Jam Circus, Deptford, SE8

An open plan long single room that boasts seven handpumps though four were operational during my visit. Sharps Sea Fury, Exmoor Ale, Volden Pale and Tiny Rebel Cwitch were the choices and the Cwitch was in exceptional condition boost positive thoughts about this bar. Worth a look.

Facebook page of Jam Circus - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Jam Circus - www.facebook.com

Visited on 08/06/2021 when it was Job Centre. Then just as things were opening up after lockdown and really quiet and now still equally quiet as Jam Circus mid Friday night. As described below really in terms of layout and feel. The outside space out the back of the venue was popular on my visit. Beer range was pretty good hence a rating of 6. On hand pump were two Volden beers (the session and the pale), Sharp’s Solar Wave and my choice Stiff Upper Lip from By the Horns Brew Co, which went down a treat. On tap were Bandit, Guinness, Madri, Carling, Pravha, Aspall cider, Lucky Saint, and a couple from local brewery Villages (Rafiki and Rodeo Pale Ale). If you fancy a quiet pint on a Friday evening in Deptford then this seems like a good place. Lacking a bit of a vibe for me though.

Last time I visited this place in 2017, it was called the Job Centre. Still an Antic pub, little seems to have changed apart from the name. The only other noticeable change was a reduction in the number of real ales. Last time there were 5. Yesterday, there were 3 - Volden Session & Pale & Castle Rock Can't Stop The Spring. The landlady was sat at the bar and remarked on my choice of the Castle Rock beer, saying that she had personally chosen it for the pub. The interior is typical of most Antic establishments. If you've ever been in one, you'll know exactly what to expect here. Both my visits here have been in the daytime and it has lacked customers and atmosphere both times. The previous review seems to suggest that this is the norm. However, maybe it takes on a much more lively atmosphere in the evening. Otherwise, I can't ascertain how it is still a going concern.

Official site of Job Centre - jamcircus.com

Official site of Job Centre - jamcircus.com

Just over the road from Deptford station, this is a fairly large, single room Antic pub situated, as the name suggests, in the town’s old job centre office. The room has a bare concrete floor with dark purple painted walls around much of the perimeter, plus a very cool wooden wall set out in an impressive geometric pattern along the right-hand wall. Below this, a very long banquette serves a number of old school-style tables with an eccentric mismatch of chairs in support, whilst a row of smaller square tables runs through the centre of the room, again supported by all manner of chairs. High tables and stools fill the front left part of the room and a few more spring up here and there in the rear area, beyond the servery. The bar runs along the left-hand wall with a white wood panel counter front, very basic bar back and a few nice potted plants suspended from above. A small pump clip collection on one of the purple walls, frames a ‘Welcome Back’ message that hints at the fact that the pub failed to reopen in the summer of 2020 between lockdowns. Judging by the almost total lack of other customers, it seems like a lot of the regulars are unaware that it has reopened now. The usual Antic tat is surprisingly conspicuous by its absence and only a lone ‘The Jobs Board’ sign hints at the buildings former use. What few customers were in on my Thursday evening visit, had headed out to a rear beer garden, which I failed to explore myself, whilst one other punter had opted for a seat out on the busy pavement to the front of the pub. This exodus outside may have been due to the nice weather or perhaps the pandemic, although it might just as likely have been because they were playing dreadful pop music at a loud volume inside the pub, or at least it felt very load with no-one else sat inside to drown it out. Upon arriving I was given a printed menu which listed two cask ales – Volden Session (£3.30 a pint) and Volden Pale (£4.50 a pint). Having been stung for a very expensive beer in the previous pub I visited, I asked for a pint of the Session, which the friendly but rather dim barman went off to fetch, only to return with the news that this beer was off. This process was then repeated when I ordered a pint of Pale instead, so I eventually settled on a pint of Villages Rafiki on keg, for which I was charged an upsetting £6.00 – considerably more than the same beer was available for in the Villages Brewery tap just a short walk from here. This seemed like a decent enough pub that was struggling a bit in the wake of the pandemic. I certainly can’t say I saw the place in a good light, with an empty room hardly representative of the pub’s best side, and the lack of ale (presumably a result of the sluggish post-lockdown trade) didn’t help either. Having said all that, the place seems to have the right ingredients to be a good pub and I would be interested to give it another try once the customers are back and the beer is flowing again.