Three Hounds Beer Cafe, Beckenham

Busy micropub with the usual bench seating. I managed to find space at the end of a table, where a suspicious gap had appeared following an earlier beer spillage. There is a single ground floor room with further space downstairs. For my visit, I don't think the downstairs room was actually open. The stairs are to the rear right where the two unisex toilet cubicles can also be found. The bar is on the left wall to the rear, There are 4 fridges opposite stocking various bottles and cans, in addition to a 5th fridge at the end of the bar. Hanging plants can be found above the bar, along with merchandise such as t-shirts and baseball caps. Walls are magnolia on one side and blue on the other. There are pictures on the walls, with some artwork for sale. Flooring is laminate. Dogs are allowed, with at least one being present for my visit. There are 3 handpulls on the front part of the bar. On cask were Verdant Light Bulb, Siren Memento & Fyne Ales Jarl. Ciders were Turner's Dry, Apple Pie & Elderflower Cider, Dudda's Tun Perry & Oliver's Classic Perry. Craft pumps are on the wall. Beers on were Three Hounds Pendulum, Drop Project Stitch & Scoff, Deya Steady Rolling Man, Verdant Psych & Sundialer, Anspach & Hobday London Black, Phantom Slink Off, Vibrant Forest Pupa and a series of Polly's 7th Birthday collaboration beers with Pomona Island, Lost Cause, Sureshot, Thornbridge & Pastore. All were different styles. I opted for the Lost Cause collaboration, a very enjoyable 10% imperial stout. It's a bit out of the way, but definitely worth the effort to get to. Service from the young barman was friendly and professional and the place had a nice atmosphere with decent conversation.

Great micro bar .Friendly owner who i recognised from his previous shop.The Three Hounds beer which he brews should soon be brewed in the adjoining shop.Now has 2 handpumps and my beers from Exale,Drop Project and Three hounds were excellent

A really good Micro/craft bar/tap and bottle shop,It is of course thouroughly described by Pub Signman below, the solitary handpump was dispensing Arbor Mosaic on my visit, in addition there are twelve keg taps with a good range of craft beers including three of Three Hounds own beers, the bar was steadily busy but not overwhelmed at anytime. I had a couple from the keg selection , Three Hounds Novus Aevum and Siren Time Hops Cenntenial, both were top notch. Very enjoyable.

Official site of Three Hounds Beer Cafe - www.threehoundsbeerco.com

Official site of Three Hounds Beer Cafe - www.threehoundsbeerco.com

Another lockdown opening on this stretch of road between Penge and Beckenham, this is a bar/bottle shop located a few doors down from Clock House station. Unlike the majority of bottle shop-based bars, this place has been nicely presented and the on-site drinking aspect seems to be given precedence, making it feel a lot more pub/bar-like than most such ventures. The room feels quite spacious, perhaps thanks to the bright and airy interior created by the white walls (with a darker feature wall to one side) and full height shop windows at the front. Two long tables, to the front and through the centre, are served by canteen benches whilst three small square tables with hard wooden chairs are positioned along the right-hand wall. A couple more canteen tables and benches have been squeezed out on the pavement, rounding out the full range of seating available. The servery fills the rear left corner of the room and has a pleasant timber-fronted counter and plain bar back, with the keg taps mounted on the wall and beer boards comprising framed posters above. Various bits of contemporary art line the walls, bright potted plants fill the front window and smaller plants potted in colourful beer cans adorn each table, helping to create a more homely feel than you might otherwise expect. To the rear right, a few fridges are bursting with bottled and canned beer for drinking in or taking out and a cool soundtrack backed the low murmur of conversation on a steady Sunday afternoon. Unusually for such a venture, the bar attempts to keep one cask ale on alongside the ten craft keg taps. This lone cask option was Vibrant Forest Otto, which the cheery barman poured for me before heading off to chat with various other customers. It poured a little flat, suggesting it might have been on a little too long, but still had plenty of flavour. Keg options were dominated by Vibrant Forest as well, although a few others from highly rated craft brewers such as Moor, were also on. I wasn’t expecting this place to feel like a proper bar, so that came as a very pleasant surprise and I enjoyed my time in here much more than I thought I would. This is definitely an asset in a part of town that is a bit low on pub stock and I’m sure I’ll pop out here again some time to give it another go.