Kmflett's Blog

The way we were: Craft Beer in London, Easter 2016

Below is a slightly edited piece I wrote about craft beer in London at Easter 2016

Looking back the song has not exactly remained the same. Brodies (at least in London) are no more and the Craft 100 held in Clapham is but a memory. Beavertown is now owned by Heineken.

Perhaps this was one of the last occasions when ‘craft’ beer still appeared as much on cask as keg.

On the plus side there are a lot more London breweries now and a lot more choice

For some years I used to travel (with my late partner Megan) ‘Oop north at Easter to sample new and interesting beers that weren’t seen in London.

Such beers still exist but such is the lure of the Great Wen that many beers from the north turn up in the Capital sooner rather than later. Its best understood though as combined and uneven development rather than a rivalry.

Easter 2016 was spent in London at various craft beer events and outlets.

On Thursday Megan and myself ventured Sarf to Clapham. The Craft 100 was again running at the Craft in Clapham.

These were always well organised events and 2016 was no exception. It was busy but there was no issue getting served and the decision (at last) to serve in thirds (as well as halves and pints) made a huge difference.  Interesting beers could be sampled in greater numbers and in my view a third of Even More Jesus (cask 11.4%) is considerably more enjoyable than a half.

The range as always was exceptional and at the end of the night I realised I hadn’t sampled one keg beer. So is it right that more interesting beers are now more often to be found on keg than cask? Hmmm.

Travelling back Norf we stopped at the Waterloo Tap (remember I’d been drinking only thirds, slowly). The latest Tap venue it contains no spiral staircases and a spacious toilet (albeit only one). It has from memory 20 keg taps and 6 cask.

Moving on to Friday and the late afternoon found us at the King William in Leyton for Brodies bunny basher. This has been an epic event but in 2015 it was a bit of a disappointment. Brodies have had their ups and downs as a brewery but on this evidence they are on their way back.

Here it’s true that most of the more interesting beers were on keg (and limited by a total of 9 keg taps) but there were good well-made brews to sample.

We than wandered across to one of the Beard Friendly Pubs of the Year, the Cock Tavern E8, to try BBN DIPA and one of the latest of Beavertown’s trial IPAs (as well as Tiny Rebel/Brighton Bier new misspelt Cascadian Kolsch on cask).

Saturday afternoon found us, as it often did when in London, at Beavertown brewery.

While the recent birthday party seems to be passing into legend, the new beers continue to appear. The jury remains out on Bloody ‘Ell 2016. For me the best I’ve tried was on cask at the Craft 100, but whether keg or can is better and how they compare with 2015…

Anyway on offer were the latest trial IPAs (all at 5.7% this time). For me Cpt Hasta was the best of the bunch. (the trial ended with the production of Lupuloid)

That day also saw the last print edition of The Independent and Will Hawkes last beer column made the point that the focus on craft was moving on from the interesting and unusual towards the consistent (as well).