The Craft Beer Thread

I’ve noticed in a few other threads that there are a couple of people out there who, like me, like the odd craft beer. There are a good number of local breweries so I thought in the interests of finding out where you can get good beer and where it is brewed I thought I’d start off by listing a couple of my favourites (note that I lean heavily in favour of the citrussy flavours of an IPA) in the hope of getting some recommendations for other local (or even further afield) beers.

Local

1. Hepcat - IPA - Gypsy Hill Brewery

2. Effra Ale - Pale Ale - Brixton Brewery

3. Electric IPA - Brixton Brewery

4. Kinsale - Pale Ale - Brick Brewery (Peckham)

5. Windrush - Stout - Brixton Brewery

London

1. Bloody Ell - Blood Orange IPA - Beavertown (Tottenham Hale)

2. Saint’s Tower - Hackney Brewery

3. Shoreditch Triangle - American IPA - London Fields Brewery

Around and about

1. Punk IPA (Brewdog)

What craft beer do you like to drink?

Good idea for a thread. I haven’t sampled enough beers to give a well-informed opinion, but my favourite two so far:

• Kernel Pale Ale
• Redchurch Shoreditch Blonde

A great local meetup group for enthusiasts is:

Agreed re the Shoreditch Blonde, which incidentally they used to serve in Mamma (née So) Dough. When I asked why it was off the menu was told it was more than 15 miles away, hence out of their supplier radius. I did challenge this (I reckon it is more like 7) but got nowhere.

Kernel Table Beer though is in a class of its own IMHO.

ETA: Five Points Railway Porter is rather good too.

Comoed, is the Brockley Brewery worth of your local list?

The Kernel Brewery is a great visit on a nice day. They have long benches to drink and neighbouring delicatessens to purchase other essentials like cheeses and hams.

@Andy It certainly is, its just their (very local and no doubt quite tasty to some) beers just don’t quite do it for me. I need lots of hops!

+1 for the Kernel Brewery too. Yes, good shout - I had a number of their Saison Ale, Armadillo, the other night if I recall correctly…

@Brett Oh yes, 5 Points… They do a (very strong) tasty IPA.

Was at Lewisham Tesco the other day and grabbed a 12oz can of Pistonhead Amber (hadn’t seen it before) and was really pleased. Almost sweet with orangeyness.

@joerobot Spendrups brewery (Sweden) who do the Pistonhead produce some pretty nice beer. There is one IPA they brew called ‘A Ship Full of IPA’ which I particularly like, but I’ve never seen it in the UK

Zerodegrees in Blackheath is great. Stumbled across it one evening and fell out of it a good while later

Looks like an interesting bar/brewery @Londondrz. I like the look of the Mango Beer

Late Knights Brewery is excellent. Brews in Penge and is sold at London Beer Dispensary (Crofton Park) and Beer Rebellion (Sydenham) and (I think) the off licence on the Perry Vale side of FH station.

+1 for the little off licence on Perry Vale. I’m glad the owners finally found a niche for that property after the two former failed attempts. I’ll have to check out Late Knights wares in there. Also in case you’re buying more than a couple, they give you a free bottle for every 6 you buy.

We were at the Herne Hill Velodrome on Sunday and Canopy Beer Co were there, I’d highly recommend their Tall Trees Session IPA. Tasty without being overpowering and at 4.2% highly quaffable. Aside from that new discovery, Brixton’s Effra Ale and Brockley’s Golden Ale are my go to local beers.

Also Flavourly craft beer subscription are doing a 10 bottle for £15 offer at the moment. I’ve signed up for that and as soon as the box arrives I’ll be cancelling my subscription pronto! I’ve managed to pick up quite a lot of cheap beers by taking advantage of introductory offers and then cancelling my subscriptions.
https://www.list.co.uk/offer/2014-special-offer-10-beers-for-just-15-at-flavourly-craft-beer/

Me too, although I stuck with Honest Brew as I quite like their model (regular craft beers in the post, customisable taste preferences).

The referral link below gets you 50% off your first order and gets me 4 free beers:

http://honestbrew.co.uk/joinme?hb=12282

I just noticed a new shop in East Dulwich which will fills flagons.

http://www.hopburnsblack.co.uk/

Looks like a great way to buy - I’d like to know what they cost.

I heard on the grapevine that the Perry Vale beer shop is looking to get a tap in for filling flagons/growlers, which would be awesome. Also further afield a new place is opening up in Brockley that will be selling homebrew equipment alongside beers and the owner’s a fan of ace northern melodic punk rockers Bear Trade so it’s bound to be great.

This is such great news! I am very happy.

