House of Hammerton, Lower Holloway, N7

A single long roomed shop conversion with some twenty keg taps along the bar, there was also a couple of handpumps but these were not in use.Mostly normal seating along with some red leather sofas and wooden high backed pews. There was a random upright piano against the wall with a self portrait print of Frida Karlo perched on top, any significance of this is unclear. I stopped for a couple of Hammerton beers, Panama Creature and an excellent Van Food. Not a bad place but I actually much prefer their tap room at the nearby brewery just under a mile away.

Well described in previous review, except there are now 4 handpumps which offer the odd real ale and cider, and the row of keg fonts seems to have expanded somewhat. I thought the restricted lighting gave something of a bistro effect to the place, rather than an alehouse, but it was pleasant enough.

Not too far up the Holloway Road from Highbury & Islington tube station, this is a rather well appointed pub run by the local Hammerton brewery. The pub has a simple rectangular room layout, with bare floorboards throughout and the servery along the left hand wall. Seating to the front of the pub comes mainly in the form of high tables or upturned barrels with bar stools, but there is a good run of regular tables and chairs down the right hand side as well. The bar has a pleasant counter with an unusual railway sleeper-style top and bare brick bar back. A large brick pillar opposite the far end of the bar breaks the room up a little and hides a slightly raised seating area with a few more pew and chair options under plain, roughly finished walls. A drinking ledge in the far rear corner offers one last place to rest your pint and the wall above has been covered with old keg font inserts which go some way to detailing the kind of guest beers the pub has stocked over the years. A couple of TV screens were showing a muted six nations rugby fixture and unusually for this part of town, there was no music playing in the background. Low wattage light bulbs help to create a nice, warm ambiance and the walls have been decorated with a few old pictures of the original Hammerton brewery, which are well worth looking through. Countless keg taps greet you at the bar, but there are no handpulls in sight unfortunately. The beer range is so extensive, that beer menus have been provided to help you navigate the full selection, although I found the very knowledgeable barmaid to be very helpful and after some consultation, I ended up with a pint of Hammerton Oyster Stout, which was far too cold but enjoyable once it had warmed up a little. There were no less than eight Hammerton beers on draught plus guests from the likes of Marble and Gipsy Hill, various Belgian beers and at least one cider. The lack of cask ale here is a bit of a mystery, as Hammerton beers are relatively easy to find in this part of London, and for me, this was a real oversight that makes this place less likely to get a revisit as a result. It’s a pretty simple, comfortable pub and I really liked the helpful service and lively atmosphere, but keg-only craft beer bars are two-a-penny in London these days and this didn’t do enough to stand out from the pack.

Unimpressive frontage,this looks like a shop conversion.The interior is open plan with much exposed brickwork,a sofa to the front and a bench running along the wall opposite the bar.There is a small raised section at the rear ,but it's all quite sparse apart for some Hammerton branding on circular dart board style wooden pieces.There was a drop down screen showing 6 Nations rugby which partially obscured the front window,and the modern lighting was turned low,giving a slightly gloomy feel. This is the place to come to sample a full range of Hammerton brews on keg,with 10 taps devoted to their output.A further 10 keg taps offer 3 from Europe as well as lots of output from London microbrewers such as One Mile End and Seven Sisters with some from futher afield such as Solvay Society and Chorlton. Almost as an after thought there are 4 handpumps,two devoted to real cider from Sandford Orchard and just two real ale in Shiny New World (decent nick) with Hammerton N7 available soon sadly.All handpumps and keg taps are clipped,so no need to look at the beer list first.There is a very extensive bottled collection,as well as food options,not tried by me. If you like keg ,this place will suit.It's such a shame that CAMRA has been unable to persuade the younger generation that kegged beers taste so much better from cask.If this bar had the wide range of Hammerton beers on handpump,this would have been an 8 ,a strong contender for the GBG and highly recommended by me for a revisit.

Like the previous reviewer found this un-inspiring. Warm ,busy and noisy. Very gloomy with candles on the table which is handy to warm the keg beer up.Distressed plaster walls painted grey.(maybe)Too gloomy to see. 2 cask beers from Ilkley and Hammertons.10 kegs.

I can't say that I took to this place at all. There were four handpumps; none clipped and one had to scrutinise the beer menu in the dim light to discover that they only had two on - Hammerton N7 and something from Brick Brewery. Hammerton brew a decent range of ales, and I didn't think it was particularly good that they only had one of their own real ales available. They did loads of "craft" beers though. There were clipboard menus on the tables, but as I wasn't eating I didn't bother to strain my eyesight to read it. Furnishings are mainly normal tables and chairs; there's plenty of exposed brickwork, and the bar counter's a very modern piece. I thought it a characterless place. I doubt whether I'll visit again.

Official site of House of Hammerton - www.hammertonbrewery.co.uk

Official site of House of Hammerton - www.hammertonbrewery.co.uk