Exale Taproom, E17

Visited 23/04/26 Cask was a single hand pump providing their own Best Bitter. Keg offering were a few guests, the Table Beer and the Imperial Brown Stout from Kernel and the Wild Wave cider from Addams, then their own brews of the Park Life Pale Ale, the McCool Irish Stout, the Skoosh session IPA, the Peach for the Stars peach & apricot sour, the Hops Don't Lie IPA, the Krankie Iron Brew Sour, the Lagerama pils and the Czechs Out pilsner. Proper brewery taproom, the bar counter, and the seating nestled around the brewing equipment! There is some trestle table seating, some covered, out the front and then the suspended uPVC strips as an entry point a la industrial refrigerated space, nothing as fancy as an arch glass frontage here. The bar area is round the back of some large stainless-steel vats, concrete flooring with the bar counter in the corner with the taps etc on the bar counter, and tall stool seating at the bar counter. Seating via some banquettes serving tall circular tables with stools the other side thereof as the divider between the brewing equipment and the bar area. Some tall tables in the middle of the floor space and the open kitchen hatch on the left-hand wall. There is some banquette seating at the rear serving some tables and nestling under a small mezzanine seating area, not even at the height of the tallest pieces of brewing equipment. There is a DJ booth to the side of the mezzanine seating area. A beer fridge provides some takeaways, but seemingly not of their own quaffs. I think they have some decent beers and liked the vibe of the venue, quiet small scale but rather intimate.

Set in an old brick built industrial warehouse, it gives added interest and ambiance to the immediate surroundings. At the bar is one solitary handpump , on this occasion it was home to Crafty Currant Cider, twelve taps offered 10 Exhale beers and another cider, Adnams Wild Wave, I had Exhale Miami Weisse, nice enough.

At the risk of repeating myself, this is another well presented old warehouse, now occupied by a brewery on this industrial estate. You enter via a compact outdoor seating space with hard bench seating, a fair bit of cover and some sort of BBQ food operation from a small hatch. There's also a first floor level out here, that offers comfier seating and views down to the front apron and across the estate. A passageway leads into the main bar space, past all the brewing gear to the right, eventually emerging into a concrete floored, square space with whitewashed walls, a high gabled ceiling and the usual post-industrial features. The bar is to the left and has a purple counter and white tiled bar back dominated by an orange and pink beer board that lists the full keg range, which unusually for this estate, is dispensed from taps on the bar counter. High tables and stools stand opposite the bar, with a banquette to the left and tables and chairs through the space in between. There's also a drinking ledge with bar stools under the brewing kit and a mezzanine space which offers tables and chairs best suited to those eating from the BBQ menu, with the kitchen visible on the back wall. Various black and white photos have been put on display along with a mural above the DJ booth. Most striking of all were the strange, cloud-like sculptures hung from the beams above, whilst fairy lights under the mezzanine level make it feel like a cosy, low ceilinged space. Dance and R&B tunes were playing quite loudly and, like most venues here, the place had a good late afternoon buzz from a sizable crowd. I counted eleven Exale brews on the bar plus two cider options, and ended up with a pint of Skoosh Sesion IPA for £5.65, which was a very drinkable example of the style. The staff were a bit brusque, but dealt with a constant stream of customers in a very efficient manner, so that no-one ever seemed to be hanging around waiting to be served. I thought this was a decent enough example of an industrial estate taproom which did nothing wrong but didn't do too much to stand out from the crowd either. The mezzanine is an interesting feature and the seating in general was of a higher standard than most such bars, but it's ultimately nothing you won't have seen before and ranks mid-table on my crawl around this estate. Date of visit - 4th May 2024

Whilst Beeblefish was the reason for us visiting the Uplands Business Park, I noticed that there were a number of other breweries based on the Park. The Exale Brewing Taproom was our next stop and proved to be a complete contrast to Beerblefish. The place was packed and very noise, with a Rod Stewart lookalike performing his songs with people dancing and singing along. Beers on from Exale were Skoosh, Zorc, Krankie, Oona, Dinky, Girders & Shuggie. Overtown Cran-Razz was also on. Similar to the last reviewer, my drinking partner tried the Krankie and found it fairly unique. With a lively atmosphere, I thought this was probably the best of the brewery bars we visited on the Blackhorse Mile. Outside, there was further seating, both near the entrance door and on an undercover patio area up a flight of stairs.

Facebook page of Exale Taproom - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Exale Taproom - www.facebook.com

The Exale Brewery tap room was probably the most enjoyable visit as far as premises go on the Blackhorse Mile. Initially it wasn’t very promising as there was an external drainage problem being sorted out as we approached meaning walking across a temporary pontoon bridge to get into the place. One in there it had the most character of all the tap rooms we visited on the day. There is an outside courtyard space with undercover seating on two sides and tables under umbrellas in the middle. Then the inside bar area has a collection of seating options including high tables, a small mezzanine floor section and some very funky decor, although the large illuminated cloud structures hanging from the ceiling probably work better on a dark evening. The bar is located on the right hand side and alongside the tiled tap wall with 10 taps there were other interesting drink options including alcoholic cocktail slushes for the ladies. Three Exale craft brews were on alongside other options from Boxcar, The Kernal and Hackney Brewery. We tried all three and the Pale and the West Coast IPA were decent brews. Unfortunately we didn’t know that the brewers here are Scottish and should have read the board properly and asked for a sample of the Krankie before ordering it. Exale Krankie is an Iron Bru Sour, and let’s just say it’s an acquired taste. I believe this one opens at 4pm on a Thursday and Friday and 12 noon at the weekend.