Just by way of gloating a little, I managed to procure some Heady Topper last weekend and have very much enjoyed consuming it

Hop and burns told me their flagons work out at about £7-8 a litre. I was hoping for a bit better value but I’m sure I’ll give it a try.

Whilst taking advantage of the buy six get a 7th free offer on Saturday, Neck Oil, Quelle Farmhouse Pale and Flat Iron American Red if you’re interested, I asked about the tap rumors and apparently he’s put his order in and paid a deposit for it’s install but it’s been delayed a bit. Hope it comes quickly as it’s definitely the closest potential growler stop on my cycle home.

In other news the BrewGooder Clean Water lagers I helped crowdfund arrived, very easy summer drinking -recommended!

Mamma Dough just added a new beer:

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Walking home from the station last night there was a Lewisham licensing notice on the shutter of one of the recently refurbed shops on the ‘Dawes for Doors’ block of Perry Vale, in the name of Clapton Craft. More craft beer ahoy?

Oh just the thing as I was thinking of getting a brew setup going given the amount of money I seem to spend on beer!

On the subject of favourite local beers then I have to give Hepcat a shout as well as Peckam IPA, Polish IPA and Worm Catcher from Late Knights.
The Kernel brewery do some lovely IPAs and Pale Ales
Also Low Voltage Session I.P.A from Brixton is a treat.

Must shout out to the lovely Crafty Beer shop. The guy who runs it seems like a genuinely nice bloke - I went in on Saturday as I was off camping for a few days and I got a few free ones thrown in plus an extra one (the label had come off!) for luck…

He’s a member of the forum as it happens: @CraftybeerSE23

He’s awesome. And I sit just say that as the kid who is always overawed in his sweet shop of awesomeness

Walking home from the station last night there was a Lewisham licensing notice on the shutter of one of the recently refurbed shops on the ‘Dawes for Doors’ block of Perry Vale, in the name of Clapton Craft. More craft beer ahoy?

Pretty tough break for the Crafty Beer shop if that does turn out to be the case. Clapton Craft seem to be pretty serious. We’d better get drinking more beer to support both!

Indeed. I’ll stop by and pick a couple of bottles up tonight.

Confirmed that Clapton Craft are intending to open next door to the convenience store there, but they need the licence in place before they can agree the lease so it’ll be a while yet.

Whikst a strong supporter of healthy competition, i cant see the value of a specialist shop selling craft beer opening a few metres of another one. I can only see one succeeding through the failure of the other.

I think what @RachaelDunlop said about competing pizza restaurants may apply equally here:

If Forest Hill becomes known as a destination for craft beer enthusiasts, I think the “catchment area” of local craft beer shops will increase.

Topics like this one ought to help too - @CraftybeerSE23 now has a good Google ranking for a “craft beer forest hill” search, thanks to SE23.life.

just a tip for anyone who has an amex issued credit card (as opposed to a card issued by someone else which has the amex logo on it): You can currently opt in for a ‘spend £40 get £10 back’ offer with beer hawk on the amex website. On my first visit to beerhawk a pop-up offered me 10% off my first order for signing up to mailing list. So I ordered £55 worth of stuff for under £40.

Mainly Beavertown and some Belgian dubbels… yum.

Any suggestions for a good Pilsner type beer that is fairly “normal” without a wacky twist or “unique” additive? As ChrisBeach knows, I am a bit of a lager pleb but do enjoy a good Pilsner. Windhoek is my favourite but hard to get and expensive.

Budvar is hard to beat IMHO if after a Pilsner style. Not a craft beer though, more of an established classic. Easy to get.

Whilst I agreed with @RachaelDunlop there (it was a thread I started) I’m not quite sure the same applies so well in this circumstance. Her expressed concern was restaurants and cafes would be too full as to dissuade her to come into the area. I’m not sure the same concern can be applied to retail of this nature. Crafty Beer has hardly been busy enough at any one time to make me wish there was another alternative that could sell me craft beer.

The better analogy might be whether FH could use another high end butcher a couple of doors from the Butchery. Or another sweet shop across the road from @Pauline. Or another board shop on Perry Vale. Perhaps yes… and with increased competition FH consumers would get even better service and lower prices. But from what I’ve seen communities such as FH seldom are able to maintain multiple specialist stores of these types. And as for FH becoming some mecca for craft beer enthusiasts I very much down this is on the cards.

In the end I hope that both can survive. Though I am very doubtful. And given that Crafty Beer often has difficulty with maintaining reasonable stock levels on even local to SE23 brews, I fear that in the face of a growing successful chain of craft beer retailers it could be even more difficult for them to succeed.

