Hackney Church Brew Co. Taproom, Hackney, E8

As is said below, this is one of a number of craft beer bars/breweries along a narrow dead end passage that runs alongside the railway. The whole area was a haven of activity on our Sunday afternoon visit, with all bars busy and food vendors doing a roaring trade. It was certainly an area I wasn't expecting to find in Hackney. The long bench seating has now been moved outside, leaving a large, fairly empty interior. Beers I tried ranged from between 10-11:5%, which made everything else a little hazy. I seem to recall some elaborate unisex toilets. Service was friendly and the guy coming to our table had a good sense of humour. Craft beers were Teddy Is A Rocker, Lazy Day Lager, Static Shock Sour, Drive Me Hazy IPA, Mare Street Mosaic, 1792 Imperial Stout, 1792 Bourbon Oaked Imperial Stout, Heaven Help Me & Superfly IPA. Probably the best new place we tried in the area.

Tucked away down an unassuming access road alongside the railway from Hackney Central station, this is one of a few taprooms and craft beer bars taking advantage of the railway arch spaces in this part of town. The arch is remarkably wide and has the usual concrete floored open-plan space with a large glass frontage which characterise this sort of establishment. Two rows of long tables and high benches run through the centre of the pub and there are pews down either side, although I can’t say any of it looked particularly comfortable. At the rear of the room, a cold, metal bar counter, metal-frame gantry and and shelf-less bar back can be found, with the latter helpfully listing their full beer range. Elsewhere, the room has bar brick walls and a high vaulted ceiling, which has sadly been covered, with modern beams run beneath it instead. There is no décor other than the decorations around the beer board on the bar back, which means the place pretty much looks the same from wherever you sit and whatever angle you view it from. The brewery is located in an adjacent arch and is visible through the front windows or through a door on the right when heading to the toilets. Passages to either side of the bar lead past the kitchen and on out to a garden area which I didn’t explore and can’t imagine will be anything other than a disappointment. A quiet ambient soundtrack played in the background throughout my midweek visit and the lack of customers meant I was able to hear it perfectly, despite the echoey nature of the room. Three St John and Hackney beers were available on keg – Session pale Ale, Lazy Day Lager and Centennial Brown Ale. The Session Pale was pretty good and very flavoursome, which I would say is the least you can ask for at £5.50 a pint. Seven guest kegs completed the line-up, from the likes of Chorlton, Moor, Siren, Lervig and The Kernel and I noted a few bottle and can options in the fridges. Despite being dead on a mid-week evening, the barmaid seemed totally disinterested when serving me. The large arch space here has certainly helped to make this place a lot more comfortable and well-appointed when compared, for example, to railway arch bars in Bermondsey. The home brew beer I sampled was very nice but the lack of cask ale, large, bare room and lacklustre service all put me off and I would only really return as part of a crawl.

Housed in two glazed railway arches, brewery in one and tap room the other. Quite spacious for an arch venture, it is decked out in typical wooden bench seating but plenty of it, there is also a beer garden to the rear. On my visit there were eleven keg beers on, six of their own and five guests including one from close neighbors Deviant & Dandy. Simple bar food was available, i.e Chicken and Chips or Sausage and Chips. Card only but I got the impression they might make allowances if you were stuck. An OK place but run of the mill all the same.

Official site of St John at Hackney Brewpub - www.hackneychurchbrew.co

Official site of St John at Hackney Brewpub - www.hackneychurchbrew.co