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 The Defectors Weld, London W12 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Other locations – Shepherds Bush
Contemporary pub (Five Eight Zero)
170 Uxbridge Road W12 8AA
T 020 8749 0008 w defectors-weld.com f DefectorsWeld tw DefectorsWeld
Open 1200-2400 (0200 Fri-Sat, 2300 Sun). Children welcome until 1800.
Cask beer 5 (Adnams, 4 sometimes local/unusual guests), Other beer 6 keg, 30 bottles, Also Cocktails, 20+ wines.
Food Gourmet burgers, quality cooked snacks, sharing boards, pub grub, Outdoor Small rear yard, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Thu-Sun DJs, occasional live music, quiz, functions.
The small triangle of green space known as Shepherds Bush Green is a rare remnant of the rural past still reflected in the name of what’s now one of inner London’s busiest local centres. Shepherds Bush has long been an important road junction, shopping focus and entertainment centre. In 1908 it hosted one of the big outdoor events popular at the time, the Franco-British Exhibition.
Today the area continues to draw crowds through the presence of major popular music venue the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (a former music hall that also once did service as the BBC Television Theatre) and the rather more sedate and elegant Bush Hall, not to mention Premier League football club Queens Park Rangers, based at Loftus Road since 1917. In 2008 the opening of the massive Westfield shopping centre on the old exhibition site brought millions of new visitors, and the BBC will retain a presence at its White City media village even after its landmark Television Centre closes. Yet despite all this activity Shepherds Bush retains a reputation for being tatty and downmarket and isn’t exactly bursting with great pubs.
One possible exception is the Defectors Weld, a big place in the northwest corner of the green formerly known as the Beaufort Arms that was reworked in contemporary style in 2004 and has continued to evolve since. Named in an online poll as the best pub in the Bush, the Weld divides opinions, with numerous reports of bad service and irritatingly arbitrary house rules.
Certainly the burly black clad door supervisors regularly on duty, and the prominent notices everywhere telling you to look after your belongings at all times, don’t send out the most welcoming signals. But it’s civilised enough, with a customer base of young professionals, shoppers, concertgoers and arty BBC types mixing on match days with well behaved QPR fans.
One recent area of improvement is the beer offer, which has grown from intermittent supplies of indifferently kept standard cask brands and overmarketed ‘premium’ lagers to a relatively modest but well chosen selection of decent stuff. Adnams Bitter is joined on cask by four rotating guests that increasingly come from London brewers like London Fields, Truman’s or Sambrook’s as well as reliable suppliers like Itchen Valley, Old Dairy and Purity. London Fields also supplies Hackney Hopster on keg, alongside Sambrook’s Pale Ale, Black Isle and imports from Bitburger, König and Licher. The bottles are mainly from better known US brewers, with a good range from Anchor and more unusual offerings from Old Dominion. Staff appear to know what they’re talking about.
Overground Shepherds Bush Underground Shepherds Bush Market, Shepherds Bush Cycling LCN+ 35, 39
 Dach and Sons, London NW3 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Hampstead
Bar (Purl)
68 Heath Street NW3 1DN
T 020 7433 8139 w www.dachandsons.com f DachSons tw DachandSons
Open 1200 (0900 Sat-Sun)-2300 (lockin upstairs till 0100 Fri-Sat). Children welcome downstairs.
Cask beer 2 (often local guests), Other beer 4 keg, 16+ bottles, Also Large range of US whiskies, cocktails.
Food Gourmet hot dogs, burgers & US diner food, Outdoor Roof terrace planned, Wifi.
Functions, occasional tastings.
Yet another illustration of how beer in London is breaking through its traditional market boundaries is provided by this fashionable bar and diner in the heart of well heeled Hampstead, part of a group that otherwise consists of select cocktail bars like Purl and the Worship Street Whistling Shop. The small, narrow space, converted in July 2012 from an Indian restaurant, is clean and contemporary, with tiled walls, benches and post-industrial lighting, and a New York subway destination blind on display to underline its transatlantic leanings.