I’m a huge fan of Peckham Pils from the Brick Brewery in Peckham Rye. Very clean flavour with a hint of citrus… not too much hop.

Indeed Brett, Redchurch Brewery is in Bethnal Green, and it’s nearer to here than Hackney where I cycle to for work, my cycle ride is only 10 miles, so easily within the 15 miles limit they’ve set.
incidentally if you are that way on a Friday night they (Redchurch Brewery) do have a tap room open with turntables, a darts board, and some food options.

Personally I don’t like ales that are too hoppy. I had a fantastic triple chocolate porter in The Dove (Broadway Market, Hackney) recently. Lidl also have offers on Belgium beers sometimes, which can be good.

Generally though I prefer home brewed cider, if I’ve got any in…

I’m a huge fan of craft beer, it really has completely changed my (civilised!) enjoyment of drinking. I’ve actually just returned from a month in California where the craft brew scene is really evolved - there are 500 breweries in that state alone and I had a great time tasting as many beers as a could (obviously dominated by the American IPAs but also lots of amber and red ales and some incredible porters). There were so many highlights I couldn’t single them out but anything from Lagunitas, Central Coast, 21st Amendment, Lost Coast, Drakes and of course Sierra Nevada are worth trying). I’m delighted to see Forest Hill pubs (particularly The Sylvan Post and The Signal) embracing people’s desire for better beer and the new Crafty Beer shop (as well as the potential new addition of Clapton Craft).

One thing I am interested in though is price and how people feel about the pricing of craft beer. I know there are lots of tax issues involved (although I believe micro-brews still benefit from tax exemptions) but I’m often disappointed in the expense of some craft beers. In California, I could walk into any supermarket or liquor store and be presented with fridges crammed full of different craft beers (typically they would have between 20-50 different ones on offer) and they were sold as 6- or 12-packs generally. Prices were typically around $10-14 (about £8-11) for 6 or $17-20 (£13-15) for 12. So about £1.25 per 330ml.

In the UK I typically find the standard 330ml craft beers are between £2-3 each and there is often either no bulk discount or only a very small discount. Obviously this equates to about £4-6 per pint which is basically pub price. For me I struggle to see how the price is justified. I would love to support smaller local shops and am happy to pay a small premium to do so (10-20%) but it’s hard to justify spending (say) £10 on 4 cans/bottles of craft beer when the larger supermarkets are starting to offer 4 for £5-6. Indeed, Tesco recently relaunched their craft offering and included a number of excellent US IPAs (the selection online included about 30 beers I think) and I was able to purchase 32 bottles/cans of various great beer ranging in alcohol % from 5 - 7.5% for £45. I’m comfortable spending up to £2 per 330ml but generally I’m not comfortable going above that, it doesn’t seem justified to me.

I’m interested in what other people feel about pricing and in particular what sort of bulk discounts shops like Crafty Beer offer (I recall from buying beers at Bossman Wines on Lordship Lane that I was never offered any bulk discounts and the pricing became prohibitive).

Crafty Beer will give a free beer for every 6 you buy and he might throw in another if you buy in bulk. I agree about the price in general although I will pay the price demanded! If you actually go to the brewery you can pick up a bargain - Brockley Brewery do take outs at £2 pint (it may have gone up)

Sounds like there should be SE23.life organised tours to local breweries.

not volunteering

I like that idea! Any volunteers?

In the meantime, you might enjoy @Sylvanpost’s event on Friday (sadly I can’t attend as I’ll be on my stag do in Wales):

Late night. I don’t think those kick off until midnight BST.

Not SE23 I know but Salthouse Bottles in Brockley are using Kickstarter to help fund a growler refill station for their new shop. I often find myself in Brockely and would love the chance to fill up on fresh beer somewhere near(ish)by. At least until Crafty Beers or Clacton Craft set up.

I’ve backed it and you could too!

I spoke to Crafty Beers on Saturday and their pump is on it’s way from eastern Europe! Yay!

Great news. I might splurge on some trendy branded growlers to celebrate. Excite!

Can someone explain this growler thing to me? In my language a growler is definately something else.

I know what you mean @starman (!) but in this context it is essentially a re-fillable container to put beer in, for example:

edit: I have also heard Peter, Flagon and Rigger to describe the same thing

Big changes afoot at Late Knights Brewery accoring to Penge Tourist Board Facebook.

Yes. The London Beer Dispensary is being taken over by the landlord.

Interesting but what?

That’s a closed group. Any chance of telling us what? Copy-paste it?

