Craft Metropolis - Brixton, SW9

Pleased to find this one is still here and still a bit difficult to find as it is hidden down a narrow alley off Coldharbour Lane. One thing that has changed since the inaugural review below is that it is now branded as the Craft Metropolis / Verdant Residency and it appears that sometime last year it became the new London presence for the Cornish Craft brewer since they shut their Hackney Tap room in 2023, with what looks like a permanent residency on all the taps behind the small serving area to the right as you enter. For my visit the ten taps had eight Verdant Brews, a sour from Vault City and Wild Juice Cider from Ilford Cider. We tried the Lightbulb Pale Ale and the Written in Water Hazy New England IPA and as craft brews go very good and obviously fresh. The décor however has not changed and I too did not warm to the downstairs space and questioned the logic of having black walls in an area where there is no natural light and you rely on a couple of fluorescent strip lights and the glow of the bank of fridges at the back of the room. The upstairs section is better IMHO especially as it benefits from at least having a window and has the wonderful, exposed brick curve of the railway arch, but I would still say this is a venue best visited on a cold dark winters night when all the fairy lights are giving atmosphere and there’s a decent crowd of upwardly mobile 30 somethings in and not on an August afternoon during one of our increasingly frequent heat wave days when you would much rather be in an outside beer garden. It does double as a bottle shop and there is an impressive array of non Verdant craft brewers represented at trade prices in the fridges and there is about a £1.50 corkage charge on top if you choose to sit and drink from the fridge contents instead of the taps.

Visited 21/08/24 Down an alley off Coldharbour Lane. Sister (or brother) to the much smaller venue in Penge SE20. This venue is quite dark inside, naturally and aided by the choice of dark colours, indeed on the ground floor you would need a torch absent the illumination from the beer fridges at the back of the ground floor. The servery is on the right-hand side on the ground floor and seating only via a sofa and a couple of chairs to the left of the entrance and some barrels with tall stools around the bar and beer fridges. Seating is largely provided up a flight of metallic stairs and there is a large screen at that level and above the entrance, showing some interactive gaming experience during my stay here. There is also a dart board on the wall to the left of the big screen. A beer garden is advertised and accessed either direct through the ground floor or up the stairs and down another flight the other side of the mezzanine level. It is the most un-beer garden I have ever experienced for something described as a beer garden, a small narrow strip at the side of the building with the inner-city weeds providing the only greenery. Lots of beers to choose from the fridges also and one of the larger ranges of wines available in this type of venue (but I wouldn’t choose wine over the good beer offering here). On tap was their own branded session IPA, a cider and a lager from New Bristol Brewing, a strong hazy IPA from Drop Project called Nova, a sour from Vault City called Coconut Concrete Jungle Juice, the Table Beer from Kernel, a DIPA from Verdant called Whale Sharks at a hefty 8.4% abv, the oft seen porter from Anspach & Hobday called London Black and an immense stout from Vault City called Caterpillar Cake at the lofty heights of 14.5% abv sold in third pints only! Last comment in first para above suggest I am knocking the place, but for what its primary purpose is, it is a very atmospheric example of a good craft beer venue. A bit out of the way for sure but definitely a venue I am glad I made it to. Probably a reasonable double header with the Supercute Brewhouse a couple of mins walk away.