Two changing cask beers are likely to come from Dark Star or London brewers ike Beavertown, Hackney or London Fields. Anchor, Erdinger and Cornwall’s Harbour brewery supply the keg taps, while Beavertown, Kernel and the more specialised Sharp’s beers rub shoulders on the bottle shelves with imports from Goose Island, Odell and Old Dominion. It’s a smallish but well chosen range that’s clearly well understood by friendly staff, even though the gobsmacking variety of small batch bourbons and other specialist whiskies on the shelf next to the bar overshadows it somewhat.
Underground Hampstead Cycling Links to Hampstead Heath paths Walking Links to Hampstead Heath paths, Belsize Walk
 Draft House Charlotte, London W1. Pic: Draft House. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Fitzrovia
Bar, specialist (Draft House)
43 Goodge Street W1T 1TA
e charlotte@drafthouseteam.com w www.drafthouse.co.uk f drafthouseuk tw drafthouseuk
Open 0800 (1200 Sat)-2300 (closed Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 3 (Adnams, Sambrook’s, 1 guest), Other beer 10 keg, 50 bottles, Also A few bourbons.
Food Lunchtime burgers, steaks; pork pies and cold snacks at other times, Wifi.
Occasional beer events.
The smallest and most centrally located of the Draft Houses is this little corner pub at the junction of Charlotte Street and Goodge Street, among a strip of fashionable eateries targeted at creative types from local media companies. Formerly known as the Northumberland Arms, and with a history dating back to the 18th century development of the area, it reopened in its current guise in August 2012. A small single bar that’s often crowded, it’s been done out in the chain’s pleasant contemporary style with trademark green painted furniture, but with some reminders of the past, such as a late Victorian decorated ceiling and surviving fragments of engraved glass.
The stocking policy takes the usual Draft House approach of offering an easy way in to craft and speciality beer. Adnams Ghost Ship is a fixture among the casks, with Sambrook’s Wandle regularly appearing alongside a London guest or something from Dark Star. Keg beers include choices from Camden Town and Black Isle alongside approachable imports like Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles, Paulaner Dunkel Weiss and Stiegl Goldbräu. The bottles are mainly well known Europeans like Chimay, Erdinger (the rather good Ur-Weisse), König Ludwig and Schneider, with a few Kernels, US beers from Anchor, Left Hand and Odell and quite a range from Great Divide. The food menu is unsurprisingly more limited than in other Draft Houses but noted for its quality.
Underground Goodge Street Cycling LCN+ 6A, link to 0
 Waitrose Stratford City, London E20 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Olympic Park
Shop (Waitrose)
The Arcade, Westfield Stratford City E20 1EH
T 020 8534 3986 w www.waitrose.com
Open 0800 (1200 Sun)-2100 (1800 Sun).
Cask beer None, Other beer 80+ bottles, Also Ciders, wines.
Food Grocery food, takeaway, food court nearby. Disabled toilet In shopping centre.
British supermarkets are woefully behind the times when it comes to beer, but as mentioned in the guide entry for its Canary Wharf branch (p125), Waitrose currently provides about the best choice. Although the Docklands shop seems to have a slight edge in terms of selection, it’s still worth popping into this outlet in the vast Stratford City mall if you’re passing – as well you might be, since Tap East is just around the corner. Particularly attractive on the domestic shelves are the good ranges from Fuller’s and Thornbridge, alongside offerings from Bath, BrewDog, McMullen, St Peter’s, Skinners and Marston’s. The import shelves are less well endowed but do encompass Chimay Bleue, Warsteiner and own brand Czech and German beers. For more about the setting see the review of the Cow.
