Hopper's Hut, Sidcup

The Hopper's Hut was the first of 5 micropubs we visited in the Sidcup and Blackfen area yesterday. We arrived in the rain to find a rope across the doorway. This prevents people getting in before they have each (all members of the party) provided contact details for track and trace and have sanitised their hands. Another interesting concept which I've not witnessed elsewhere were the toilets being cleaned after every single visit. Seating is in typical micropub style, with bench tables and seating around the walls. There is a good selection of real ales, craft beers and real ciders. Real ales were New Bristol Wonderland, Iron Pier Bitter & The Crafty Brewing Company Crafty One. The 15 ciders were listed on a blackboard. But unfortunately, only the flavour of the cider was mentioned. I ended up asking lots of questions about each and from what I can gather, the selection was Thirsty Farmer Dry, Medium, Sweet, Mango Cider & Lemon & Lime Cider, Dudda's Tun Bone Dry, Spiced Cider & Salted Caramel Cider, Abrahall's Toffy Dora, Snail's Bank Rhubarb Cider, Raspberry Ripple, Very Perry, Elderflower Gin & Tonic Cider & Apple & Ginger Cider & Hallet's Rum Cask. Somehow, I managed to choose the two from the list that I had not previously had. Despite a few initial reservations, I quite liked this place and I'm sure I'll be back.

This is a typical shop-converted micropub at one end of Sidcup High Street. The pub has the usual simple layout in a single rectangular room with bare floorboards, green painted walls and some hard, mid-height benches with padded back rests which run down both side walls and are supplemented by some high metal stools, with a single low bench under the front window. The servery is in the rear left corner of the room and has a red tongue and groove counter and a matching bar back with some white tile sections and modern metal-framed shelving units. A board on the bar back lists the various beer options whilst others around the room detail wines, ciders, bar snacks and upcoming events such as quizzes, live music and other such forms of entertainment. Elsewhere, the walls have been decorated with some cool 1920’s reproduction French posters, a few old photographs and some decent art prints, which help add some colour to an otherwise drab unit. Another nice touch was an empty gin bottle placed on each table with a string of lights inside, which I imagine could make quite a simple and effective light feature when turned on in the hours of darkness. There were only a few customers in when I visited, all keeping themselves to themselves, so not much in the way of atmosphere. Things got more interesting at the bar, where four cask ales and ten keg beers were vying for attention. The cask options were Brew Buddies Peanut Butter Stout, Salopian Holiday Patterns, Hawkshead Best Bitter and Vibrant Forest Aria Pale, whilst the keg brews were all sourced from interesting microbreweries. My pint of Holiday Patterns was in pretty good shape and the barman who served me seemed friendly enough. This felt like a decent example of the micropub concept that didn’t really push any boundaries or attempt to do anything different from many other such venues around the country. There is good beer to be found here and perhaps with a few more customers, the place could feel a little livelier, so it’s well worth taking a look if you’re in the area.

As is often the case with these places, the management are enthusiastic and the customers friendly. That's certainly what we found in the Hoppers Hut, along with 4 cask ales, half-a-dozen cask craft keg, Paulaner lager, ciders and perries, wine and gin. Nice little place and definitely worth calling in if you're touring the area's micropubs.

New(ish) micro-pub, very much of the now 'traditional' style with a limited number of tables (seven) and simple decor based on breweriana. Happened to have a Vibrant Forest 'tap takeover' when I visited, featuring five real ales (including the very hoppy, but light, Summerlands at £3.80) and six craft keg beers. The regular Paulaner lager was also being dispensed from one of the other taps on the bar-back.

This place is the antithesis of the previous pub on our tour (Star at Sidcup Place) being a pokey shop conversion in contrast to an erstwhile manor house. But I like pokey shop conversion micropubs, and this one's typical of the breed, with some tall upholstered fixed bench seating along the sides, with tall tables and tall stools. A couple of barrels were serving as tall tables as well. A blackboard behind the counter listed the beers (served by gravity dispense from a cold room) - keg on the left, cask on the right. There were five real ales on when we visited: Brew Buddies UK Hop Pale and Citra IPA; Williams Bro's March of the Penguins; American Pale Iron Pier; and Roosters Distant Sun. I had the the UK Hop Pale (£3.80 4.1%) which came unfined. The staff were friendly, offering to order in the right size Brew Buddies T-shirt in which one of our group was interested. This pub will suit you fine, as long as you're OK with no frills micro-pubs.