London Brewing Co. Tour

It wasn’t until July last year when I became aware of the London Brewing Co. when I saw some of their beers exhibited at the Ealing Beer Festival. Founded in 2011, they initially operated as a small brewpub at the Bull, Highgate before subsequently moving to a larger site at The Bohemia in North Finchley in 2014. Since then, they have expanded their facilities, although their original aesthetic as a brewpub still retains. This brewpub has become a popular focal point for the local community, organising events such as their monthly Brewer’s Social evenings where attendees can have a chat with the brewers while supping a complimentary pint of their latest special; and on the last Saturday of each month, they organise brewery tours, which gives the visitors the unique chance to explore around the site and find out more about their brewing operations. Keen to take up the opportunity, with my friend Graham in tow, we booked our places for the tour.   

 

Unlike other breweries that I have encountered, which tend to be in remote industrial units; this one was situated in a prominent High Street position which made it easier to commute. When we arrived, the bar had just opened for the day, so activity was still light. As we were waited for our tour guide to arrive, I supped a half of Flying the Mags (3.4%) their annual May special, a dark-mild created in honour of Mild May month. Despite its relatively low strength, it was rich and flavoursome, with prominent roasted malt notes and a caramel sweetness on the backend.  Before long, our guide Maciej arrived, and we were surprised to discover that we were the only two people on this tour. He first took us round the mash-tun, hopback and hot liquor tank which can be prominently seen towards the rear of the bar area. Maciej informed us that up to 80% pale malt is utilized in all their beers, and whilst boiling the malt, it is boiled at different temperatures, depending on the beer, in the order to extract the appropriate flavours and aromas. The mixture is then fed into the hopback where a base hop (used for bittering) is boiled for an hour. Upon then, more expensive hops are added to the mixture and boiled for only 15 minutes, then it is rapidly cooled down to stop the mixture from going bitter. Brewing operations are normally done twice a week, and despite only producing 1000l per day, up to two beers are produced during the working day.

 

Maciej then took us into a room at the rear of the building which contained several combi fermentation/ conditioning tanks that had pun-filled names like Audrey Hopburn, Tank Sinatra and Britney Beers for instance. During fermentation, CO2 is pumped into the vessels to drive out the oxygen, to prevent the mixture from spoiling; the beers are fermented at different temperatures, higher for pales/ IPAs and lower for lagers respectively. Two weeks after fermentation, 3kg worth of hops are added to the vats via their Hop Gun, a unique device that resembles a cross between a syringe and a torpedo. I have never encountered such a device on any previous brewery tour, and apparently the brewers double dry hop most of their beers (apart from Dark-Mild and Stouts), using this gadget for an extra coating of flavours and aromas, which help give their beers their characteristically bold flavour profile. Maciej then poured us some samples of London Lush (3.8%) to try straight from the tank, the beer was more vibrant, fresh and hoppy than what we tried from the bar earlier in the tour which seemed rather meek in comparison. A week after dry hopping the vat is dispensed into casks or kegs depending on the product, Maciej guided us into the barrel room where he concluded the tour. It was a large cavernous space filled to the rafters with casks and kegs waiting to be dispensed later at their bar, or sent on to their affiliated pubs who stock their products like The Carlton Tavern, Maida Vale or The Chandos, Brockley for instance. Scores of barrels were lined up against the walls with pipes connected to them, like the innards of an elaborate digestive system. Maciej informed us to give the casks added carbonation they add sugar to them, however their shelf life is only limited to around four days, while the kegs can last several weeks. This process is particularly challenging to manage given to the slew of cask and kegs that are fed into the bar on a daily basis. We then walked towards the bar where we asked Maciej more questions about the beers, I was particularly inquisitive about All Ripe (3.4%) their keg fruited sour, he explained that it’s distinct sour notes come from the special yeast used. We then proceeded to try some cask beers, which were quite flavoursome and distinct in their own right, although due to the hot weather conditions, they were too warm to fully appreciate the complexities of the various aromas and flavours.

