Clapton Craft, Balham, SW12

This is a compact bottle shop with both on and off sales, originally trading as 'We Brought Beer', but now forming part of the small Clapton Craft chain. There's no escaping the fact that this place feels very much like a shop, with a concrete screed floor, plain painted walls and plenty of fridges and shelves stacked full of beery delights to the right and rear. Large floor to ceiling windows at the front and along the first part of the left-hand wall, allow plenty of light in and have been decorated with the chain's bear logo image. High stools along drinking ledges beneath these windows plus a couple more stools at the end of the bar, are the only indoor seating options, although a few canteen tables can be found out on the pavement outside - not ideal for my mid-December visit, but thankfully a friendly barman found me an extra stool which I sat at the bar with. The servery is to the left and has a surprisingly long but very plain counter, with the keg taps dominating the bar back beneath a handy beer board that lists prices for two-thirds measures. A chilled soundtrack played in the background and the knowledgeable bar staff were kept busy by an endless stream of customers, mostly looking for advice on their take-out options. The concession to on-sales runs to four craft keg beers on draught, from which I tried Deya SRM at a hefty £7.30 a pint. They also had a Siren 12.5% abv beer which was priced at £10.20 for a third of a pint, so all of a sudden, mine seemed like a bargain. It doesn't take much to pack this place out, with all indoor seating taken as well as about half the outdoor chairs too, despite the frosty temperature out there. For me, this type of 'bottle shop with a bar' style of venue doesn't really work, as it's a pretty poor place to try and enjoy a few drinks and such venues rarely represent value for money either. What saves this place has to be the staff, who really knew their stuff and were helpful and welcoming to a new face whilst having a good rapport with their regulars. This offers something a bit different if crawling around Balham, but for better craft beer bars, take the bus up the road to Brixton. Date of visit - 8th December 2023

Official site of Clapton Craft - www.claptoncraft.co.uk

Official site of Clapton Craft - www.claptoncraft.co.uk

Loads of cans and bottles in fridges and in the body of the place. Four strong craft type beers in the back wall. Outside benches as per photo.

Bottled beer shop with 2 keg beers