Cloudwater Tap Room, Bermondsey, SE16

Another arch worth the visit due to the excellent beer available, this time from Manchesters Cloudwater, another brewer at the top of their game. There were 20 beers in total including 4 guests and 3 collabs. Pretty popular on an early Thursday evening which comes as no suprise.

One of a couple of non-London based interlopers on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, Manchester’s Cloudwater have created a stylish interpretation of the railway arch taproom model. On the surface, there’s not much difference between this place and it’s contemporaries - the concrete floor, corrugated metal clad walls and high vaulted ceiling are all present and correct - but the room has been fitted out with smart contemporary furniture and decor that sets it apart from its peers and almost makes it somewhere you feel you could spend a bit of time. To the front, hard fixed bench seating down the right-hand wall quickly gives way to angled parallelogram shaped high tables served by stools with unusual frames each with an unusual geometric design in the shape of its legs. The bench has a lot of cushions along its length, in an attempt to make things a bit more comfortable, but having sat there for a good 25 minutes, I can safely say this was a failed mission. The front left of the arch is home to all the beer fridges, after which the toilet block appears, cutting off the midsection of the left-hand wall, before giving way to a terraced seating arrangement in the rear left corner, similar to those found in certain branches of Brewdog. Large banners down both sides of the room add plenty of colour and there are some bright, colourful art prints, done on a large scale, which contrast a collection of more traditional paintings along the exterior of the toilet block, whilst copious amounts of hops have been strung across the walls and ceiling. The bar is in the rear right corner and has an unusual wavy counter front with a lighting strip beneath the bartop. A beer board on the back wall was a little bit too small to comfortably read from all points of the bar and could do with a bit of a rethink. The keg taps are all discreetly hidden beneath the counter top and there is a bright neon brewery sign to the rear, next to various bits of Cloudwater merchandise. A cool indie soundtrack accompanied my visit and this was far busier than just about any of the other venues I visited along the mile on a cold, wet Sunday afternoon. A closer look at the beer board revealed seventeen cloudwater beers on keg, plus three guests. A very friendly barman chatted about the brewery and other venues along the mile, before serving me a half of the Higher Than The Sky (£3.00), which was a terrific beer worthy of a few more pints had I not been on a crawl. This place doesn’t quite shake off the railway arch problem, but does at least attempt to provide something a bit different and more stylish than its surroundings naturally allow for. This, coupled with the fact that they brew some of the best beer you’re likely to find along the entire mile, marks this place out as a must-do for anyone undertaking the crawl, or indeed for craft beer fans in general.

One of many similar establishments forming part of the famous Bermondsey Beer Mile, like many of the others this is located in the arches under the railway track, and is of course a brewery tap rather than a pub, and this is reflected in the somewhat industrial style décor, if one could go so far as calling it that. The flooring was some type of concrete screed, whilst the usual white corrugated iron of these establishments was cladding the ceiling and walls in order to channel the continually dripping water from the tunnel roof away from the punters underneath. Having said that, they have made a bit of an effort in here by hanging a large number of flags from the ceiling, and this certainly provided a welcome splash of colour in contrast to the pain white walling and ceiling. A large toilet block to left ate in to much of the available floor space, with many of the tables being set at an angle in order to squeeze them in. A few glass fronted ‘fridges at the front had drinks for sale if you wanted something to go. Lighting was industrial style cage lights in much of the pub, which a few exposed filament style bulbs around the bar area. Beers on tap were mostly their own with If You Listen Carefully, A Vote For Planet Earth, The Infinite Sides Of The Globe, IPA, The World Just As It Is, Proper, Here’s What You Need To Know, All The Things They Say Tell Us All The Things They Are, Confirmation Bias, One Slice To Yule Them All, Random Act Of Mindfullness, What Are Frogs and A Scabrous Edge Of The Sky. These were joined by a few guests which on this occasion were Sonoma and Uzon from Track, Half Acre Original Reaper, More Mass and Robo Pils from Highland Park, Duration You End Up Where You Were and Sonnen Hill Jive. I was very tempted by the One Slice To Yule Then All which was described as a Nitro Christmas Pudding Imperial Stout, but unfortunately this was ruled out by Mrs B due to it’s 11% ABV, so instead I opted for the All The Things They Say Tell Us All The Things They Are which was a blood orange and passion fruit sour with vanilla, and that certainly went down quite well.