Beavertown Taproom, Tottenham Hale, N17

You know you’re on the right track heading to this brewery when you see the fleet of Beavertown transit vans, each branded with a different beer, that are parked along the access road through this industrial estate. This brewery has come a long way since I first encountered them brewing out of the Dukes Brew and Que pub in Haggerston, now occupying a huge complex across numerous factory units. However, despite the expansion in brewing capability, the taproom element feels like a bit of an afterthought, crammed as it is into a very small room with no seating and a simple servery along the right-hand wall. The bar has a jerry-built counter with the keg taps along the bar back, beneath large boards listing the prices, strengths and styles of the draught beer range. Such are the limitations of this space, most drinkers found themselves forced outside, where are large semi-permanent marquee has been erected and filled with the usual long canteen tables and benches. Heating lamps through the centre ensured there were a few warm spots to settle around, but it was extremely cold around the periphery on my Saturday evening visit. Brewery branded bunting, including some large 2D spaceships, added a splash of colour around the plain marquee. Across the loading bay, a mobile toilet block provided some surprisingly decent facilities. I counted at least ten Beavertown beers on keg and decided to give the tried and tested Neck Oil a go. This set me back £3.30 for two thirds of a pint but I then had to pay a hefty £2.75 deposit for the glass on top of this, which was refunded when the glass was returned at the end of my stay. Payments, including the glass deposit, have to be made on card, so bear that in mind before travelling out here. I didn’t think this was a particularly good place to showcase the beers of one of London’s highest profile craft beer brewers, which perhaps explains why they have decided to get into bed with Heineken to open their new Beaverworld complex in Ponders End, which will allow them to brew ten times the amount of beer than at present and will have proper facilities for visitors. This place will remain open but whether it will prove much of a draw remains to be seen – for now, it’s a solid addition to a craft beer crawl around Tottenham and a good double header with the nearby Pressure Drop Brewery, but not much more than that.

A short 5 to 10 minute walk north from Tottenham Hale station will bring you to the Lockwood Industrial Park which contains not one, but two Craft beer breweries, and who would have said that about Tottenham ten years ago. The biggest and busiest of these is Beavertown, whose Tap room is open between 2.00PM to 8.00PM every Saturday afternoon. In reality they do not have a separate Tap room but more that you actually sit on long bench seating in the brewery itself or outside also on bench seating, some of which is under a large marquee tent with heating during the winter months. A small space internally houses the tap room beer wall with ten taps that dispense the usual Beavertown suspects and a selection of their new collaborations with other breweries. All beers are reasonably priced at £2.50 for either a half or 2/3 depending on beer strength and a key point is that it is card only and first time round you also have to pay a £2.50 deposit for the glass, which is then changed for each subsequent beer or refunded to your card if and when you give the glass back. The only issue is that it does get very busy during peak summer months and the internal structure is not really set up for crowds and long queues can form at the draft tap wall. They have tried to improve it by adding a can only bar and setting up a one way system, which doesn’t really work for anyone coming for the first time as the signage is crap and points you to enter through the loading bay doors which is counter intuitive , especially when you can see a normal entrance door a little way further along. Entering through the loading bay doors will save you the wrath of the security staff they employ on a Saturday who, on my experience, tend to leave their people skills at home before coming to work.

Official site of Beavertown Taproom - www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk

Official site of Beavertown Taproom - www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk