Kill The Cat, E1

I’m sure we’ve all been to Brick Lane for a curry and regretted not bring our own beer with us, as we struggle through another pint of Cobra or Kingfisher, so it will no doubt be something of a relief that Brick Lane now has its own craft beer bottle shop and tasting room. It’s a typical small shop conversion with some decent herringbone-style flooring to the front and a painted concrete floor to the rear. A table to the right of the entrance acts as a bar counter and has a glass top with lots of beer bottles visible through it. A makeshift looking plywood bar back holds the keg taps and is attached to a whitewashed brick wall with some cheap looking shelving units to either side. Over to the left there is a large shelving unit full of wallet-unfriendly bottles and cans, with small fridges beneath and under the front window offering chilled versions of these brews. The rear part of the room is dominated by a large tiled sink/trough, originally used for who knows what, but now surrounded by high stools and put to use as a table of sorts. The walls have been painted a dark shade and decorated with portraits of cats with X’s in their eyes. A TV screen in one corner was turned off in favour of a quiet selection of music and there were many beer publications displayed on a rack to the rear of the room. They were pouring three keg beers on my visit – Left Hand Giant and Alesong Why I Love the Moon, Double Barrelled Palate, Pallet, Palette (brewed in conjunction with the shop) and Vibrant Forest Mantra. The latter was £2.10 for a third and was pretty tasty, if perhaps a bit too gassy for my liking. The room was full of hipster poseurs and posh kids slumming it, all waffling on about various obscure, overpriced beers they’d purchased, which I found extremely irritating. There aren’t too many drinking options at this end of Brick Lane, so it’s quite nice to have a relatively new place to check out when in the area. That said, the irritating clientele was a big off-putting factor and the prohibitive prices mean I might still be stuck on the Cobra for the foreseeable future.

A small craft bar/bottle shop in Brick Lane, three keg taps, Gipsy Hill Moxie and Boxcar Citra Columbus tried and were excellent. Numerous bottles and cans also for sale. Good to see some good beer getting into Brick Lane.

One room with the bar to the right. Loads of bottles to the left. Three craft type ales, no real ale.

Bottle shop of the new-fangled variety, featuring just two tables (one of which might have come from a butchers?) with a smattering of stools around both. Plenty of interesting (and in some cases hugely expensive) bottled and canned beers with three craft keg taps on the side wall, including the Two Tribes / Coast Matchday IPA at £3.85 for a schooner.

Very smart modern interior with the beers displayed on nice shelving.Quite artistically displayed.3 keg beers on my visit and lots of tinned and bottle beers to choose from.Big central table to drink them on .Very communal.kegs were Wierd Beard-don't worry bee heavy,Chorlton -Vienna dark and my Wylam-briorbloo which if you have been drinking Wylam beers recently another great beer.