Love Beer London: beyond the big brands of craft beer
I paid a second visit to the Love Beer London craft beer keg festival on Saturday afternoon.
Storm Dennis notwithstanding it was only a short windswept walk from my Tottenham abode.
It was, as on the opening night, busy but there was no problem with getting served and the beer range had changed considerably since my first visit on Thursday evening.
That is a tribute to the organisers who had had to change venue at short notice with all the reorganisation and challenges that this can bring.
I noted a few complaints on social media (as ever) but actually I thought it all went very well. I noted a complaint for example that the beers were served too cold which wasnt my experience (being familiar with having to get imperial stouts well before drinking in Brewdog bars so they can warm up a bit) and that some were fizzy. Obviously individual views and experiences differ but I rather think that the person who argued that had never had even so much as a sip of Twitbread’s Wankard
It meant of course a lot of hard work for some. There is an interesting perspective on that here:
https://brewreport.co.uk/2020/02/16/volunteering-at-love-beer-london-2020/
Anyway it being an afternoon I didn’t go overboard with the beer (not that I would have done in the evening btw!) and confined myself to sipping four halves at £2 a go.
The event was slightly differently configured to previous years (it’s a not for profit festival with money going to a health charity) in that it was linked up with the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) covering the south-east of the country.
Hence, for example, there were craft beers from Dorking, Portsmouth and Ramsgate that you wouldn’t normally see in London despite its geographic proximity.
I must admit to not trying them as I was more interested in trying some London beers that you don’t normally see in bars in North-East London.
London is obviously a large place and the market is to some extent localised. I can find the excellent beers from Pressure Drop, Five Points and Redemption, for example, quite easily. I might also see beers from around the UK, from, for example, Manchester, with places like Newcastle and Birmingham rather less likely.
Anyway I tried the Italian grape beer from Ora (which is a Tottenham brewery but aside from the tap itself not seen that often in bars) a fruit IPA from Brewdog Tower Hill (which has its own on-site brewery) a chocolate wheat beer from Brixton and hazy pale from Boxcar in Bethnal Green (again tap aside, not seen that often in bars).
The standard was excellent and reflects I suspect a kind of levelling up of quality in London craft beer that was certainly not there when the scene got going 10 years ago.
I hope it will become an even more established part of the annual beer festival scene and with the specific and important focus on keykeg beers which do feature at other festivals of course, but not in such large variety and number.
My earlier thoughts
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