Sorry, wasn’t getting my info from Facebook so didn’t know that. AIUI, I think that the Late Knights brewery site has not had its lease renewed. They have had to cease running their bars. The LBD is saved as Mr Lawrence has appointed the current bar manager and brewer to run it as an ongoing operation. Little should change except that the Crack of Dawn, presumably, will not be stocked: Some more info here:

Ah. How long can beervkeep in a growler before going flat?

Late Knights Brewery closed and no longer trading but new company registered and hoping to be up and running within a few months . Future of pubs uncertain with a couple of exceptions i. e LBD, BBD. . New venture set up by ex chief head brewer and ex operations manager of Late Knights in conjunmction with Mr Lawrence.
Late Knights apparently had business issues.

Damn that’s a shame - some of my favourite beers were made by them. Still there are plenty of alternatives but I think the market may well be saturated at this point.

I had to google this one, as in the past I’ve only bought beer in a container to be drunk that day. Actually, the search results seemed to indicate that I am not alone, however to anwer your question the general consensus seems to be about a week if left sealed and well sanitised before filling.

Here is a link that describes the variables that could cause the timing differences:

https://www.quora.com/How-long-will-beer-last-in-growler-Are-there-any-ways-to-keep-if-from-going-flat

I hate to derail a good thread but on all things alchohol and craft related I have noticed a good few signs for the Forest Hill Gin Society (or such like) in the Archie Parker etc. Looks good if you like gin and just goes to show what a bunch of alchies we are in SE23

Thats the one Chris. Maybe change the thread to the Craft Alkys of Forest Hill Thread?

In a return to the original topic I bought some Cloudwater DIPA (v6 and v7) from the Brockley Market a couple of weeks back and have got around to trying them over the last couple of evenings (they are 9%).

Very, very nice the v6 had hints of mint which was very refreshing. If you spot one, I recommend!

Looking forward to the Brixton Brewery DIPA (Megawatt) that comes out closer to Xmas… mmmm

I had the v6 draught at the Priory Arms, Stockwell a week or two back and got Blackcurrant and Licorice boiled sweets. Everyone seems to taste different stuff

We sell this craft beer http://www.clarkshaws.co.uk/index.html via FH Food Assembly - I don’t drink beer so am wondering if any of you have tried it & what you think of it

Ive tried the Strange Brew and it wasnt to my liking - however, Im more of a hoppy IPA kinda guy, so potentially the Hell Hound might be more my kind of thing

Exciting news for beer lovers - Clapton Craft confirm opening and location of Forest Hill shop…
http://www.claptoncraft.co.uk/journal/2017/1/24/were-heading-south-clapton-craft-forest-hill-coming-soon

Not sure it is good news for Mr Crafty who is a few doors down. Ill stick to buying my beer from him if he survives

So Late Nights has morphed into 2 different companies. From what I hear there was a bit of bother between two of the chaps running the company. I wont go into details as I don’t know what is true and it may veer into legal territory…

However Southey Brewing seems to have risen from the ashes in Penge while Holler Boys have moved out into the Wilds of East Sussex - a bit out of our area.

I don’t know who got what in the “divorce” but the Beer Dispensary seems to be in the hands of Southey. Not tried any of their beers yet but I used to love some of the Late Knights output so it will be interesting to see what they produce.

In the meantime I have ventured into the world of brewing myself. Not gone the full beard and sandals yet but it is only a matter of time. First barrel is “interesting” - just a kit but I am planning on building up some experience before careering into boiling malts and hops… I must get down to Water Into Beer they seem to stock hops and malt extracts - anyone been in there??

Had a couple of the Southey beers in bottles next door at Mr Lawrence - more traditional ale than craft beer style, nice enough.

Welcome to the world of home brewing Nick! Get yourself acquainted with extract brewing before moving onto all grain. Not been to Water Into Beer yet but a welcome addition (homebrew supplies in SE23 were limited to a long journey or mail order before) - they certainly had what I needed when I was enquiring. DM me if you want to talk anything through - lots of fun to be had!

Cheers James - Nice to be able to buy hops and yeasts without of much of a journey and I’ll certainly be after advise when I get further into my adventure.

Hurrah! a couple more home brewers in the local area! Do you both frequent home brewing forums? Do you also know of The Home Brew Festival? - a home brew festival delivered by and exclusively for home brewers - it’s held at Market Bosworth Rugby Club, in early June.
I should point out that I make home brew, cider mostly, but wine and beer sometimes, and I’m on the organising committee of The Home Brew Festival. my favourite home brew forum is at the craft brewing website

back on topic I’m happy that Clapton Craft are opening soon on Perry Vale, near the back entrance to Forest Hill Station.