Overall, we found the tour rather informative and insightful, we learnt intriguing details about the brewing process from boiling at different temperatures to double dry hopping, though some details were lacking, such as getting the chance to learn more about the various hops and malts they use in their core beers, which would have given us a greater understanding about how the beers get their distinctive flavours. This tour was relatively in smaller scale to ones I’ve been to in the past, and I found the admission price a tad overinflated, though it did come with incentive of a complimentary pint at the bar and a 20% off gift-token towards the overall tab. If you’re unfamiliar with the intricacies of the brewing process, I would strongly advise trying this tour out, as this provides a richly informative introduction into brewing, and the unique chance to see the behind-the-scenes workings of a brewpub in action.

St Albans Beer & Cider Festival 2024

Another year, another festival; at the end of last month I was down at the St Albans Beer & Cider Festival, which has been held at the Alban Arena since 1996. This visit was my fourth (since 2012) and I was eager to see what was different since my visit last year. There have been some changes since last year, in addition to their stalwart Herts, National and International Bars, this year they have included showcase bars for American cask beer producers and a regional spotlight bar for breweries based around Merseyside, along with brewery bars for new additions to the festival Oakham, Siren Craft Beer and Timothy Taylor's alongside established favourites like Mad Squirrel and Tring for example. As usual I attended on the final day of the festival, however unlike other festivals I've gone to in the past where I've often experienced a dearth of supplies, the organisers rather niftly made sure that a good number of beers and ciders were still in stock, even to the point of postponing the availability of some beers to later in the day; this came to my advantage as it gave us the oppertunity to try out more beers and ciders. 

For my first beer I went local, from a brewery that's only 4.7 miles away; I sampled English Ale (4%) by 3 Brewers, one of their flagship releases it is sold at a number of local pubs in the area, but I was intrigued to try this local offering, despite it's low sessionable strength, it was bitter and rather hoppy with strong malty notes, despite looking like your run-of-the-mill amber coloured ale, its potent mix of flavours made it seem stronger than its ABV suggests, although far from outstanding, it was a decent start to the proceedings. For my next beer I visited one of the brewery bars, and settled on Osset, a Yorkshire based brewery which encountered at last year's festival. I tried out some Voodoo (5%), although described by the brewery as a deliciously rich and full bodied stout, alas I was underwhelmed by the experience overall. Ganted it was smooth and creamy in mouthfell, with notes of coffee, chocolate and lactose making up for most of the flavour-profile. There was a mild hint of Orange somewhere in there, but it wasn't discenrable to the point that you couldn't really tell it was a Orange flavoured stout. Following a luncheon pie from the Real Pie Company, who have been regulars at the festival for a number of years, I sought to refresh my tastebuds and sample a Green Hop Beer. At this time of year, a number of breweries across the South East and the West Midlands produce these beers which involves brewing beers made with hops that were freshly picked within hours of brewing. This creates for a unique taste, so I went for the only such example avaialble at the festival, Green Hop Fuggles (4.2%) by Wantsum. One of a number of green hop beers by the brewery that showcase various hops, it has long been on my bucket list to try. From appearances it was your typical Golden Ale, but the flavours were more than otherwise. It was rather hoppy, exhuding grassy and floral notes that you can only get from freshly picked hops; it was richly dovetailed with a malty background that had hints of fruit, wood-smoke and tart elements. This beer was richly balance without being too hoppy, the brewers evidently understand how to take advantage of the flavour propertises from the hop variety. Needing some fresh-air I went back out into the courtyard and went in search of the Merseyside Bar. There were many beers to choose from, but I eventually settled on Peat Bog Porter (4.9%) by Big Bog brewery, whom at the time of writing have gone into administration so it was really the last chance to try it. Although described as a porter made with dark malts and real liquoriche root, I found it rather misleading. First their was lack of dark malts in the mix, far from looking a porter it resembled more a Brown Ale, which is popular in parts of Northern England. Otherwise it was malty, sweet with some fruitness present though the liquoriche flavours were rather muted which was rather a let down, when it promised so much. Feeling slightly bruised, I was still on the lookout for a proper traditional Porter, in the end I went to the Hertfordshire Bar, and tried out some London Porter (5%) by Mad Squirrel, another local brewer based in Potten End. Reasurringly it was dark, rich and smoky with a sharp bitterness in the foreground, supported by notes of roasted coffee and dark chocolate. It had a medium bodied mouthfeel with a touch of silky creaminess present, without being too cloying and heavy, with a dryness present on the back-end. For an old-school style Porter, it ticked all the boxes and delivered on the flavour front, it was easily beer of the festival in my opinion. 