National Rail DLR Stratford International, Stratford Overground Underground Stratford Cycling Link to NCN1, LCN+ 16 155 156 Walking 2012 Games Epping Forest route, Jubilee Greenway, link to Capital Ring, Lee Valley Path
 Fox on the Hill, London SE5 London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Camberwell, Dulwich and Peckham
Contemporary pub (Wetherspoon)
149 Denmark Hill SE5 8EH
T 020 7738 4756 w www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-fox-on-the-hill
Open 0800-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome until early evening.
Cask beer Up to 13 (Greene King, up to 11 guests) Cask Marque, Other beer Usual Wetherspoon kegs and bottles, Also Real cider/perry.
Food Wetherspoon menu, Outdoor Very large gardens, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Wetherspoon promotions.
This huge and rather forbidding red brick pile, built in the 1930s for Charrington’s, broods at the top of Denmark Hill between Camberwell and Dulwich. It’s around the corner from the Salvation Army training college with its landmark brick tower, though I doubt much custom comes from this particular source. Kings College and the Maudsley hospitals, a little further downhill, are more prolific sources of regulars, and pretty Ruskin Park across the road brings strolling families by. In fact the pub’s own outdoor space is equivalent in size to a small public park, encompassing an extensive front terrace with a grassy picnic area beyond, and a similarly generous rear garden complete with playground. The labyrinth of spaces indoors affords seating capacity of German beer hall proportions.
Since 1993 the place has been that rarity, a J D Wetherspoon branch that was actually built as a pub in the first place, and it’s one of the better examples of the chain. There are no less than 16 handpumps, though some dispense cider, and some double up except during JDW festivals or at the pub’s own occasional mini-festivals featuring local beers. Otherwise, regularly changing guests might come from Coach House, Exmoor, Mordue, Rhymney, Titanic and many others. In contrast to the usual open plan Wetherspoon style, there are plenty of tucked away spaces in which to enjoy them.
Pub trivia. The pub succeeded another, now demolished, further down Denmark Hill and known as the Fox under the Hill. Now there are once again foxes in the vicinity, the name seems more appropriate than when the current pub was first built.
National Rail Overground Denmark Hill Cycling LCN+ 23
 The White Swan, London WC2. Pic: NIcholson’s. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Covent Garden
Traditional pub (Nicholson’s/M&B)
14 New Row WC2N 4LF
T 020 3077 1129 w www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thewhiteswanlondon
Open 1000 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2330 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome if dining.
Cask beer 8 (Fuller’s, St Austell, Thornbridge, 5 guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 2 keg, 5 bottles
Food Nicholson’s pub grub menu, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Occasional beer themed nights, functions.
Tucked away in a pretty Covent Garden side street just off St Martins Lane and not far from the Piazza, the White Swan was an O’Neill’s until May 2012 when it was reconfigured into a decidedly more beer-friendly Nicholson’s. Fuller’s London Pride, St Austell Nicholson’s Pale Ale and Thornbridge Jaipur are regularly sold; guests from the Nicholson’s list sometimes come from London brewers like Ha’penny and also from suppliers like Acorn, Great Heck or Leeds. The pub is relatively small for a Nicholson’s, furnished traditionally in dark wood with a screened off rear section and an upstairs restaurant, in a Grade II listed building that once belonged to Hoare’s Red Lion brewery in Smithfield. Staff are notably friendly.
National Rail Charing Cross Underground Leicester Square, Covent Garden Cycling LCN+ 6 6A Walking Jubilee Walkway
 The Union Tavern, London W9. Pic: Fuller’s. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Other locations – Westbourne Park
Contemporary pub, specialist (Fuller’s)
45 Woodfield Road W9 2BA
T 020 7286 1886 w www.union-tavern.co.uk tw union_tavern
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 1900.
Cask beer 6-9 (Fuller’s, up to 8 London guests), Other beer 10 keg, 60 bottles (London, international), Also Some specialist spirits.
Food Shortish enhanced pub grub menu, filled baps, meat, Outdoor Canalside terrace, Wifi.
Beer tastings, Meet the Brewer, Wed quiz, Thu-Fri live music, board games, functions.
