarket chains when it comes to beer, so it’s worth bearing in mind that the branch in the massive Westfield London mall is one of the biggest in the capital. The UK range is the strongest, with numerous selections from Brains, Meantime, Rebellion and Thornbridge among the highlights, and a particularly extensive lineup from Fuller’s. A more restricted selection of imports includes reasonable stuff like Budvar Dark, Chimay Bleue, Tripel Karmaliet, and Duvel in big bottles. For more about the area see the review of the Defectors Weld.
Overground Shepherds Bush Underground Wood Lane, Shepherds Bush Cycling LCN+ 35, 39
 Battersea Mess and Music Hall, London SW11 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Battersea and Clapham
Contemporary pub (Antic)
51 Lavender Gardens SW11 1DJ
T 020 7223 6927 w www.batterseamessandmusichall.com f Battersea-Mess-and-Music-Hall tw MessandMusic
Open 1600 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2300 (2400 Thu-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 2100.
Cask beer 6 (Adnams, 5 sometimes unusual guests), Other beer 4 keg, 20 bottles, Also 2 real ciders/perries, 30 wines including champagnes, specialist spirits.
Food Gastroish enhanced pub grub and cooked bar snacks/sharing plates, Outdoor Beer garden, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Mon quiz, Sun live music, regular live music and cabaret in upstairs venue, functions, board games, table football, bar billiards.
They mean ‘mess’, of course, in the sense of somewhere to eat, but there’s no ambiguity about the ‘music hall’ bit. Above the bar area of an already sprawling pub behind an unassuming frontage on a side street just off Lavender Hill is the former music hall, complete with stage, mirror balls, flock wallpaper and its own entrance and box office, capable of accommodating 300 people.
And it’s not the only surprise in the warren of eccentrically decorated rooms – behind an unmarked door is the den-like Games Room, with sofas, bar billiards and its own stage. Elsewhere there are attractive window booths, reclaimed kitchen tables, old rocking horses and powder blue walls decorated with junk.
It could only be an Antic pub. This former Walkabout, once home to the first Jongleurs comedy club, was relaunched under its new name by the ambitious south London-based pubco in October 2011.
As with most Antics unencumbered by ties, the beer range is noteworthy. The casks change regularly but there’s always an Adnams beer or two on, with guests often from small and unusual brewers like Stringers or Devilfish, and in a range of styles. Kegs include Meantime London Lager and changing beers from Moor, while classics like White Shield and Duvel are in the fridges alongside less often seen options like Krušovice Černe and Sierra Nevada Kellerweiss. Imaginative home cooked food includes a burger deal on Mondays.
National Rail Overground Clapham Junction Cycling Link to LCN+ 37
 The Windsor Castle, Carshalton SM5 (London) London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Other locations – Carshalton
Traditional pub (Shepherd Neame)
358 Carshalton Road, Carshalton SM5 3PT
T 020 8669 1191 w www.windsorcastlepub.com f WindsorCastleCarshalton
Open 1100 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2330 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 1800.
Cask beer 6 (Shepherd Neame, Long Man, 2 sometimes local guests) Cask Marque.
Food Pub grub in bar, more upmarket restaurant menu, Outdoor Beer garden, Wifi.
Mon,Sat live music, Tue quiz, seasonal events, functions, beer festivals.
Carshalton is curiously well served by decent pubs, so this biggish place on a prominent corner of the main road between Sutton and Croydon is doing well to hold its own against stiff competition led by the excellent Hope (p216). It’s a homely, traditionally styled wood panelled former Charrington pub which, although now a single unevenly shaped walk-through space, retains some pleasant nooks and crannies. It also boasts a pleasant garden, a separate function room in an outbuilding, and a regular programme of live music.
Though it’s been part of the Shepherd Neame estate since 2009, the pub is still run as an independently managed leasehold. Besides three rotating Shep’s beers, the handpumps dispense regularly changing guests, usually including one from the Long Man brewery in the Sussex Downs, and local choices from brewers like Croydon’s Clarence & Fredericks besides better known options from Brains, Sharp’s or St Austell. All are kept in excellent condition as the wall full of local CAMRA awards demonstrates.
National Rail Carshalton Beeches, Carshalton Cycling LCN+ 75, link to NCN 20
 The Queens Head, Downe BR6 (London) London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Other locations – Downe
Contemporary pub (Independent)
25 High Street, Downe BR6 7US
T 01689 852145 w www.queensheaddowne.com
Open 1200-2300 (2330 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (Adnams, Harveys, Sharp’s, Westerham), Also Malts and specialist spirits.
