Indiebeer, Holloway, N7

Craft beer bar and bottle shop on the Holloway Road that seems to attract a mixed crowd. There are various seating options including bench tables and sofas in a good-sized room. Fridges containing bottles and cans can be found in rows against the right-hand wall, each fridge separated into different beer styles. A bicycle in the centre was promoting pizzas, but we didn't see anybody eating them. The bar itself is to the rear left. All beers were keg - Alesmith Speedway Stout, Alkin Heavy Left Foot, Azvex SCOOP - Chocolate & Cherry, Balance Hugs & Fuerst Wiacek Palms. There was also a cider which I don't recall and we saw promotions for mead too. All of the beers we sampled were fairly tasty and quite a few customers were working their way through some rather expensive canned options from the fridges. The table next to us had 3 blokes who had clearly outstayed their welcome. They got up to leave, one falling back down again, before two headed to the single unisex toilet together (!) whilst the third held onto the table they had been sat at in order to stay upright. I was next into the toilet, which they'd left in a bit of a state. Having just the one toilet is certainly a bit of a drawback here, as a queue was in place for pretty much the whole time we were there. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed our visit here. Beers were good quality and there is a good range. A cask option would be a bonus, but there's still enough to choose from. The name stems from their desire to stock beers from independent brewers. A blackboard in one corner had some skulls and crossbones next to some breweries who had sold their souls to large conglomerates.

Situated on the main Holloway Road, just a short walk from the tube station and Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, this is a larger-than-average bottle shop and tasting room. The single room set-up comprises a deep and reasonably wide interior with smart, chunky floorboards, plain off-white walls and large shop-style front windows with the shop’s name and logo on them. Some high stools serve a ledge under these windows, to the right of the entrance and some rickety looking canteen benches run down the left side, eventually supplanted by a battered old sofa, some retro armchairs, plastic school-style chairs and bits of garden furniture. Eight fridges down the right hand wall are stocked full of bottled and canned beers, all ordered by style, with each fridge sporting a style-guide appropriate to its contents, which I thought was a good touch. To the rear, a crate shelving unit has been filled with beer bottles, jars of hops, beer-themed books and a few board games and this acts as a partitioning screen from the rest of the room beyond, where the servery can be found. This comprises a basic wooden counter on the left hand wall with a few beer taps on the bar back. The draught beers are listed on a board behind the bar and there is only standing room back here, with a few punters chatting away to the friendly barman. The walls have been decorated with some thematically appropriate beer and brewing pictures and posters and there was a radio station audible somewhere under the chatter of a modest mid-week crowd. The bar back supports four keg lines for craft beers and a fifth for a cider option. The prices were pretty drastic and I found myself forking out £4.00 for two thirds of a pint of Odyssey Protect Yo Neck. This turned out to be a disappointingly murky brew but I have to admit it was nevertheless delicious. Lots of people were in and out, browsing the fridges and the barman seemed very knowledgeable and happy to help people to find a beer they might enjoy. These tasting rooms don’t really do a lot for me in general, but this place seemed slightly better than average, thanks perhaps in part to its more spacious floor plan, allowing for comfortable furniture and clear division between shop and bar. Not a bad place to check out if you’re passing by but not worth heading out of your way for unless you’re planning on stocking up on some expensive bottles.

A shop conversion into a bottle shop-cum-tasting bar. It's a long, rectangular bare boarded room, with rows of fridges on the right, marked up per beer style (IPAs, Pale Ales, etc.) and a small wooden bar top left with four keg taps behind. They've been going for a few months now and are ticking over - my Monday night visit didn't see them in their best guise, as my pre-9pm calling saw me effectively 'locked in' with one other punter, but I had a great chat to the proprietress and a fellow drinker, which goes to show the egalitarianism of these ventures. A 2/3 of Fierce Orange Scream (an ice cream, orange-hopped, unfined beer) was nice enough - 2/3 of it was plenty (at £6 for the privilege). I enjoyed my brief sojourn and wish them the best. The keg offerings are on the steep side, but there's plenty of the usual suspects as well as others in terms of takeaways.

Official site of Indiebeer - www.indiebeer.co.uk

Official site of Indiebeer - www.indiebeer.co.uk