Going to London

Craft Beer Co. !!! http://thecraftbeerco.com/
Also visit the Kernel brewery : http://thekernelbrewery.com/

have fun!

 

That's because there is a separate UK forum, stick your post in there and you'll get plenty of activity and I'll kick you off

Remember - we're English in London - NOT European

 

As if by magic ...

Let this be the definitive 'London' thread on the new forum now that most folks have re-appeared!

Some points that get raised - where are you staying, do you want pubs local to your hotel or are you happy to travel?

Check out Barfly as a decent sounding board

If you want a wide variety of beers from around the UK and beyond check out the previously mentioned Craft (16 hand pulled and 19 keg taps) and the Cask (10 hand pulled and 12 keg taps), its sister pub. Both have a large bottled range, the latter boasting the biggest in a pub in the UK!

Also for a large-ish range check out the Euston Tap

More traditional pubs (cask only) with a good range of beers would include the Old Fountain on Old St, the Wenlock Arms off the City Rd, Southampton Arms in Kentish Town, Bree Louise (Euston - 3 minutes from the tap), The Market Porter and the Wheathsheaf (Borough Market)

If you want 'old/trad pubs' with beers largely tied to one brewery try the Lamb (Youngs), the Buckingham Arms (Youngs) or the Star Tavern (Fullers). The latter of these are the only two ever present Good Beer Guide entries for London since the conception of the book

There are many many more Youngs and Fullers pubs that I'm sure folks will recommend

Worth visiting is the Fullers Brewery itself, District line to Turnham Green and a 10 minute walk (so about 30 minutes in total from central London). They have a shop with the full range of beers including the reserves, they do a tour and have a pub on the corner which has 8 beers on cask, plus bottles.

On the way there or back, hop off at the station prior to Turnham Green (Stamford Brook) where you will find (3 or 4 minutes walk away) the Duchess of Cambridge, sister pub to the Bree Louise (16 beers on cask and gravity + bottles). They were supposed to be opening their own brewery on site this year, but I haven't been down since Xmas to check this out.

Kernel of course (as above) but you will find their beers dotted about at other bars to save you the visit there, but if you want to take some good beer home, then get down there on a Saturday

Other pubs worthy of mention: - The Harp (last years CAMRA pub of the year winner), The Rake, Brew Wharf, King William IV at Leytonstone, Pembury Arms at Hackney, Brew Dog Camden

You can get cask ale at the vast majority of pubs but if you follow the advice on this thread or choose the bars I've highlighted above, you'll get good quality, well presented beer and a good variety instead of the same 5 or 6 beers that always crop up in London pubs (Youngs bitter/London Pride/Sharp's Doom Bar etc)

That should kick you off anyhow!

 

As far as on the way back from Fuller's another recommendation that the tour guide made for us was, instead of walking back to Turnham Green, walk down from the Brewery towards the Thames. Then you can walk along the river I believe towards the Hammersmith station. It is probably about a 40 minute walk if you do it non-stop, but along the way you pass by something like 8 different pubs that are all right on the river, including The Dove and the Blue Anchor.

As far as pubs go I really liked Ye Olde Mitre. There was also the Anchor Tap pub in Southwark. It was kind of weird, it was owned by Samuel Smith brewery, so they had excellent beer, and really good prices, but everything was in kegs (no casks). Either way a full selction of keggged Sam Smith beer is still better than most pubs in Canada.

 

This is a nice walk so I'd second that in one direction, but remember a lot of these pubs including the Dove are Fullers pubs (what a surprise they recommend the Dove on the brewery tour ) , so you'll only get the same old 4 or 5 beers on offer in most of them, where as the Duchess is a brew pub and free house likely to be hosting at least 5 or 6 beers of the 16 that you may not find anywhere else in London

 

That place sounds cool. If I ever make it back to London I will have to check it out.

When I was there I also found that the Nicholson's pubs were pretty good for a large chain. We discovered them on the second to last day, and each one we went to had at least 1 or 2 ales I had not seen anywhere else.

http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/drink/

Also they have an Ale Trail thing going where if you have a drink at 6 different pubs in the same area and get a stamp at each you get a free tshirt. The disclaimer they have says you are only allowed to get 2 stamps per day, but I filled a card in one afternoon (it was 5 pints when I did it) and no one said a thing.

http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/aletrails/london/

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/london-beer.2430/

 

The Craft Beer Co is a good starting point before diving into the joys of cask ales.
A trip to London isn't complete without visiting a Fullers pub. Brewery visit yes, but pub as well.
My favourite is the Star Tavern at 6 Belgrave Mews West SW1 8HT.
Its been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide every year since the first edition in 1974. The ESB there is just outstanding.

 

I'd suggest a championship match, cheaper and more exciting football Never easy for that even at a moments notice though.

 

You still haven't said when you're actually going to be here. Tickets for Fulham games are quite easy to come by, and if you're in London on the 9th of April you could see them playing Chelsea.

http://www.livefootballtickets.com/english-premiership-fulham-v-chelsea-tickets/london-9243.html

 

See my recent thread Beer and Pub List. If I must say in all modesty it's a all star list of pubs we hit.

 

US expat living in London for the past year. Best discovery so far has been the Kernel. It was mentioned a few times above, but I thought I would stress it again. Go on a Saturday (open 9am to 3pm - 98 Druid Street
London SE1 2HQ, about 10 min walk from London Bridge Station).

I would also throw another mention for CraftBeerCo up in Clerkenwell (82 Leather Lane, Clerkenwell, London, EC1N 7TR, walk from Farringdon or Chancery Lane). Great selection keg, cask, bottle.

My final thought would be to take a trip up to the BrewDog location up in Camden. One of my favorite craft beer spots in the city. They've always got 10-12 of their own beers, as well as guest line ups featuring Mikkeller, Southern Tier, Lagunitas, Cantillon (this week), Stone, etc. No cask offerings, but decent bottle selection as well. Camden is also an interesting area to check out.

 

Get an a-z guide(EXCELLENT detailed maps)... invaluable... The thames walk to Hammersmith(A fun place to explore in it's own right) is really nice and pretty... Check out fancyapint.com for decent reviews of pubs...Craven Cottage is a nice place to see a match and is only about a 15-20 minute walk from the bricklayers arms (putney)... The whitehorse in Parsons Green is also close to the cottage and stamford bridge (Chelsea(the club I support))... AFC Wimbledon is also a fun club to catch & you can still stand in the ends. Very affordable day out too compared to the EPL...
In London Proper, check out the Harp on Chandos (VERY GOOD) which is close to Trafalgar Square and lots of touristy destinations...Gordon's Wine bar (while not beery) is also worth checking out... Down in Borough Market/Southwark you also have the Market (natch), the rake (great but small), the market porter, and the royal oak (all within about 15-20 minutes walk)... I've missed a helluva lot of places, but the folks above have hit A LOT of them...