Around Town with Amateur Drinker
Lervig drops into Kings Arms, E2
In an enjoyable month, Saturday Apr 25 was undoubtedly the highlight for all beer fans: a Siren tap takeover at The Bottle Shop, BeaverTown hosting Lervig at their tap-room, a London brewers’ blind IPA tasting at BrewDog, Shoreditch, and last but most definitely not least Colorado’s Crooked Stave taking over the pumps at the King’s Arms.
Genuine congratulations to anybody who managed all four events tempered by a feeling of regret that I felt too old to try the same feat, but I think most people’s question was which to go for:
I chose Siren at BottleShop, which is a combination which can’t (and didn’t) really go wrong followed by Crooked Stave. It was the first time I had their beers on tap and I thought they were superb: all highlights, but in particular the Boysenberry Sour, Sin Frontera and Colorado stood out.
Like Napoleon’s generals it is always better to be lucky than good and I was fortunate that a couple of Lervig’s beers were also still available from their tap-takeover two days earlier, which regrettably I had been unable to attend, as I always enjoy Rustique, their BA collaboration with Magic Rock.
Overall a great day and I enjoyed the Crooked Stave so much that I returned to the pub on Sunday to carry on drinking.
This month’s brief roll of honour includes Siren/Evening Brew’s collaboration launch of the imperial brett stout “All Of It Please” at the Earl of Essex, BeaverTown’s superb North to South London tap-takeover at the BottleShop, Uncommon Brooklyn at the Three John’s (although it may have been me, I couldn’t find anything even remotely normal strength), Moor’s event at the Fox, where the Fusion was especially good, Lovibonds at BrewDog Camden with the Sour Grapes as tasty as always, and Skull King’s launch at BeaverTown.
Interesting to see that Brew By Numbers is now joining the growing number of Bermondsey venues opening on a Sunday. Personally, to have the Mile open twice a week would be brilliant, both from convenience of when to attend and reducing the crowds.
Brew by Numbers, Bermondsey
However, I do fear potential conflict with pubs: they have far higher fixed costs than breweries (you wouldn’t even have a sniff of a licence if your application plan included one toilet for hundreds of potential customers), yet now face competition from tap-rooms cherry-picking the best days (and how long before Friday night is added if Sunday proves successful).
Pubs are still closing at an alarming rate although presently the craft beer sector is defying that trend by concentrating on quality. However, it is profits from the Thursday and weekend trade which enable the service of pubs opening all week. It would be a shame if that was threatened by tap-rooms, which so far have been a brilliant addition to London’s drinking scene.
An interesting question going forward is whether Londoners are ready to pay £50 per ticket for a beer festival, even if the word carnival is used. Opinions diverge wildly: £50 is not excessive compared to wine, food or sporting events in the capital – especially if the organisers (Craft Beer Company) have a track record for quality and the line-up is pretty impressive.
On the other hand, £50 smashes any previous UK beer benchmark I can think of and the organisers have had value issues in the past and the price really starts to bite into many budgets.
I am presently undecided but more than a little unimpressed that the event was announced to great fanfare a month before any actual tickets were physically available. Finally, and this is a prediction that can always go wrong in England, but summer does appear to have arrived at last… Enjoy the season of Saisons & Sours…
Reporting from the front-line – Amateur Drinker manages to get along to all the beer things you’d like to but couldn’t.