Brewdog Gatwick Airport, Crawley

Square bar area on the upper level of the North Terminal (airside), with hints of the usual look but less industrial than some. Mostly high tables but there are some standard-height ones around the periphery. I found 11 of their own beers, three guests and a couple of ciders being poured from a rank of 20 keg taps on the bar-back. After the usual dithering, I went for the Shore Leave amber ale that cost £7.55 (which was actually a bit less than I was expecting). So 'Beer with Altitude' as the neon sign would have it, but a useful addition to the options available while waiting for your flight. NB - Run by Select Service Partner as a franchised outlet.

Facebook page of Brewdog Gatwick Airport - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Brewdog Gatwick Airport - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Brewdog Gatwick Airport - www.facebook.com

This is a rather modest Brewdog outlet on the first floor restaurant level of Gatwick's North terminal. The bar is very much reminiscent, in terms of general layout and decor, of the Juniper and Co bar down on the ground level, in that it has an open frontage, rows of formal seating and lots of greenery in the form of flowers in Brewdog growlers on most tables and plenty of plants hung from a trellis that obscures the ceiling. Hard benches run down the right-hand side, whilst comfy banquettes and chairs can be found to the left and rows of high tables and stools fill the remaining space through the centre. The bar has the usual industrial styling, including a metal counter front with a polished stone top and the trademark, massive cinema style beer board above the keg taps on the bar back. The right-hand side of the room has another trellis type construction acting as partitioning from a neighbouring restaurant, and has been covered with framed posters and art prints, mostly with a Brewdog or Gatwick theme. A great soundtrack ranging from post punk to garage rock and The Beatles was playing quietly throughout my short time here, and I noticed that they have a more comprehensive menu than most Brewdog branches, presumably in an effort to compete with other eateries in this part of the airport. There were just the nine Brewdog beers listed, plus four guests, two ciders and an alcohol free option. I tried Brewdog Wingman, which was £6.95 for a pint and a check of the board confirmed this was the only pint available for under £7.00. As with all Brewdog bars, the service was excellent - I don't know how a company that gets so much bad press for how it treats its staff, still manages to deliver such good customer service. I hate the Wetherspoons in this terminal and don't have much good to say about the other bar here, so the opening of this Brewdog outlet is most welcome and I'm fairly sure it'll be my pub of choice for a pre-drink pint in the future. It's not really as strong as a typical high street Brewdog, but given its location, I think its a solid option to have.

A new Brewdog located airside on the first floor of Gatwick’s North Terminal. Open plan seating with high tables in the center and standard tables up the edges are faces by a bar counter on the rear wall the has the expected large menu board above where twenty craft beers are listed. These are dispensed from a line of fonts on the back bar, the same as any high street Brewdog. I had a couple of pints of Flight Squad Helles which was priced at £7.10 a pint, although a 17.5% service charge was added to the second, even though I ordered both from the bar. Is £7.10 a pint not enough? I’ve knocked two points off my rating for this very underhand tactic. