Beer Guide London Visits 29 – South East London
11th June 2022
So I know that I am well behind with my posting so I’ll start including the date of the visit so that it can be put in to context. I will also continue to highlight any changes in Guide status of any of the places that get mentioned. On with the waffle!
Things were still not fully back to normal on my previous visit to the Brixton area meaning that I missed a couple of places, add in a number of new openings and it made sense to make another visit. With opening hours back to normal I was able to start at the one I missed out on earlier, Craft Beer Co Brixton. A small bar area is augmented by seating upstairs, downstairs and outside. The beer selection is the usual excellent selection from the Craft Beer Co establishments.
The plan now was to head north to the Loughborough Junction area but first I had to obey the ‘law’ that states that should you find yourself in either Brixton or Putney then you have to visit Ghost Whale. I spent a pleasant half hour with several beers from their excellent tap list in my usual window seat watching the world go by.
I took a leisurely 15 minute stroll up to the Loughborough Junction area where my first call was to the Friendship Adventure Brewery Tap. This, my second visit, confirmed what I found on my first, that you are assured of a very friendly welcome in a great space. Plenty of their beers on tap and they were still providing the complimentary popcorn.
Next up was around the corner to the newly opened Craft Metropolis (Loughborough Junction), a sister venue to the Penge original. A bar area downstairs with 10 taps and several 100 packaged beers means that there is plenty of choice. Upstairs is a large seating area to enjoy your choice. This is a much larger space than Penge allowing them to offer events more easily.
Although it is not in the Guide I took the opportunity to head across the road, literally, to pay a visit to Clarkshaws Brewery. This is possibly the smallest “tap room” in London with space for just a couple of small tables inside and a couple more on the pavement outside. It is always good to visit these places and take the opportunity to chat with the brewer to find out how things are going and what may be in the pipeline and hence a good time was had here sampling the two beers they had available on draft.
Finishing up here I decided to jump on a bus to Camberwell with the chance to make one last visit to the Pigeon before it closed down. This was a pop-up bar that was run by Anspach & Hobday which means you know the beer selection would be good. And it was. The tap takeover by Brasserie Fantôme in the early days was particularly memorable. It was a shame to see it go, but it was known that it was only ever intended to be temporary.
A short walk along the road from here is the main reason to visit Camberwell, Stormbird. As you approach you are faced with what looks like any other high street pub, and this image is maintained as you enter. But then you head to the bar and you see the beer selection. And then you realise why this place is highly rated. There are always some absolute gems available.
I headed in to the Kennington area where the next stop was Orbit Beers Tap Room. A typical brewery in a railway arch setup stocked with an excellent beer range. Orbit produce good quality beers and with their White Label range they are always experimenting with different beer styles. Always worth seeking out.
A short walk from here took me Lowline Taproom and would turn out to be my only visit as it sadly closed in mid 2023. As far as I am aware they never got round to installing the brewing kit with the beers available on my visit having been brewed at Pretty Decent. At least they were honest with this information, an approach that some other breweries could take notice of. It’s a shame they didn’t make it as they had done a good job with the tap room and were nice people.
