Titsey Brewing Co. Taproom, Westerham

Blessed with a scenic hilltop location, on the route of the North Downs Way, this is a large modern brewery and taproom from the Titsey Brewery. The taproom is a smart, open plan space which has been furnished to a reasonably high specification, so that you can easily look past the fact that you're eating and drinking in a modern, concrete floored, factory unit. There's plenty of seating available, mainly bar stools serving high tables and drinking ledges, but also some benches and loads of picnic benches outside - some near the car park but others with nice views of people parasailing on the steep hillside over the road. The bar is along the back wall and has a modern counter and bar back, with the keg taps all mounted on the back wall with helpful beer boards above. Everything has been quite smartly presented and the place almost has a gastro pub feel to it, especially when I arrived to find most tables occupied by diners. A separate kitchen servery can be found outside, to the rear of the taproom, but I didn't see what they were selling. Whatever it was, it was proving very popular, with staff apologising for 30 minute wait times for food. The brewery is located next to a farm and there were some unpleasant smells drifting across that would've put me off my food. All of the brewing kit is over in the left-hand side of the room, but it feels quite orderly and has been properly fenced off from the public area, so I didn't find it to be the usual ugly incursion. There were three home brews on the bar when I arrived - Titsey Gower Wolf, Mercer's Ale and Gresham Hop - plus guests in the shape of Lakedown Sussex Pale and Harmonium IPA (£4.60 a pint). Five more Titsey brews could be found on keg, so there's plenty to go at. There was a long queue at the bar when I arrived, which involved copious food orders, so they could do with a better system to streamline the ordering process. My pint of Harmonium was pretty good and didn't stay in the glass for long after I'd spent most of the day walking the North Downs Way, including the big climb that precedes this pub. I thought this was a nicely constructed taproom which clearly has wide appeal judging by the crowds on my visit. Whilst I found it a bit too food-led on a weekend afternoon, I can imagine there are better times to catch it and would hope to return again someday. Date of visit - 30th September 2023

Very modern brewery taproom in a fine position atop the North Downs. The interlocking L-shaped bar and brewing areas sit under a shared room, and further seating can be found in a marquee to one side and a south-facing terrace with views. With five of the six handpumps in use, I found the regular Leverson Buck and Grisham Hopper plus Chalk Pit pale ale, Lord Mayor Porter and an excellent Estate chocolate vanilla stout (£5.00). Five more craft keg beers and a cider were also available from f taps on the bar-back.