Traditional Pubs in Waterloo area

Discussion in 'United Kingdom & Ireland' started by KPlen, Apr 7, 2018.

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  1. KPlen

    KPlen Zealot (503) Apr 19, 2017 Colorado

    Will be in London for the first time ever in July with wife for 25th Anniversary. We are staying at a hotel at H10 Waterloo. I have researched this forum and will definitely try to hit the following:
    Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
    Jerusalem Tavern
    Churchills
    Harp
    Waterloo Taphouse (for beer selection, rather than ambience)
    However, wondering if there are any other "traditional" pubs in the area. Basically looking for pubs who brew their own beers (ESB, Bitters, Milds, Porters, etc.). A Pub that isn't owned by Fuller's, Sam Smith, etc. Doesn't bottle their beers or sell retail, so that is the only place to get those beers. Admittedly I know very little of the "beer culture" in London so looking for recommendations that fit the bill. Thanks in advance!!
     
  2. KPlen

    KPlen Zealot (503) Apr 19, 2017 Colorado

    Did some more searching on this forum and found someone recommend whatpub.com. This is a great website. Found numerous pubs within a mile or so of our hotel. However, they all list beers brewed by Fullers, Sam Smith, Greene King, etc., all breweries in England. So, excuse my ignorance, but do none of the pubs brew their own beers on sight?
     
  3. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    It depends, brewpubs are not hugely common but I'm sure there are ones around, like Tap East in Stratford Westfield.
     
  4. jonb5

    jonb5 Pooh-Bah (1,745) May 11, 2010 England
    Pooh-Bah

  5. Snowcrash000

    Snowcrash000 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,041) Oct 4, 2017 Germany
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think what you are looking for, i.e. a small, traditional pub that brews its own English Ales does indeed not exist in London. There are plenty of microbreweries and brewpubs around, but those are all a bit more modern and of the craft variety, although some of them may also have traditional styles on tap, like what the previous posters recommended.

    I'm not sure why the place needs to be near Waterloo, as London has quite extensive public transport options available. Here's a decent list of microbreweries and brewpubs listed by borough:

    https://londonist.com/2015/02/mapped-londons-breweries-and-brewpubs-by-borough

    I would also recommed the Nicholson pubs, which are all over London. While they do not brew their own ales, they have a rotating selection of traditional cask ale from smaller breweries, so you're going to find a lot more interesting beers there than the usual Fuller's, Sam Smith, etc. beers. In fact, it might be just what you are looking for, even though the beers are not brewed on site. If you type "SE1 8SW" into their pub finder, it will display the closest options to Waterloo.

    https://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/
     
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  6. Bazza

    Bazza Aspirant (292) Apr 29, 2008 England

    #6 Bazza, Apr 8, 2018
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2018
  7. Dave_S

    Dave_S Crusader (429) May 18, 2017 England

    Agree with this. Or at least, brewpubs basically aren't a big thing in traditional British beer culture so I wouldn't see any reason to seek them out in particular. Come to that, if you're just after traditional British styles, I'd be tempted to say that there's no particular reason to seek out microbreweries - the likes of Fullers, Harveys and Adnams do them as well as anyone, IMO. But if you do want to then you're better off looking for good free houses like the Market Porter or the Southampton Arms than brewpubs.

    Agree with this!

    Don't really agree with this - Nicholsons are alright for a chain, but they were never places that I'd bother seeking out when I lived in London.

    Other advice - don't put too much faith in WhatPub - it literally just lists every pub with no assessment of quality, so there are going to be plenty of places on there serving shockingly out of condition beer, particularly in London, which is famously a crapshoot for cask ale quality. A better bet might be to get the Good Beer Guide (book or app), which is also produced by CAMRA but which, at least in theory, sticks to places where the beer is in consistently good condition.