Far from feeling threatened by the recent emergence of a new generation of small brewers in London, the capital’s one remaining historic independent brewery, Fuller’s of Chiswick, has shown confidence and foresight in actively celebrating and supporting it as a key member of the London Brewers Alliance. In June 2012 it further affirmed its support of the local brewing renaissance by reconfiguring one of its best sited pubs, the Grand Union (also previously known as the Pelican and the Carton Bridge Tavern), as a showcase for London’s brewing treasures, with some world craft beers thrown in for good measure.
Fuller’s cask beers, with contemporary creations like Bengal Lancer and Wild River alongside benchmark traditionals like ESB, line up on the ten handpumps alongside the products of Beavertown, East London, Redemption, Windsor & Eton and the very local Moncada.
Camden Town, Kernel and Meantime beers will likely be on the keg taps, plus if you’re lucky W&E’s Republika lager, alongside quality imports from the Czech Republic, Germany and the USA. Bottles from London brewers – London Fields and Redchurch besides Fuller’s own noted specialities – feature on a well chosen world list also including crafty Brits like Dark Star, Oakham and Summer Wine, Euro classics from St Georgen and Rodenbach and a few from brewers like Struise and Nøgne-Ø to keep the bloggerati happy.
The brewery’s experience as a pub operator shows too – they’ve created a welcoming, clean and contemporary space with the considerable bonus of a lower level that opens on to one of London’s loveliest waterside terraces, right beside the Grand Union Canal, so you can idly watch the narrowboats drift by as you enjoy your perfectly served pint of London’s finest.
Insider tip. If you’re lucky enough to own your own boat, ring ahead to book a free guest mooring right beside the terrace.
Underground Westbourne Park Cycling LCN+ 45, Shepherds Bush link, Grand Union Canal towpath Walking Grand Union Canal Walk, link to Jubilee Greenway
 Ales and Tails, Twickenham TW1 (London) London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill
Bar, specialist (Lost Society)
29 York Street, Twickenham TW1 3JX
w www.alesandtailsbar.co.uk f alesandtails tw alesandtails
Open 1700 (1200 Fri-Sun)-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, 1700 Sun, closed Mon). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 6 (changing mainly London guests), Other beer 8 keg, 40+ bottles (London, international), Also 11 wines (including English wine), cocktails, specialist spirits.
Food Quality British menu, Outdoor Small balcony on street, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Meet the brewer, beer tastings, occasional live music and performance.
Twickenham strengthened its claim to beer connoisseur’s attention still further with the launch in August 2012 of this imaginative new venture from the people who brought you Citizen Smith and Powder Keg Diplomacy. Initially a pop-up bar, it later closed for a month and has since reopened as a permanent purveyor of craft beers, specialist spirits and cocktails, most sourced from the UK with a focus on London.
The prime central site was once an American-themed diner style joint called the Ranch, and the old seating with its padded booths and stools has been partially retained, though potted plants, vintage lampshades and candlesticks add a fin de siècle note shared with sister bar PKD. The menu is a long way from diner fare, boasting quality stuff made from British ingredients at gastropub prices – slow braised pig cheeks, smoked haddock and the like.
The cask beers are usually from London brewers, with Brodie’s, By the Horns, Sambrook’s and the local Twickenham brewery among the suppliers. The owners also contract a house beer under their own Lost brand, and there are occasional interlopers from the likes of Liverpool Organic. Beavertown, Kernel, Meantime and Redchurch might be on keg, alongside Hacker Pschorr and Ireland’s Porterhouse Porter, making a rare appearance outside its brewer’s own pubs.
London and London-linked breweries appear among the bottles too – Windsor & Eton’s Republika lager and a selection of Kernels are often stocked, and this might be one of the few places to sample Twickenham’s original cask Naked Ladies alongside the Belgian bottled version brewed by Alvinne. Bear Republic, Dupont, Summer Wine and Thornbridge are other names to reckon with.