I’m also working my way slowly through the book 1001 beers to try before you die. I’ve tried about 75 of them so far.
it might take a while!

I’m new to the brewing scene so I haven’t picked up on any specific forums or festivals as yet but thanks for the pointers. I am currently reading “The Complete Joy of Home Brewing” which seems a gentle introduction with some more advanced stuff later on in the book. Lots to learn and lots of beer to drink!

IMG_2453.JPG3024×4032 1.63 MB

Wow!

Just tried this double-IPA (9.2% alcohol!) and it’s astonishing. Tropical flavours and pine. Thanks for the good recommendation @ClaptonCraft

ooch! Not too many of them on a school night.
I have yet to visit @ClaptonCraft - mainly as I have about 60 pints of home brew to get through and of course I still frequent the other shop now and then. Must pop in soonest…

Big fan of this:

Aromatic, really interesting flavour.

Google the Bermondsey Beer Mile Two tops breweries on that Brew By Numbers and FourPure (amongst other great beers)

I’m doing the BBM this Saturday. Starting at Four Pure for a brewery tour at 11am, then going to Partizan, Brew By Numbers and Anspach & Hobday, then UBrew. We were going to include Kernal, but it closes at 2pm, so we might be too late for that. We’re doing it as a members event as part of www.thehomebrewfestival.co.uk more details can be found on our forum on that website.

Would love to join you but have relatives staying…

Whenever I have done it, there ends up being a new place to drop into. Last few times it has ended up being ridiculously busy at spots - not really a problem when it is dry enough to stand outside.

Am heading to a BBQ in deepest Surrey this weekend to see some beer geeks. Plan on stopping in to buy some local brews on the way to station. Anyone got any great suggestions - particularly of any seasonal ones?

I do like the DueceBox from FourPure but at 8.3% it is one to be sipped!

the duecebox double IPA was far too hoppy for me, much preferred the standard juicebox. I had 12 beers in total, finished about 7pm, home and in bed (passed out) by 9.30. yesterday I felt rather rough.

Hello all, Ben here from Clapton Craft on Perry Vale.

The Bermondsey Beer Mile is an amazing way to spend a whole Saturday although the day after feeling which I think we can all agree on… not so much, but when you drink delicious, quality beer, then the Sunday hangover isn’t so bad and at the end of the day well worth trouble.

In fact, before managing this store I was the assistant at The Bottle Shop on Druid Street, right next to Anspach & Hobday so I guess I might of met some of you all ready or maybe you’ve met Alex, my co-worker here who is another ex Bottle Shop employee who I brought on 2 months ago now.

Anyway, feel free to talk to me about anything and everything craft beer on the forum, what’s happening around breweries these days, good drinking spots in London or maybe, if you haven’t already, pop in and we’ll have a good chat. I’d love to meet more of you and build a store around the tastes of Forest Hill, something that can compliment other outlets in and around the local area.

So, for now, what’s got everyone excited in beer these days? For me, I love a good stout or porter and winter’s just around the corner. I can’t wait!

And here I was contemplating dropping by your shop on the way home tonight for some the Blank IPA from tap… after that post, I feel positively obliged to pop in. See you in about an hour

I’ll be topping up with High Wire West Coast Pale Ale and Four Points XPA next time I see you.

Good to see you getting involved on SE23.life

Hey armadillo,

That’s fantastic news, I’m happy to hear it! I’ll get a fresh sample ready for when you pop in later today. We’re very happy with our Black IPA in collaboration with Affinity Brew Co and it’s inspired us to brew others like it and more with other breweries too so be sure to watch this space

See you soon

Hey Chris,

It was long overdue for sure, but now I’ve got a good handle on the day-today running of the store, you’ll see me typing away a little more and getting better involved with the community through the forum.

I see you’re also a big fan of Orbit’s Ivo pale ale. I’ve not long added their range to our fridges. Did you happen to pop in when we had Claudia from Orbit in to host an in-store tasting?

I didn’t meet Claudia, no. But I did enjoy another one of your tastings a while ago. One thing I’ve found with the Orbits recently is that they’re a bit over-carbonated - they just keep fizzing!

Agreed on the fizziness. Doesn’t detract from the taste though. Bought some on Saturday and now need some more…

Very true Hoarsewhisperer, but I’m so sorry to hear that Chris

Having traded with them for some time now, they’re usually so good with how they handle beer from start to finish, one of the best I’d say. The beers are always fresh, stored in chilled containers, and even delivered cold. I wonder if they’ve heard back from drinkers in regards to the recent over-carbonation? I’ll have to send the brewery a message, maybe it’s not something they’re not aware of?