Food Upmarket pub grub, Outdoor Small front terrace, beer garden, Wifi. No disabled toilet but largely flat access.
Occasional quiz and karaoke, seasonal events, functions, darts.
Red buses, albeit on an irregular timetable, stop in the centre of Downe, but though it’s only minutes from Orpington, it feels a world away. One of the prettiest, and arguably the most historically interesting, of Bromley’s scattered villages, it is justly celebrated as the home of Charles Darwin, who lived and worked at the old manor, Down House – the principle reason why the area is now on the list of candidates for World Heritage Site status. The great scientist is commemorated by a plaque on the corner of the pretty part-12th century village church overlooking the village square, though you can only speculate what the vicar of the day might have made of his theories of the origin of species.
Darwin would almost certainly have popped in to the Queens Head next door to the church, where now he’s commemorated in the Darwin bar. The pub’s history goes back to 1565, the year Queen Elizabeth paid a visit, and although it’s been worked on extensively since, most recently with the additional of sofas and armchairs, it retains a rustic feel, not to mention customers in green wellies trailing Labradors behind them.
Under new ownership since 2011, it always stocks a local cask guest, usually from Westerham, alongside the well kept likes of Doom Bar, Sussex Best and various Adnams beers. The latter’s distilled spirits are also on sale. Understandably food (sausage and mash, haddock fish cakes, 1970s favourite prawn cocktail) is a big deal but drinkers, and walkers, are welcome.
Pub trivia. The attached Suhaili restaurant commemorates a lesser known local hero, Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to circumnavigate the Earth non-stop and single handed, a feat he accomplished in a ketch of that name in 1968-69.
National Rail Bromley South, Orpington (then bus) Bus Downe Church (146 Bromley South, R8 Orpington) Walking Cudham and Leaves Green Circular Walks, link to London Loop
 The Old Nuns Head, London SE15. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Other locations – Nunhead
Contemporary pub (Punch)
15 Nunhead Green SE15 3QQ
T 020 7639 4007 w www.theoldnunshead.co.uk f TheOldNunsHead tw theoldnunshead
Open 1200-2300 (0100 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome until 2100.
Cask beer 4 (Hogs Back, 3 often local guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 3 keg, 5 bottles.
Food Limited but imaginative seasonal menu, children’s menu, Outdoor Rear terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Mon mums’ club, Wed open mic, Thu quiz, Fri monthly comedy, beer festivals, occasional live music & DJs, classes, functions, food promotions, board games.
Nunhead, on the hilly ridge south of Peckham and New Cross, is one of London’s more tucked away suburbs, and for a while one of its poorer ones, although gentrification is slowly creeping in. Historically it had monastic connections, and its name happily derives from that of a pub, the Nuns Head (local legends linking the name to the story of a beheaded holy woman are sensational but unreliable). On John Rocque’s 1762 map you can see the pub and a scattering of cottages among green fields, clustered around Nunhead Green. The green still survives as a little strip of public space, but the pub now known as the Old Nuns Head, though on a site which has been put to this use since at least the 17th century, is a 1930s Brewer’s Tudor affair, with a half-timbered upper floor contributing to the villagey feel of this conservation area.
The pub has been well looked after under new management since 2010, with a cosy interior making good use of warm wood panelling and fireplaces, and lots of stuff going on. Given the limitations of a Punch tie it also does well for beer, often stocking local brews from the likes of By the Horns, East London, London Fields and Sambrook’s alongside choices from the pubco’s guest beer programme sourced from, say, Batemans, Exmoor, Jennings, Mordue or Stonehenge. A handful of bottles including BrewDog, Meantime and Singha, and Staropramen and Hoegaarden on keg, widens options, while a beer festival every few months opens things up still further. The pub is also linked to the London Craft Beer Rising event.
Visitor note. The area is also noted for Nunhead Cemetery, one of London’s “Magnificent Seven” suburban cemeteries created following new laws in 1832, once derelict and now partly managed as a nature reserve; and as the former home of Brock’s fireworks factory, commemorated in the name of another pub on the green, the Pyrotechnist’s Arms.
National Rail Nunhead Cycling LCN+ 25, Forest Hill & Peckham Walking Green Chain Walk
|
Cask  This pioneering new book explains what makes cask beer so special, and explores its past, present and future. Order now from CAMRA Books. Read more here.
London’s Best Beer  The fully updated 3rd edition of my essential award-winning guide to London’s vibrant beer scene is available now from CAMRA Books. Read more here.
|
