The Queens Arms, SW8

Finally made it down to this recent reopened Victorian pub yesterday. This is now the third outlet for Bohem and the beer setup is not dissimilar to their Nicholas Nickleby in Stroud Green near Harringay. Two banks of five Czech style pumps that allow them to pour the different styles and these had six of their own brews alongside two guests from Kernel, a Berry Sour from Drop Project and a cider. As mentioned below there is a lone handpump and they are currently negotiating with a couple of London independents to put a cask line in, one being Anspach & Hobday I believe. The Nicholson Dark, a Black Lager also mentioned below, is my favourite of the Bohem brews but sadly not on for yesterdays visit. So, I started with the Amos, their standard Czech Pilsner, then the Ludo Lime Lager before moving over to the Kernel London Stout. The barman on duty yesterday was a Czech guy who has been with Bohem, virtually from the start and who we recognised from the Tap room in Bowes Park. As one of our crowd hadn’t experienced the strange Czech pours before we had a bit of fun with the Snut and the Mlico pours before concentrating on the standard one. As for the pub itself the single room bare boarded striped out space is a bit soulless when there is not many in, as was the case when we arrived. But as the pub filled up and the conversation level increased the longer the evening went on then the vibe was much better. Obviously not one to appeal to your average CAMRA member, but there were early signs that it is beginning to attract the attention of the young upwardly mobile of Battersea, who are the target demographic.

Originally the Queens Hotel, this is undoubtedly a mid-Victorian pub which has undergone some recent building work, which saw a Watney’s roundel removed from the rear and an extension added; it had been closed since around mid-2022 but reopened a few nights ago as an outlet for Tottenham’s Bohem brewery; see their strict brewing manifesto on their website. The slightly clinical interior has been substantially stripped out, with a boarded floor, white walls with large plate glass picture windows, fashionable vertical wall mounted grey radiators and trendy eclectic mixed prints; à la mode spun copper shades dangle above the modern bar array, where hot snacks are served. Furniture is conventional, with studded elephant grey banquettes and customers were professional local types, a couple of very young children running about at the time of our visit at gone 9.30pm. There was a solitary pump with a sign reading ‘Coming Soon’ – though apparently for a cask lager – then a beer wall up on high advertising 10 crafty offerings, but I couldn’t tell if all of them were their brews; a cider was offered. I plumped for a half of something called Nicholas Dark, £5.80 a pint though was charged a punitive £3.20 for ordering a half served by a very friendly barmaid; it was very cold and although there was an intriguing foretaste, it fizzled out to an unmemorable, short finish. Perhaps this place will bed in over time, filling up as more customers discover it rendering it as packed as the surrounding pubs, but the children in a late evening adult environment and punitive pricing policy knock the score, but if you’ve been tarring your roof and like ‘…drinking icy cold Bohemia-style beer…’, you might want to czech it out.