Between this and the Sussex Arms up the road, Twickenham is on its way to becoming as much a byword for beer lovers as it is for rugby union devotees.
National Rail Twickenham Cycling LCN+ Kingston, Isleworth, Hanworth, Links to NCN4 Walking Thames Path, River Crane Walk
 The Aleksander, Twickenham TW1 (London) London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill
Contemporary pub (Independent)
277 Richmond Road, Twickenham TW1 2NP
T 020 8892 9277
Open 1200-2300. Children very welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 3 (Twickenham, Sharp’s, local guest), Other beer 8 keg, 14 bottles, Also 24 wines, specialist spirits.
Food Wood fired pizzas, gourmet sandwiches, Sunday roasts, Outdoor Beer garden, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Fri/alternate Sun live music, Sun food market, board games, skittles, major big screen sport.
Unbelievably, this pretty and picturesquely sited pub almost became a convenience store when former owner Young’s sold it to Sainsbury’s, but a restriction on the covenant proved too bothersome an obstacle and the pub was saved by new landlord Roger, who took over in August 2012. The rustic but elegant corner building gazes across green parkland towards the imposing façade of Marble Hill House, a Palladian villa now managed by English Heritage, the grounds of which sweep down to one of London’s prettiest stretches of riverside. The pub boasts its own little country estate in the form of a leafy beer garden, which deserves to be popular with strolling families on warm weekend afternoons.
Roger is keen to offer a range of quality beer – Doom Bar and locally brewed Naked Ladies are the regular cask offerings, with the guest often supplied by localish breweries like Dark Star, Sambrook’s or Surrey Hills. O’Hara’s Celtic Stout and Brooklyn Lager offer alternatives to the mainstream on the keg taps, while Anchor Porter, Affligem abbey beers, Paulaner wheat beer and a choice or two from Thornbridge enliven the fridges. Wood fired pizzas, fresh pasta and locally made artisanal ice cream are among the highlights on the menu.
Pub trivia. The pub has been known previously as the Marble Hill and the Rising Sun but takes its current name from the landlord’s young son.
National Rail St Margarets Bus St Stephens Church (numerous Twickenham, Richmond) Cycling Link to LCN+ Richmond and NCN4 Walking Thames Path
 The William Webb Ellis, Twickenham TW1 (London) London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Twickenham and Hampton Hill
Contemporary pub (Wetherspoon)
24 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3BR
T 020 8744 4300 w www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-william-webb-ellis
Open 0900-2300. Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 10 (Fuller’s, Greene King, Sharp’s, Twickenham, 5 sometimes local guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 2 real ciders, usual Wetherspoon kegs and bottles, Also Usual Wetherspoon wines and hot drinks.
Food Reduced Wetherspoon menu, Outdoor Rear terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Big screen sport including rugby.
Such is the interest in good beer in Twickenham these days, it seems that even the local Wetherspoon makes a special effort. The substantial former post office building that is the William Webb Ellis actually bears the company’s more youth-oriented sub-brand Lloyds No 1 and boasts some stylish design features including a striking circular fireplace, but it’s more like one of the mainstream pubs in the chain, especially in its support of cask beer.
London Pride, Abbot, IPA, Doom Bar and local brew Naked Ladies are regularly offered here, and guests might include local options from Hepworth alongside interesting stuff from breweries like Hawkshead, Vale or small Cornish brewer Wooden Hand. Unsurprisingly considering the location, major rugby matches are screened and there’s plenty of memorabilia on display to intrigue the fans.
Pub trivia. Allegedly William Webb Ellis invented the game of rugby when he picked up the ball and ran with it during a football game while a student at Rugby school in 1823 – though the account is disputed by serious historians. Webb Ellis later became an evangelical vicar, and died at Menton on the French Riviera.
National Rail Twickenham Cycling LCN+ Hampton Wick, Brentford, link to NCN4 Walking Thames Path, River Crane Walk
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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.
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