Temple Brew House, Temple, WC2

A one room basic stripped out wooden floored basement bar that has the advantage that it is home to a small microbrewery. Character is provided by assorted brewing décor including a mural of the brewing process on one wall and a collection of beer mats on the upper parts of the wall, albeit a token collection compared to the one that can be found in the Edgar Wallace nearby. There is a couple of large screens but these were off for most of our visit, only being turned on when the England football game against Italy kicked off. The serving bar itself is a fairly simplistic affair with six ale pumps on its front and then a 16 tap keg wall behind the bar. I got the impression that most of the punters come here for the craft options being dispensed from the tap wall and of the six ale pumps only three were in operation for our visit. And this very quickly became two when the microbreweries Premium Bitter literally went off as our first round was being poured. But the inhouse Pale Ale stayed on all evening and was a decent pint. The third was a third-party stout, but the round pump clip was so small, I couldn’t be arsed to get close enough to be able to read it. The keg wall options were much easier to make out, and alongside standard stuff such as Estrella, Amstel and Guinness there was some interesting craft options from Magic Rock, Tiny Rebel and Siren alongside the more familiar Beavertown Gamma Ray.

Basement bar that houses Essex street brewery. A stripped back raw shabby interior. 5 real ales and numerous keg available during my visit.

A 5.0% IPA at last. Brew House is the brand. Not too bad but a bit dark for an IPA. Basement bar with a lot of keg beers behind the counter. Glad I was in early as I can see this getting rammed after work. Decent place that warrants a revisit.

This place was right up my street,brewing its own beer on the premises with five of their own normally on offer plus a guest.Its a basement bar,rusticly appointed in a modern way,wasn't overly busy on our visit the day before new years eve but was ticking over nicely,as Mr Fastard mentions below the guy behind the bar was very friendly and informative.The Smokehouse Porter was very nice,I would be more than happy to have an extended visit here.

This basement bar has operated under a number of guises in recent years, including as an Australian theme bar called The Southerner and a German bierkeller called Bierpalast. Thankfully, a recent change of ownership has seen it alight on a far more promising raison-d’être – a brewpub and home to the Essex Street Brewery. The bar is accessed by a staircase which leads you down from street level, past a number of old beer engines and a selection of beer vessels, into a bare boarded room with exposed concrete walls and pillars throughout. To the rear is a similarly bleak concrete servery with a wooden counter and bar back fittings. The décor is a bit quirky and includes hop lined ceilings, a number of metal-mesh containers full of glasses, tankards etc… and some art pieces that detail the brewing process. Standard and low stool seating fills the majority of the room, although comfier padded benches and banquette booths can be found around the perimeter. A series of lettered doors run along the left hand wall, which was most confusing when trying to find the toilets, which I eventually discovered were to the rear left, past a bicycle that hangs from one wall. A large TV screen was showing cricket in the front left corner with quiet indie music playing in the background and I also spotted a dartboard. The walls of the gents’ toilets had been papered with what might be described as ‘beer porn’ – a series of pages from various books detailing the finest beers in the world. The bar offers a decent selection of beery delights, as you might hope, with the handpulls dispensing the in-house brews. On this visit, these comprised Essex Street The Gavel, Calcutta Club, Grumpy Scot, Smoke House and Temple Best Bitter. Sambrooks Pumphouse Pale was the solitary guest and Old Rosie cider was also available. Sixteen keg beers were available from taps on the bar back, including mainstream brews such as Amstel and more obscure offerings from microbreweries such as Redchurch. I tried a pint of the Calcutta Club, which I thought was a tasty Indian Pale Ale and in good condition. Temple strikes me as an unusual location for a brewpub, but they were still doing a brisk trade late into my Friday evening visit. I thought the place was a bit rough around the edges but I enjoyed my pint and welcome the chance to visit somewhere a bit different in this part of the city.