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.
