Craft beer taprooms: the new normal & a trip to the far side
Having returned to London after 122 days locked down in Cardiff, I decided to check out a couple of craft beer tap rooms (along with friends Hazel and Ian).
Both were on the Blackhorse Lane area of E17 which has some claim to be a new beer mile as it has taps from Wild Card, Exale, Signature and Trumans, all within walking distance of Blackhorse Rd station.
Its what we know in Tottenham as the far side, the far side of the Walthamstow Wetlands that is. There is a reason why breweries and taps are opening here, and not Tottenham now. Premises are cheaper and in today’s context that’s important.
Anyway a start was made at Exale, a tap I’d visited just before I personally locked down on 16th March. It has developed since then with outside seating and a small outside mezzanine area too.
The beer from Exale (brewed on site) and guests is always interesting, as is the fish tank, which featured in the name and design of a lockdown beer Murder on Crab Island. I particularly enjoyed an imperial stout a collab between Exale and Left Handed Giant, but then I would..
What of the new normal? You can pre-book -tables, although there is space for walk-ins. There is plenty of sanitiser, and table service, with cashless payment. The inside being an industrial until has a high roof and is light and airy and obviously outside is outside.
A short walk back towards Blackhorse Rd station led to the turning for the Signature and Trumans taps (to right and left respectively at the bottom of the lane). We tried the Trumans tap as its newly opened.
Its currently an outside beer garden alongside what will be Truman’s very large new brewery. Where they are planning to sell all the beer that it’ll have the capacity to produce intrigues.
For now though it’s an outside space (again pre-booking with walk-ups). It’s the most COVID-19 secure environment Ive visited since my return to London. Sanitiser and temperature checks at the entrance. You are then shown to a table, all of which are screened from each other, and ordering beer is via an App.
The only time you really need to move from your seat is to embark on the quite long walk around the new brewery to the toilets. The sit-downs are apparently compostable affairs but I used only the pissoir…
It is a massive space and the beer range while limited was decent enough with a balanced 5% IPA on offer.
A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon and reflect on some of things missed in lockdown. Discussing the mean of life, the universe etc over a few beers with friends may seem a trivial matter but in days like these it was really cheering to be able to do it again, safely.
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