The pub was absolutely packed. Somehow the management had booked a beer club and a wine tasting on the same night. But there is a canny management here. They took one look at me, knew what I was there for, and found us a seat. The manager had lived in Auckland in 1987 and played for Ponsonby in the final against University. I went to inspect the beers, and there it was on drop Brewdog The Physics. So one pint was immediately consumed. I was also told that if I had been there at the weekend there were five Brewdog beers on tap amazing. During the course of the next four days several visits were made to the Bree Louise. It clearly is a haunt for CAMRA members, but they wouldn’t accept my SOBA card. You can tell a CAMRA member they like geeks, have an intense expression and are often seen carrying two halves. I was able to try some quite some very local beers. Sambrook’s Junction brewed in Battersea, which was a pretty good bitter; then two beers from Redemption Brewery, which is just down the road in Tottenham. This brewery doesn’t appear in the GBG yet, nor is it in the forthcoming list. The first was Urban Dusk (4.6%) a dark beer that reminded me of a beer brewed by Colin Paige some years ago, Mojo. It certainly had some coffee overtones. Redemption also make a very good pale ale. 

 

Next morning we made a pilgrimage to the Market Porter in Borough Market. We have been going there regularly for more years than we care to remember. This pub serves more than 600 cask ales during the course of a year. So the first beer was Black Dragon Mild from B&T, which I now know I have had before, followed by a 4% stout Night Moves from Kelham Island Brewery. This tasted rather like the 4% Guinness you used to get in cans and I have to confess to some difficulty in distinguishing between a 4% mild and a 4% stout. I will leave it to you experts. Normally on market day the Market Porter is packed at lunchtime. This time it was quite empty. We did meet an interesting bloke from Melbourne who runs a beer shop  there and tells me that one of his biggest sellers is Emersons. He sells a lot of other New Zealand beers as well and with a bit of luck might well come to Beervana. We then went with him to the Rake, a pub well known to Colin Mallon. Unfortunately the Saison I tried there from Dark Star Brewing in Sussex was simply not up to scratch. We pointed out mate in the direction of the Bree Louise and hope he made it he was going back to his family in Paris at 4pm. Finally we went to the Brew Wharf which is a brewpub in Borough Market with better than usual pub food. We had walked passed this place many times, and finally I was dragged in. Much to my surprise their Hopster (4.4) was very palatable. When visiting England I tend to be on the lookout for new pubs and new beers. But you shouldn’t forget the traditional pub with perhaps a limited choice of draught beer, but well kept and the pub is well run. The Thornbury Castle close to Marylebone Station meets that test. The husband and wife team have run it as a family pub for the last 7 years. It was very friendly and busy. They had on tap London Pride, Gales HSB and as their guest beer Adnams Bitter. I think it would be very difficult to fault these three beers. They were kept in very good condition and well served, and as good as anything I have tasted on this trip. They also had a very good food menu. As we are heading for Heathrow in a few hours I will finish now, but will do a wrap-up on some of the bottled beers I have tasted in the last few days and the ones that will be coming home. 

Cheers Your UK correspondent