After trying out a number of beers, we exited the festival for a brief sojurn down the Saturday market that is held weekly in this town. We passed along a bakery stall, and we purchased some baked goods to bring back with us, I ultimately went for a Pork Pie as I has cider on my mind. For the non beer drinkers, this festival caters for all, not only is there a Wine & Spirits bar, there is also the long-standing Cider and Perry bar, situated near the stage. A dizzying mixture of ciders and perries from various producers clogged the stands, varying in strength and flavour (from sweet to dry). My prefernce is generally for medium or sweet ciders, so I settled on Appley Dappley (5.2%) by Snails Bank. A rather unusual concoction, it combines bittersweet apples with Russet variety to create a distinct flavour, although I found it distinctly sweet, there was depth to the flavours. There were strong hints of vanilla and smokiness going on the background which added to the richness and flavour-profile of the cider, and although there was a hint of strength it was too noticeable, on the whole it was refreshing and rather quaffable cider, which went rather well with my Pork Pie, that helped bounce off and amplify the flavours. At this stage of the festival I usually go for stronger ales, although my senses were starting to diminish with every succesive drink. I ultimately went for The Union (6%) by Thornbridge, a classic English style IPA brewed using a Burton union set which the brewery recently acquired from Marstons. it certainly delivered on results, in the foreground their was a potent fruitness with hints of orange, caramel, oak and a whisp of sherry, this was backed up with a balanced hoppiness that deftly balanced with the other flavours without being overwhelming. The colour was a shimmering gold, whilst the mouthfeel was heavy bodied and cloying; this is not your typical IPA with overbearing notes of citrussy hoppiness, all the elements here combine into a maginficent showcase of flavours. For my final beer of the festival, I sampled Talk to the Palm (8.4%) by the London Brewing Company, another relatively local brewer (based in Finchley), I was keen to try out one of their beers, since I was eluded the oppertunity back at Ealing in July. A rather flavoursome Imperial Stout, although it was on the lower register of strength, the flavours were rather noticeable, there were distinct hints of sweetness, vine fruits with a background of spiciness from the bittersweet hops, thrown in was a potent malty background, that had notes of roasted and toasted bitterness without being too forceful, although there were hints of cocoanut it was difficult to determine in all this excitement; and at this strength beer starts tasting more like a spirit, and I sensed some vinous notes of Port and Sherry deep in the hedgrows, it was rounded off with a slick, heavy and creamy mouthfeel, that is typical of the style. 

The beer perfectly round off the proceedings, although by this time I was a little worse for wear, having sampled a great variety of beers. Whenever I visit a beer festival, I'm always on the lookout for variety in my glass, and it was great to see that this festival still had a number of options left avaiable, even on the last day. This festival is one of the biggest in the south-east and with the cessation of the Olympia as the venue for GBBF, along with Ealing it is one of the more high-profile festivals Londoners can easily travel to. For a Herts based beer festival, there is an excellent showcase of beers from producers around the county, but this deftly balanced by beers from producers based around the country, and the international, brewery and regional showcase bars make it seem like a condensed version of GBBF, with the slew of events such as cheese and beer tastings, auctions, talks and pub heritage tours adding to the proceedings. 50 years have passed since the first CAMRA beer festival was held at the Old Market Hall in March 1974, and in it's 27th year at the Alban Arena, the festival has helped showcase the vast nationwide legacy of breweries and beers that have come about over the years thanks to the pioneering efforts. This festival delivers on all fronts, and always provides a memorable and enjoyable experience for visitors.