The Beers on the Bus

There’s no limit to where beer festivals can be held, from churches, rugby clubs, locomotive sheds, theatres and on-board rail bars, but until recently I never fathomed for a moment that one could be held in a converted bus. On the last Saturday of August, Ludo's who operate a bar based within a double decker bus in Wood Green, was the venue for the Drink Haringey Beer Festival. A micro-beer festival showcasing the produce of local brewers based within the borough of Haringey. Due to the limited space of the bus, only seven beers and one cider were possible, moreover it was a strictly keg-based affair, again due to the tight space which would have made it difficult to rack casks. The bus was originally a brewery tap for Earth Ales based in Abingdon before they sold it off in late 2021, and Ludo's opened for business the following April. It is a tight knit affair with seating areas on both floors and a converted bar at the rear. They only offer keg, though they do offer craft beers by independent producers; futhermore due to its lack of space hot food isn’t sold here yet crisps, nuts, olives and pickled eggs are available. The bar is also dog-friendly and its resident pub-dog Mag is a regular. In an addition to operating a bar, they also organise frequent stand-up gigs, quiz nights and film screenings, all within the tight confines of the bus!

The rain was starting to pour, and we were keen to sample some brews and find some shelter. We eventually made it to a convenient table at the back of the top floor, it was only mid-afternoon so trade was still relatively modest. The selection of beers on offer was primarily devoted to paler coloured beers, so I went for the sole dark ale, Luna (4.4%) by the Goodness Brewing Co,Based less than ½ mile away from Ludo’s, they were the most locally based brewery on showcase. Founded in 2018, by Joe Louis Sheasgreen, Mike Stirling, Zack Ahmed, and Damien Legg, who were initially home brewers before they teamed up and established their own commercial brewery and taproom the following year. The brewery sells to a number of independent pubs across London, including some Fuller’s and Greene King sites.  A traditional Irish style nitro-stout, this beer is named after the goddess Luna, in Roman mythology she is the divine embodiment and personificatioon of the moon. One of their regular core-range products, it is only available of draught; true to form it had a smooth creamy mouthfeel akin to whipped cream, with a one finger buff coloured head that showed little sign of subsiding. Upon tasting, a distinct bittersweet roasted malt taste was detectable along with notes of chocolate and coffee in the background. The brewery advertises this beer as being a transcendent experience, where one can sample the indulgent flavours of the brew and experience the epitome of a perfect stout; in this instance I can easily see why. At this point I needed to refresh my tastebuds, so I proceeded to quaff some Biere de la Mews (4.1%) by Muswell Hillbilly Brewers based in nearby Muswell Hill. The brewery was established by a trio of homebrewers (Pistol Pete, Mart Dude and Beer Bob) who initiated their commercial operations from a cabin in 2016. They now operate a three-barrel microbrewery along with a small tap-room from a back-alley in Avenue Mews. Their beers are produced with locally sourced ingredients including their own bergamot plant and N10 hops grown in local gardens.  This particular beer is sold in bottle as well as keg, its produced annually between April – September and is influenced by Belgian blonde ales, a popular beer style in the country known for their smoothness and light malt character which allows other flavours to flow through from the hops and yeasty esters like caramel, banana, coriander and bread. It's name it equally continental, the brewers took inspiration from a lithographic poster by Alphonse Mucha in 1897, that promoted a brewery based near the River Meuse in Northern France. Designed in the classic lithographic art nouveau style, it depicts a woman posing with a tankard of beer. The beer itself was pale in colour with an ivory-coloured head, it was refreshing with distinct notes of passionfruit and mango coming through while a gentle bitterness wafted in the distance, the mouthfeel was smooth yet biscuity with a sour aftertaste. Easy-drinking it was rather light on flavour-profile, fine as a session ale but something I wouldn’t normally go for. For my final drink, I went for Martina (4%), a session pils developed in Světlé (Czech Pale) style of lager. The brewery was originally based up the road in Bowes Park, it was founded by a pair of Czech expats Petr Skocek and Zdenek Kudr in 2017. They exclusively produce authentic Czech style lagers, with equipment imported from Czech Republic and the services of a Czech brewmaster Matej Kriziek, formerly of Brevnov Monastery Brewery. This particular lager is one of their core-range products, reddish gold in colour with a silvery coloured head an upon tasting I found it thoroughly moreish, a flavoursome blast of malt was immediately apparent on the forefront, which gave away to chewy, woody, caramel notes that lingered long in the tastebuds. I detected a faint note of hops in the background, yet the flavours were dominated by malt. The brewery describe this lager as tasting like baked bread with a growing bitterness leading off to dry spicy finish, I was able to detect these flavours as described, although I found the aftertaste rather refreshing, biscuity and a tad dry; while the spiciness was modest and not overpowering, blending well with the sweetness in the background. For a lager of this relatively low strength, it had heaps of flavour which carried on long after each sip, it would make an ideal accompaniment to smoked meats. 

As a veteran of a number of beer festivals, I found this one relatively diminutive in comparison. The lack of cask options was a bit of a letdown, and the selection strongly edged towards paler coloured beers, such as pilsners, sours, pale ales and IPA’s. Although keg craft beer is increasingly improving in quality, I’m still indifferent to it as the cold temperatures somewhat nullify the malty extent of the flavours and its gassy afterburn can lead to some gastrolienal discomfort after a few drinks. Yet in an area of London which lacks any major CAMRA beer festivals, I find it great that the owners of Ludo's have taken up the mantle to organise this festival and showcase the diverse range of brewers across the local borough. Perhaps this event will light the touch paper and inspire people to organise a large-scale beer festival in the future, finally putting this chunk of London back on the beer festival map.