Signature Brew, E17

Something a little different here, where they've gone for a shipping container vibe, which at least makes a change from the standard light industrial aesthetic which predominates in these places. They've done their best to create a pub-style feel to the small square box with a mixture of low and high tables. Signature is no more than a minutes walk from Pretty Decent but, while this is genuinely a much better place for a drink (putting aside the dreary surroundings outside), I'd say the beer's inferior. The bar offer 5 lines of home brew, plus a similar number of guests, though this may just be the Oktoberfest thing going on. I was certainly taken aback by the price of my initial selection and quickly switched to a more reasonably priced Signature IPA. A couple of hand pumps adorn the bar, but they weren't in action on this visit. To me, this is more of a stop and neck it kind of place, rather than a linger and try the range venue. I probably wouldn't bother if I ever found myself thirsty on a light industrial estate in the Walthamstow area some time in the future.

A fairly decent though smallish taproom set in a corner adjacent to the brewer. There were five Signature beers on, I had a Black Vinyl Stout, also a guest beer, Verdant Whale Shark. It was very busy on my Sunday visit with a music gig going on elsewhere in the extended venue, this unfortunately led to queuing at the bar but was unavoidable. All in all a neat little venue.

The last of the various brewery taps on my crawl was perhaps the most unusual of them all, as the taproom only forms a small part of the overall set-up here. The main taproom space has a bar to the left of a roughly square room, with a large beer board behind it and taps along the back wall. Decent seating options can be found in here, with high tables and a few fixed benches making this the obvious place to bag a seat. However, the brewery complex spreads out over much wider area, including a live music venue to the rear, in line with brewery's music ethos, which was hosting a DJ when I visited. Canteen style benches filled a narrow space opposite their decks and huge brewing vessels were visible to the rear, although I suspect a very different layout is used when bands are playing on stage. There's also a fenced off seating area outside with more benches and then across the road there's another bar with even more seating in a space fenced by some Signature Brew branded panels. The main bar had eight Signature Brew beers plus cider and alcohol free options. I tried the Black Vinyl Nitro Stout (£6.20 a pint), which was a pretty good drop to round out this crawl with. The barman was friendly and efficient and a quick look at the other bar suggested a doubling up of brews rather than there being anything not available in the main taproom. I like this brewery and their support for the live music industry and thought this was a decent enough place to showcase their beer. It's a bit of a disjointed space that maybe works best when the weather allows you to use the outdoor space or if attending for a gig, and overall, I think I prefer their Haggerston venue over this one, but it was a good enough spot to finish the crawl nonetheless. Date of visit - 4th May 2024

Signature Brew Brewer's Bar felt more like a proper bar than other brewery setups in this trading estate. Whilst the brewery itself is set up in a warehouse, there is a separate indoor taproom and a large outdoor drinking space which was undercover. Unusually, there was a handpull with a cask ale in here. This was Signature Bells End. Craft beers were Signature Roadie, Backstage IPA, Rewind, Equaliser, Anthology Imperial Stout, Progressive Bitter, Lo Fi, Low Frequency Effect, Black Vinyl, Polyphonic Peach Sour & Piercing Tea Pilsner. They also had Gosnell's Wild Flower Mead. The taproom was quite busy, but we were lucky to grab a table from somebody just departing. We were soon sharing this with others. This felt much more of a commercial experience than many of the other taprooms on the Blackhorse Mile.

Official site of Signature Brew - www.signaturebrew.co.uk

Official site of Signature Brew - www.signaturebrew.co.uk