The Duke of Hammersmith, Hammersmith, W6

Exactly what you would expect from Brewdog. A wide variety of keg only beers at hefty prices. Well used by young hipsters with beards of every shape and size as far as the eye could see. Glad I called in as I like some Brewdog beers but I would need a fuller wallet to spend an evening in here!

A late Victorian pub, the original name of the Laurie Arms can still be seen to the first floor, which would have served those visiting the Hammersmith Palais until its demolition in 2013. The frontage is attractive, with its stained-glass leaded lights’ Fleur de Lys motifs, the interior though is very modern. Bare boarded of course, there’s smoky grey paint to the dado, then plain white walls or white brick with a dark ceiling. There’s much tubular steel here: bar gantry and shelving (with obligatory white tiles), pub shelving and stools. My tall stool didn’t have a footrest, leaving my legs dangling uncomfortably in the air. Otherwise, furniture is fairly conventional, with fluted fawn banquettes to the periphery and sauce bottles on tables. Décor comprises framed prints of the area from yesteryear and knickknacks. Customers were mainly young and rather trendy, some old dears looking rather out of place, sipping glasses of wine; perhaps they came here for the rather loud music and somewhat industrial lighting. This is now a keg-only establishment, with three unused pumps, though by no means just BrewDog’s beers, but I plumped for a half of Punk IPA at £3.05, served by a friendly barman. Though less industrial and gloomy than other BrewDog outlets, this isn’t a great place, but it’s like a tranquil village pub compared to Belushi’s down the road; I don’t envisage a revisit as the Dartmouth Castle rules the roost in this neck of the woods.

Official site of The Duke of Hammersmith - www.brewdog.com

Official site of The Duke of Hammersmith - www.brewdog.com

Formerly the Laurie Arms, situated directly next door to the former Hammersmith Palais dance hall (now demolished), this two-room pub is now a branch of the ever-expanding Draft House chain. You enter into the right-hand side of the pub – a bare boarded room which forms the main bar area, with an L-shaped servery to the rear with a nice checkerboard tile floor around the whole bar area. The front windows are set in nice dark wood frames and have attractive stained-glass decorative uppers that appear to be survivors from the pub’s former guise. Banquettes run beneath the windows and there are lots of chairs and low stools in support through the rest of the room. The bar has a tongue and groove counter, a basic bar back which incorporates a window looking out to the beer garden, and a modern, metal-framed gantry. A TV to one side was showing muted coverage of an England football fixture, although no-one seemed to be paying it much attention. Moving through to the left-hand room, you enter a long rectangular space with mixed patterned tile flooring, high tables and stools to the front, a long banquette down the left wall and standard seating pretty much everywhere else. A bare brick wall to the left has the slogan “Home of the Third” painted across it in huge letters, presumably a reference to third-pint measures, whilst the right-hand wall has a mix of dark tiles and shelving hidden behind metal mesh covers. A screen to the rear of the room was showing the same muted football match and a door to the rear leads out to the aforementioned garden, with a nice pavement seating space available to the front. As I was finishing up, someone came by my table to see if I wanted to join in with the pub quiz, which seems to take place in the left-hand room on Tuesday evenings. Three handpulls offered the rather meagre selection of Tring Pale Four and a Seacider cider, with the remaining pump left unclipped. As tends to be the case with this chain, the keg range was more interesting than the cask options, with a good selection of micro-brewery options across a long row of taps. The Pale Four was a well-kept, if rather unremarkable pint and the bar staff here seemed friendly enough. I quite liked this place, despite the rather limited cask ale selection, and thought it definitely benefited from being a former pub rather than a shop conversion or the like. They have created a smart, comfortable venue in a prime location which seems to hit a lot of people’s pub-going requirements and is definitely worth a look when in the area.

There were three real ales on in here, as well as more keg products, including what must be regarded as "craft" beer, than you could shake a stick at. The real ales were Darkstar Hophead, Sambrook's Wandle, and Siren Brewery Undercurrent oatmeal pale ale (£2.10 a half). An oatmeal pale ale is a new one on me, so had to give it a go, and found it to be a very pleasant hoppy beer - exactly what a pale ale should be like in fact. I didn't see a full menu, but loads of people were in eating in the side room (the pub has obviously been extended into adjoining premises) and a little flyer on the tables advertised hamburger Monday (burger and a pint of Urqell Pilsner for £10) and wings Wednesday (pound of buffalo wings slathered in Frank's red hot sauce for £5). This is not my favourite food, and neither would Urquell be my first choice of beer, but the prices seem to be reasonable. This is now a pub of two halves. The original pub bit obviously has the bar counter, while the new addition to the left is much lighter as it has a vaulted glass ceiling and was the preferred choice for diners on Wednesday afternoon. Furnishings are reasonably normal, if you count pewter-topped round tables as normal, with only a trio of tall tables/tall stools, plus upholstered bench seating and a few small round stools. This pub is typical of the small, but ever expanding, Draft House pub chain. There's little pub character left, seemingly attracting clientele who who like brash American diner style places. But the beer is a darned sight better than any American diner that I've ever been in. It's not really my cup of tea as it doesn't seem to be the kind of place where you would go for a relaxing drink, but there's clearly a big market for this kind of establishment, and good luck to them I say.