Lockes, SW11

Odd little place, converted from a restaurant, with a small covered terrace at the front. Mix of cheap seating inside, including some booths along one wall. Having said that, the place had a good atmosphere in the early evening. 12 of their own beers on tap and another dozen cask keg offerings (e.g. Cronx Entire Stout, £2.35, half).

Recent visits to Brewdog bars in Shepherd's Bush and Birmingham have seen me mellow towards what I'd initially found to be a pretentious, over-hyped chain, so a trip to the Clapham Junction branch saw expectations comparatively high. This particular bar is set in a former restaurant, with an unusual entrance corridor down the right hand side eventually leading you into the main bar where a chunky U-shaped servery greets your arrival. The bar has a chipboard counter with a metallic top and as usual, the taps are all unlabelled, so customers need to consult a large board on the left hand wall which lists the extensive keg range along with the usual mental arithmetic challenge of their size/price ratios. The walls are almost entirely clad with cheap looking chipboard, which was just about tolerable under muted lighting, but I can only imagine this looks pretty dire in daylight. Some high tables and stools run along the front windows, looking out over the small decked front seating area outside. Banquette seating is available to the right and further back there are some comfy looking banquette booths as well as Chesterfield sofas in a tiled wall area with a neon Brewdog sign above. Large metal girders run down the middle of the pub and these each have a beer bottle collection arranged on them. Various arty prints can be found around the room including some sketches of what appear to be the bar staff team, and I also noticed a collection of board games. A trip to the toilets saw me chance upon a periodic table of beer painted on one of the walls, although this wasn't as good as the similar one in the Shepherd's Bush outlet. Arriving on a Saturday evening, loud music accompanied my entire visit and there was a good, lively crowd in. I counted twelve Brewdog beers listed on the board including Punk IPA, This is Lager, Jackhammer, Dead Pony Club, Hardcore IPA and Bourbon Baby. Unbeknownst to me, I had timed my visit to coincide with a South London tap takeover, which meant that the other twelve taps were dispensing beers from local brewers such as Brixton, Aspach and Hobday, Belleville, By the Horns and Orbit. After much deliberation and a couple of tasters courtesy of the friendly barman, I opted for an excellent drop of Rocky Head Imitera IPA, which set me back a rather eye-watering £4.00 for a half pint, surely defeating the point of ordering a locally sourced beer. I thought this was a bit of a mixed bag, as I really enjoyed the lively vibe and interesting showcase of local beers, but couldn't help think that very little thought had gone into how the bar is presented or how the beers are priced. A step backwards in terms of my efforts to get to grips with Brewdog bars, but this was by no means the worst I've been to and I would consider popping my head in again to see if anything interesting was on.

I popped into this pub yesterday and agree with Rex.Very cheap conversion with chipboard on walls and tabletops.The seating is not designer more likely from a skip.Although I like Brewdog beers the new This is Lager was fairly tastless and the Elecric India was fairly dull. Disappointing visit.

I’ve never been to a Brewdog pub before, but as I was in Battersea, and nobody had reviewed this one before I decided to give it a go. It was pretty much as I suspected. There was no real ale of course, just loads of keg offerings – or should I say “craft”? Anyway, they aren’t labelled on the fonts like most places, but listed on a blackboard on one of the walls. I went for something from Brewdog (they had masses from other brewers) called “Five AM Red Ale” – a 5% amber ale that rocked in at £4.85 a pint. I expected to have to pay that price as one-off, rather than as a regular drinking venue. The only food I saw advertised was “charcuterie/cheeseboard” at £15 a go – I wasn’t that hungry. This is clearly a shop conversion. There’s nothing worth mentioning inside, unless you count the chipboard effect (or maybe it’s the real thing) walls and tables. Seating is cheap looking (but probably ridiculously expensive designer) tables and chairs and tall tables/tall stools. There are a few seats in an enclosed area at the front, effectively on the pavement. Personally I don’t much fancy paying fancy prices for what I regard as fairly ordinary beer that doesn’t have the depth of flavour of real ale, irrespective of what craft beer afficionados say – but that’s just my opinion. The best thing about this pub was Sara, the delightful Italian barmaid who very generously brought over to where I was sitting a taster for their very strong (7%+ I think), and probably equally expensive, Scotch ale. Nonetheless, I doubt whether I’ll be returning.