At least one dark option for one of the taps would be good.(porter or stout preferred I had to go all the way up to Walthamstow to fill my growler up with Villages Oboe Porter recently as there was nothing dark on at Forest Hill…

I had a very nice Space Ink black IPA from the taps there tonight.

At 5.8%, I was a little worried, as I’m not normally a fan of anything over 4.5%, but it went fantastically with my gormet dinner of Fishfinger Sandwiches.

Hey Eskimoboy, I’m very sorry to hear that That’s not an easy trip to make, and with nearly 2L of beer, that’s a real workout! How was Chris over at Walthamstow - was he good’n helpful? Oboe by Villages is a nice dark beer I can’t wait to taste the new batch.

Good news! I’m very excited and pleased to say that we emptied a couple of kegs over the weekend which freed up some room on our growler fill station to put on a salted milk stout. Now that we’re moving into September there should always be a dark beer available on tap as breweries will reduce the traditional summer beer styles in favour of winter ones.

What’s been your favourite dark beer this year?

I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed Space Ink Black IPA armadillo, it was a brew I was personally a part of

Did you go with the classic white bread, butter and tomato ketchup fishfinger sandwich or experiment with a little tartar sauce and rocket leaf?

The Broken Dream stout by Siren was very good.
I’d love you to get Oboe on Growler though! Will definitely pop down and check out the salted milk stout…

Hey Eskimoboy, it was great to see you last week and better yet I finally got to put a face to the username which was a bonus How’d the Growler full of salted milk stout go down? I think that must have been my first in the style a couple of years ago now and I haven’t looked back since. I’m always excited to see this beer come into season.

It was very good thanks, and it was very nice to meet you! Will no doubt be popping down again soon for a refill or it’s replacement if it all goes before then!

As some of you may know, we like to host ‘meet the brewer/ distiller’ evenings here in-store which have been a great success, in fact we have a few lined up over the next month which I’ll be announcing on both the forum and Twitter soon, but for now I’m interested to find out how many of you are home brewers? Why you ask? Well, on top of meeting the industry pros, I’d like to meet you all too and I think it’d be a hit with residents and enthusiasts alike so I’m proposing a ‘meet the home brewer’ in-store event! I’m working out a few of the finer details, but if you’d be interested then let me know and as soon as those details are ironed out then I’ll post a more official notice.

Anyway, let me know what you think and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Ben

YES! that’s what I like to see! some interest in home brew.
I’m a home brewer (though mostly cider, some wine, and a little beer)
I’m definitely up for some of this.

Awesome! Interest has been super positive so far which means we can hopefully turn this into a regular event

Hi. I’d definitely be up for this too.

Lovely to pop in for a chat tonight, was fab meeting you.

Drop me an email at sugarmountain.info@gmail.com

See ya soon xx

It was great to finally meet you too Pauline. I hope you had a nice day off yesterday.

Feel free to pop in again anytime, hopefully see you soon.

I’m glad to hear it… although reading would be more accurate in this situation, but anyway… this is good news none the less! I’ll add your username along with Jon and a couple of others I’ve spoken to in-store and on Twitter.

Thanks to the chap in Clapton Craft who gave me a taster of a Belgian beer this afternoon. Great recommendation - I’m enjoying the extra hoppy Taras Boulba this evening!

Hi Garfield. I’ll be sure to let Alex know how much you liked it. It was him in fact who picked out our range of Belgian beers for the Forest Hill store. He’s quite happy with it being a big fan of the style.

I was somewhat sad with Crafty Beer closed leaving Clapton Craft the sole source of craft beers of Perry Vale. Don’t get me wrong. I think Clapton Craft is amazing in both beer (and gin) choice and most definately my beer retailer of choice. But they closed earlier then Crafty.

One evening last week, one of these earlier closings pushed me into Forest Hill Superstore. I was expecting to be buying 1664 but was pleasantly surprised to find a decent selection of chilled craft beers on sale including many of my favourites. It in no way matches the offering of Clapton Craft but as an alternative not bad. Plus as those in know know Forest Hill Superstore has the absolute best collection of snacks in all of SE23.

Yes I was a little sad to pull up outside Clapton Craft one night after a particularly awful day to find it shut at just gone 9 but I guess you can’t have everything. Alex and Ben are awesome and it is always a pleasure to spend my dollar in there.
I too have a soft spot for Forest Hill Superstore. The owner is super friendly and they seem to sell everything but I didn’t know about the beer.

I can thoroughly recommend the Arundel Brewery IPA they have on Growler in Clapton Craft - I think it was called Imperial. Creamy and hoppy and at 6.2% quite a strong ale. Bloody lovely.

