It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch, Bermondsey, SE16

Having observed the closing time of this pub on Sundays to be 9pm I turned up confidently at just past 8pm and was nonplussed to observe universally understood gestures from the staff inside an empty bar: "we're closed". I pointed at the closing time notice beside the door, and they relented and invited me in. It turns out they'd had a booking for the World Cup Final but no one turned up, so they closed early and did the cleaning. I sympathised, and they in turn sympathised with my effort to attend their bar, and we had a pleasant discussion about which beers I might like which ended quite quickly with mention of a De Molen Hel & Verdoemnis, a 9% imperial Russian stout (the name means hell and damnation, but it's actually very good, with a depth of flavour enhanced by the perceptible alcohol) £9.60/pint. The owner told me that the De Molen brewer had sold up on medical advice, but is thinking of coming back, as he's not dead yet, and is a little upset at his former brewery being closed. In the meantime, stocks of maturing beer had been bought up and some of them ended up here.

One of the many Bermondsey Beer Mile taproom, with the name clearly signalling this one's USP. A single row of craft keg taps on the bar-back, but there are 30 of these so there's plenty of choice of rare imported beers even if there are a few temporarily off. The typical strength is also high, as are the prices, and as I was thirsty I went for the weakest one: the 4.8% Rosy Times dry stout from Baxbier (£8.20). The bar and most of the tables are in a single arch (with some colourful illustrations on the ceiling and a small mezzanine), a kitchen area in part of the next door one and some wooden tables at the front. An interesting change.

As soon as I entered these two quarry stone tile floored arches, I had a sense that I'd been here before, but it took the barman to confirm that the place had previously been occupied by the Moor Brewery whilst their own arch was undergoing a refurbishment, for me to recognise it. The place has now been handed over to the current occupiers, who specialise in importing beer from the Netherlands, making this a fairly unique bar in the UK. The arches have been smartened up since my visit under Moor's residence, with the servery now running down the right-hand side of the right arch. The bar has a wood panelled counter front and a very long row of taps across the bar back with blackboards above listing all the options. The most striking feature is the massive and slightly crazy Uiltje (little owl) Brewery mural across the vaulted ceiling, which catches the eye on entry and distinguishes the place from the many similar venues nearby. The walls have been decorated with posters from the same brewery and the barman was wearing one of their t-shirts, so it seems like there's some sort of link between the bar and brewery. A few high tables and stools run down the left-hand side, with a regular table and chairs in the gap between the two arches and a few more high tables then appear in the left-hand arch, which also has a kitchen dishing out Dutch snacks. A newly built mezzanine space to the rear of the main arch, looked only partly furnished but will apparently be transformed into some sort of events space in the near future. The beer boards listed thirty Dutch beers on keg dispense, covering all the classic Dutch styles from breweries such as De Molen, Rott, La Trappe, Uiltje and many more. I tried the Jopen 4 Grannen Bok, which was as good a bok beer as I have had in many years, whilst my other half had a gingerbread beer from Uiltje, which she loved so much that she went and bought some more when were next visited Holland. The novelty of finding a brewery or bar in a railway arch has well and truly vanished, so this type of enterprise needs something to make itself stand out from the crowd. The 'Dutch beer' angle is one that works specifically for me but might be less appealing for others, so some may find it hard to see this as much more than a specialist venture or a meeting place for Dutch ex-pats, but I loved it personally and fully intend to return for my fix of all things NL. Date of visit - 3rd November 2024

Spread over two arches, it was extremely busy on my visit an offers something a little different on the beer front with thirty taps on the back wall behind the bar covering about eight Dutch breweries, my Uiltje Bird Of Prey was excellent stuff. I quite enjoyed it here.