Campfire, Lower Holloway, N7

Tap for the adjoining Two Tribes Brewery comprising a partly covered yard in front of the bar and kitchen, a narrow but fully covered side arcade and a terrace of similar size above that. Quite busy early on a Tuesday evening with the Euros on the various temporary and permanent TV screens for the Euros football, and there was an additional street-food van towards the back of the fenced compound. Seven craft beers and a guest cider from a total of nine keg taps, but I went for the Campfire Hazy IPA (£6.60) in the end.

Official site of Campfire - twotribes.co.uk

Official site of Campfire - twotribes.co.uk

Stuck out on a very unappealing industrial estate, in an area to the north of Kings Cross which looks like it’s about to get swallowed up by ever-encroaching housing developments, this is a large brewery complex that incorporates a spacious bar area and a couple of eating options. Unusually, despite seemingly owning many units at various points around the estate, the bar is located outdoors in a 'campfire' area - a sizable asphalt covered courtyard under a wavy perspex roof sheltering a good sized space with a servery building down one side, a comfy seating space under shelter down another and large canvas screens with a stylised art print, along the other two sides. The bar is in a cabin-like structure with a corrugated metal front and a separate coffee and cake counter to one side. Round tables with uncomfortable low backed plastic chairs fill the space opposite, giving way to rows of scaffold tube framed benches and long tables. To the rear is a long cushioned banquette under a separate shelter, with a wall behind made of mirrors with various random images stuck to them. Just outside of this area is the Fire Kitchen, which was firing up some BBQ food, whilst a BBQ pit was notable in another part of the complex. More open air seating is available on both sides of the bar area, outside campfire space and there’s also a toilet block and brewery space, with a warehouse further down the road. Ballearic dance tunes were playing for no apparent reason - this is an industrial estate in Kings Cross, not a beach bar in San Antonio. In fact, the drab British weather meant that patio heaters were much welcome on a very cold afternoon. Thirteen of the fourteen keg lines were in action when I visited, dispensing a wide range of Two Tribes brews. A friendly barmaid was helping punters choose from the core range on the taps on the bar counter, and seasonal brews on the taps along the bar back, and I ended up trying the Two Tribes Dream Pale Ale at £2.95 a half. It was a modest Pale Ale with nothing much to make it stand out from hundreds of other beers in this style. This is certainly a unique take on the microbrewery taproom concept, making a welcome change from the factory units and railway arches that litter the capital, but al fresco seating is all good and well in the summer - less so on a cold rainy evening, making this a bit of a niche option at best.

Found this difficult to find,tucked away on an industrial area.Easy to find if you have your phone though.Quite tidy little set up inside the brewing area.A little cabin to serve the beer.Six keg beers..card payments only