I’m very happy to hear you really enjoyed the Arundel brew Nick. I’m looking into picking up and small line-up of their craft range so long as the Uptown NEIPA on draft goes down well with locals, but by reactions so far I think we’re onto a winner.

Have a great weekend and see you soon,

Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

do you sell the growlers? or do we need to bring our own container for the first one? 4 litre milk cartons do work quite well, but a well designed SS Growler is a wonderful thing.

Hi Ben - do you have any sours that are only mildly so? I’m thinking similar to Magic Rock’s Salty Kiss or Siren’s Limoncello or Bruery Beret?

Tried the latter two at Brewdog Tower Hill and am hoping to stock up for some warmer weather drinking - but with less distance to carry home!

Hi Jon. We sure do, sell the growler that is. Our branded glass grolwers hold up to 1.89L (3.5 pints) and through our dispensing system the beer will keep up to 2 weeks when chilled. Though when the cap is removed for the first time after leaving the store then like any beer the shelf life is greatly reduced to a day.

In regards to a 4L milk cartoon that takes me way back to my first pub job when pulling pints at a small village pub and we’d sell takeaway real ale, but fast forward to today, I can’t say I’ve ever tried it in store and our dispenser is limited by it’s overall size though if you do happen to have a SS or glass growler of your own then feel free to pop by the store and we can certainly give it a go.

Cheers,

Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

Hey applespider, great timing! We’ve received a fresh delivery of Magic Rock ‘Salty Kiss’ only yesterday so we’ve got plenty to go around this bank holiday and certainly with the much anticipated warm weather these should go down a real treat. In regards to Siren’s ‘Limoncello’, unfortunately we sold out last week and when asking about ordering another case or two from Siren, they to had already sold out.

Now Bruery, that’s a a range of beer I’d love, love, love to stock here though it does comes with a hefty price tag even at retail standards, but worth every penny for sure without a doubt. If there’s enough requests for it then I’d be all for ordering some in the near future.

Other sours you might like to consider that we stock would be Urban Farmhouse ‘Tartelette: Verbana’, Kernel’s ‘Damson Sour’ (750ml), Dugges ‘Mang Mango Mango’, Brekeriet ‘Picnic Sunrise’ or ‘Purple Rain’ to name a few.

Cheers,

Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

Thanks Ben. Likely to be down your way over the weekend and will pop in.

Fantastic, happy to hear it or should I say read it? Either way, see you then applespider and have a great week.

Cheers,

Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

Good to meet you Ben.

Enjoyed the Siren Pompelmocello but loved the Peckham Citrus Sour which went down an absolute treat when gardening* today. Might be back for more - bearing in mind that it’s last month’s sour. Are you open Monday?

*admittedly since only windowboxes involved, the most strenuous bit was lugging the compost back up the hill.

We sure are. I’ll be in-store all day today between now and when we close tonight at 8:00pm and then it’s back to business as per usual from tomorrow. We’ve got a handful of Citrus Sour left then we play the waiting game until the next delicious sour is released. Luckily we got someone on the inside so I’ll keep you updated

And you too, it’s always a pleasure to meet the forum members in person.

Cheers,
Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

Quite possibly a delicious beer, but haven’t tried it yet as it’s been doing this for the last five minutes!

image3024×4032 2.52 MB

Apparently we have a national carbon dioxide shortage - if only I could put some of this back into the grid!

Hey Chris,

Assuming this beer is from us and you happen to have the bottle still, would you be able to tell me the batch number for this lil’guy? It’ll either be next to the BBE date or ABV%, should start with a G. I’ll get to the bottom of this though this could be a renegade bottle as I’ve had a regular pick up quite a few now so unless they like their beer over carbonated, this one might be an odd duck.

Cheers,

Ben - Clapton Craft Forest Hill

Thanks @ClaptonCraft, I’ll pm you the details.

Imo this beer is worth a visit to your local spoons which is in top notch condition better hurry though feeling thirsty.

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Thank you for the tip Eric, but any tasting notes?

Firstly not Eric, colour golden amber, style Ipa tasting notes hoppy well balanced with a dry finish.

A few people have previously mentioned the London Beer Dispensary owned by Southey the Penge brewers.

They tweeted recently that they were opening a Dulwich Beer Dispensary and there is an unconfirmed report on the EDF that it will be in the old Barcelona Tapas restaurant - which is within a stone’s throw of it being a Forest Hill Beer Dispensary, if true. I am keeping

The other thing I spotted on the LBD Twitter feed was a picture of a Siren Gin and Tonic Gose from a month back. Anyone tried any? It sounds amazing!

