Art & Craft SE27, West Norwood, SE27

Part of a small chain of craft beer bars across parts of South London, this is a very simple, concrete floored shop conversion which acts partly as a bottle shop and partly as a tasting room for the Ink Spot Brewery of Streatham. The set-up is about as simple as you can get, with a very rickety looking jerry-built counter to the right on entering, metal framed shelving units to the left full of craft beer bottles and cans and some fridges to the rear, also well stocked with beery goodies. There are two tables in the centre of the room, one of which is served by metal framed chairs and the other with uncomfortable looking low stools. This makes up the entire seating compliment, with punters forced to stand, lean on the bar or else brave one of the two pavement tables out front. A large ‘Arts & Craft’ neon sign in the front window makes the place easy to spot and reminds us that the chain’s MO involves the display of locally sourced artwork, with a number of striking modern pieces on display around the walls of this room, all available to purchase should you have any money left after forking out for your craft beer. A good, nostalgic hard rock soundtrack played quietly throughout my stay and I was the only customer for the entirety of the duration. There were two Ink Spot beers on keg and after a chat with the very friendly and informative barman, I settled on their IPA, which was served far too cold, but had a nice flavour profile which started to come through as I reached the end of the glass. Any of the bottles and cans seen on the shelves or in the fridges can also be consumed on site. I found this place quite hard to warm to, despite the best efforts of the very pleasant barman on duty on my visit. The place feels too much like a bottle shop, with a couple of tables thrown in as an afterthought – perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that others were drinking elsewhere. It was good to try one of their Ink Spot beers, but I think I prefer the Croydon branch to this one and I can’t see me returning any time soon.

Official site of Art & Craft SE27 - www.artandcraft.london

Official site of Art & Craft SE27 - www.artandcraft.london