Essex House, N1

Official site of Essex House - www.essex-house.co.uk

Official site of Essex House - www.essex-house.co.uk

I visited this branch of the Brewdog chain of craft beer bars a few months prior to its closure and found it surprisingly quiet, with only a couple of other customers in on a mid-week evening, one of whom turned out to be there to use their brewing facilities. The venue was quite small by Brewdog standards, with a simple, rectangular single room layout. A large steel-clad door greets you on arrival and looks very unwelcoming, but a firm shove opened it into a porch that led into the main bar area, where the first thing that hit you was the unmistakable, and somewhat overpowering, smell of beer being brewed. A row of red button backed banquettes run along the front wall, where large windows let in plenty of light and afford good views out to the busy street outside. A couple of high tables and stools are lined up through the centre of the room and there are two more padded bench booths in the far right-hand corner which round out the rather limited seating options. The bar is on the rear wall and has a typical Brewdog granite counter top, which is perched on what appears to be a section of old shipping container or similar, broken midway along by a large pillar, No surprises to see the usual cinema-style beer board on the bar back, but what is surprising is the brewing plant, which is located in a separate room and used for private brewing events – a feature apparently unique to this branch of the Brewdog chain. Elsewhere, the usual Brewdog stuff prevails – iron mesh over the ceiling, exposed utilities, pizza menus and friendly, clued up staff, with a rock and blues soundtrack playing away in the background. There were eleven Brewdog beers listed on the big board alongside five guests. The barman quickly sized up my tastes and offered a few samples before I settled on Burnt Mill Solar Dawn at a depressing £3.10 for a half. To be fair, it was a pretty tasty drop, but the usual confusing pricing technique meant I ended up with something that was costlier than I’d hoped for. In a way, it doesn’t surprise me that this place has gone under, following in the fate of the Brewdog restaurant that was open around these parts for a short while. The in-house brew plant made the place a little more interesting than it might otherwise have been, and the service was top-notch, but ultimately it was another over-priced craft beer bar that very few people will be mourning the loss of.

Small but typical BrewDog outlet with the added attraction of in-house brewing, It's ok.