Anspach & Hobday, Bermondsey, SE1

Incredibly busy,in fact rammed, queuing outside with security allowing a few in at a time, I nearly decided to give it a miss but persevered and only had to wait 2 or three minutes to gain entry, I 'm glad I did as my Pale Ale was excellent despite the princely sum of £3.00 a half.

Originally opened as a joint venture with the Bullfinch Brewery, this is now solely operated by Anspach and Hobday, following the initial cessation of brewing by Bullfinch and their subsequent relocation to that other South London microbrewery hotspot - Herne Hill. We are left with another Bermondsey railway arch based microbrewery offering limited seating in one of the smaller premises on the Beer Mile. The usual canteen tables and benches fill most of the left hand side of the arch, with a simple servery set-up over to the right. A few upturned barrels allow for some vertical drinking within but lots of punters had spilled out onto the pavement which was guarded by a pissed off looking doorman. One couple even took their beers over to the benches outside the now closed Marquis of Wellington. There was quite a lively atmosphere both inside and out, as the day was drawing on and most punters were well into the crawl, but everyone was well behaved and the doorman didn't have much to do. Eight Anspach and Hobday beers were available on keg from the taps behind the bar. I forget what I ordered, other than it was a dark beer and that it was delicious - is it just me, or do dark beers seem to retain their flavour better on keg than light hoppy beers? This was a pretty decent effort, perhaps a bit too small to accommodate the number of people wanting to squeeze in, but welcoming enough. I ended up stood around outside, but feel I would've enjoyed the visit more had I been able to get a seat inside. Open Friday 17:00 - 21:00, Saturday 11:00 - 17:00 and Sunday 12:00 - 17:00.

Official site of Anspach & Hobday - anspachandhobday.com