    HTH
     
  8. Snowcrash000

    Snowcrash000 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,041) Oct 4, 2017 Germany
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Why not? I frequented the Nicholson pubs a LOT when I was living in London because of the seasonal cask ale selections and the frequently rotating beers. Had a lot of really nice beers down there and you can basically drink a few new beers every week. That was like 15 years ago though.
     
    #8 Snowcrash000, Apr 8, 2018
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2018
  9. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    What area were you in? I've been to a few in the Covent Garden / Leicester Square area which have been very average, pretty much just tourist traps with very poor cask care and food pretty poor for what you pay. Over the past decade or so the idea of a large beer selection has really caught on so you've got many better options to choose from.
     
  10. Snowcrash000

    Snowcrash000 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,041) Oct 4, 2017 Germany
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    The Crown on Brewer Street was pretty much my regular, although I would occasionally go to one or two of their pubs in the Leicester Square area as well. I usually kept to the smaller pubs, which were pretty cosy and quiet most of the time, but I can kinda see what you mean when it comes to the bigger, two-story affairs that they also have. I think the Crown also had a small upstairs area, but that was pretty much reserved for eating and I've never actually been there.

    I may not have been as discerning back then, having come into contact with cask ale for the first time in my life, but I just loved the rotating selection. Basically, if I only went there 2-3 times a week, I would pretty much never have to drink the same beer twice, which was amazing to me. As far as I can tell, nothing with a remotely comparable selection existed in inner London back in the early noughties.
     
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  11. captaincoffee

    captaincoffee Pooh-Bah (2,218) Jul 10, 2011 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Agree with those who say that traditional pubs that brew traditional beers in London are basically non-existent (or not as good quality as what you can get on cask elsewhere).
    Just to pile on, I'll throw in another vote against Nicholson pubs. I can't say I've ever been to one I liked. Sort of like a Wetherspoons where you pay a little more. This might be controversial, but in my experience I've found the quality of cask ale at Wetherspoons to be better...which I chalk up to the quantity served (meaning they have to change out the casks quite often).
    If you are willing to trade the UK traditional pub ambiance for quantity and quality of cask ales, I recommend Cask Pub and Kitchen or any of the Craft Beer Co locations.
    Sadly, I've been quite disappointed with the Harp on my last 3 visits. It was formerly one of my favorite spots and now I'm just as likely to pass it by.
    I'm not super-familiar with the Waterloo area, but a quick search of pubs on google maps around your hotel shows a few promising places. I'd be inclined to check out the Gladstone Arms near Borough station. Untapped says they have Landlord on cask right now...honestly you can't do much better if you are looking for "classic". It is near Borough Market, which I assume you may want to visit anyway as a tourist. If you are here on a Saturday, you could follow it up with the Bermondsey mile, which has a mix of breweries that do both new and classic styles.
    My 25th anniversary is coming up next year. Unfortunately (or is it fortunate?), my wife doesn't drink, so beer-centric trips are rife with danger.
     
  12. Dave_S

    Dave_S Crusader (429) May 18, 2017 England

    By the way, it's a bit of an aside but you might want to be prepared for the fact that cask porters are fairly scarce in the UK, cask milds are very scarce indeed, and "ESB" is a beer by Fullers rather than a style (and that most traditional pubs will very rarely sell anything over 5% ABV whatever they call it). The vast bulk of the cask trade is made up of bitters and golden ales.

    I do sometimes wonder whether this forum would benefit from a "cultural leanings of England for make benefit visiting American beer geeks" sticky...
     
    jazzyjeff13 likes this.
  13. FrankenBier

    FrankenBier Zealot (645) Feb 4, 2003 California

    It is broken down by general area but here is a list of brewpubs that brew decent beer (according to my London based colleague). Also not broken down by "Modern" or "Traditional" but most of them are traditional pubs that have a small brewery on site.

    Disclaimer: I wrote the software but the selections are based are done by my London colleague.
     
  14. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    That's a good list, thanks for sharing. The Antelope is one of my locals, not really London London but definitely worth a visit from you're in the area.
     
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