Did Kernel just kill the Bermondesy Mile?

They couldn't handle the crowds. Too many stag and hen groups was a particular problem.

A lot of people seems to be pissed off at them which I find difficult to understand. They didn't go out out of their way to build the Bermo Beer Mile, a bunch of other breweries rode on their coat tails and hyped the concept in the press. It's still the best place to get their IPA's at their freshest and they usually have a couple of brewery only bottles on sale so it's worth visiting imo.

In other news eEbria just opened a bar beside Partizan which looks quite decent.

 

Just as well I decided that it was too late to start on the Beer Mile, this weekend has pretty much been a bust when it comes to beer.

 

Yes, all this. If you've been to The Kernel after noon/1pm at any point in the last two years, it's very easy to understand why they decided to stop selling beer to drink on site. The atmosphere kind of sucks. It's crowded, very noisy, the wait for a beer can be 10 minutes+, the staff has to start turning people away, queues for the toilets build...in that setting, it's really just not much fun for anyone. And the brewery isn't making that much money selling beer to drink on site compared to what they sell to take away (not to mention their regular sales), so there's not much financial incentive.

I still [and will] go down to Bermondsey on a regular basis, but I always try to get down there early enough so that I can be on my way by noon or so.

 

They put on a great turn for Zwanze day. Had Fou Foune on draft. Excellent customer service, the owner is an absolute legend. But still, sucks that they are closing for on site Saturday boozing.

 

I just saw this recently myself. I"m glad I had the chance back in June to head over and have a few beers. I can see how it could be a clusterfuck. I got there about 930AM, and as I was leaving about 11ish it was already getting slammed.

 

I've done the Mile a couple of times and it was always Kernel that was the most overcrowded and full of largish groups who seemed to have no intention of moving on.

 

move to Bermondsey. That way it isn't 1 hour on the tube each way.

 

In town through Sunday. Would love to find some fresh Kernel beers on tap. Any recommendations for places that might have 2-3 different ones on tap? Craft Beer Co had one when I was there, and it was fantastic, but I'd rather not run all over the places trying to find different ones.

 

You're not likely to find multiple Kernel taps on at once. Which Craft Beer Co were you at? I think the Covent Garden branch (more like Holborn or St. Giles, really) sometimes has two on.

More likely would be multiple bottles. I was in Cask Pub and Kitchen (Pimlico) and Craft Beer Co Clerkenwell this week, and I seem to recall they each had c. four different bottled Kernel beers. Kernel is really just as good out of bottle, and sometimes even better.

 

Even more exciting would be to find Kernel on cask. Years ago I had a Kernel Citra Pale on cask st The Cask and it was incredibly.

I was at the Craft Beer Co nearest St Pacras. Not sure which neighborhood that is.

 

That would be interesting, though speaking for myself I've never seen Kernel on cask, just keg (last time I was at the CBC Covent Garden they had an IPA and a Pale Ale, and before that an IPA and the Table Beer). Though the stand-out Kernels I've had have been bottled.

 

Kernel hasn't put out beer in cask in a few years. They used to do it regularly, though. I reckon they ceased with it in/around 2012. There's a slight chance they have done a cask since then, but it would have been a one-off for an event or something.

The CBC nearest to St. Pancras is almost certainly their Islington branch.

 

try The Rake between Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral

 

Can't say I've seen any Kernel in the Rake on recent visits (say the last year).

Your best bet for multiple, and by that I mean 2, Kernel taps is one of the larger Craft Beer Co bars ... namely Covent Garden or Clerkenwell.