Late to this thread, but all the Peckham/Brick Brewery Sours I’ve tried so far have been delicious. (All bought at Clapton Craft, obviously!) You may also like Wild Beer Co’s Sleeping Lemons (CC again) – very light and refreshing, flavoured with preserved lemons so it has that slightly tang too.

Unlikely request, but does anyone know a good craft beer supplier in Norwich? @Londondrz?

The Dulwich Beer Dispensary is opening in the old Barcelona tapas place. Builders are in and there’s a sign to say opening on 4 October

Looking forward to it!

The guys are working hard on the new offering - we are regulars at the London Beer Dispensary and they’ve been having a lot of chats with regulars there about what might work well in the new place. Hoping it’s a big success!

London Beer Dispensary is great and I wish them well with the new opening but I think they’ve chosen a very challenging location - it’s slightly in-between places, it’s not East Dulwich, it’s not Forest Hill and I can’t see it getting much footfall and for obvious reasons it’s not somewhere you’re going to want to drive to.

I was thinking the same- I wish them well but maybe a location actually in forest hill proper might have been a winner! Probably wishful thinking!!

There are a lot of residents who live between the Plough and Forest Hill centre who currently have nowhere on their patch since The Grove closed down. They might not need massive passing footfall if they get that audience right.

Quite a few people will travel for a good choice of beers - and it’s not particularly hard to get to. There are 6 bus routes within 100m or so. And there aren’t many places within 10 minutes on a bus with this type of beer offer.

There are also a lot of walkers who do the Green Chain and come out at Cox’s Walk who won’t be far away. And quite a few teams who use the sports facilities along that end of Dulwich Common.

It will need some good signposting and advertising for the latter groups though. Fingers crossed it’s a huge success as it will become my nearest bar

I nipped into the Dulwich Beer Dispensary last night. It was quiet as it was 7 on a Monday but friendly bar team said they’d had a busy weekend with lots of locals celebrating its arrival. Smallish bar area but tables/seats and a couple of sofas inside and more space outside. They’ve kept some of the old wooden cabinets but the Gaudi-esque tiles have gone or been painted over.

Most happily, the Siren G&T gose I mentioned upthread was on tap and v tasty!

Did it just open last weekend then? Will have to have a pop down…

Opened last Thurs or Friday, I think. I was away so last night was my first chance to drop in

Popped into @ClaptonCraft this afternoon for a few Christmas treats and they have a chap from a new Chichester brewery (81 Artisan) doing a tasting. Tried a great porter and a Vienna pale with some awesome can artwork! Thanks guys!

Yeah I had the vienna pale but didn’t have my glasses on and thought it was from Partisan not 81 Artisan!

Hey Garfield, merry (belated) Christmas!

I’ll be sure to pass on the kind words to Adrian when I next see him. As he might of said, he’s a one man band at the moment: brewer, admin, delivery driver and social media guru. That said, I’d really urge yourself and anyone interested in the beer industry to check out his Instagram, 81artisanbrewing. Its a great source of information into the brewery process and thinking behind each beer and more!

Anyway, the kind words! Yes, they’re obviously very important in the early stages of any business’s life and of course throughout so I’m sure they’ll be much appreciated and a great source of encouragement.

Happy holiday - Ben, CC Forest Hill

Oh, exciting news! For anyone who visited us on the Sunday (23rd) when Adrian from 81 Artisan was in and happened to enter their name into a prize draw (like Garfield), well, he’s picked out all the winning names and emailed them personally. There were 5 winners in total so chances are high that you’ve won a 6 can gift pack of 81 Artisan beer.

We’re open now until 9:00pm tonight and our regular shopping hours tomorrow to Sunday. If you’re unable to pop-in either these days then no need to worry, we’re open 11:00am-9:00pm New Years Eve and back to business as usual Thursday 3rd.

Cheers - Ben, CC Forest Hill

Thanks Ben, I was on the lucky winners list, which is good as I’ve finished the cans I bought on the day! I’ll pop in later on the way home from work (boo!).

Awesome, congratulations on the win and really happy to hear you enjoyed the beer first time round. Well, hopefully knowing you’ve won yourself some free beer will make the day go that little bit quicker.

See you soon - Ben

Admittedly not in SE23 but not far away, Brew By Numbers are opening a tap room in Peckham on Bellenden Road. Opening night is tomorrow from 5

I’m at a Brick Brewery event so might wander up the road afterwards and check it out. Really feels like we’ve got great local beer drinking these days.

I popped down a few weeks ago for the soft launch and it’s looking like it will be a great addition once finished. They are going to have 22 lines and it will also will be home to their barrel aging project. Will definitely be going back.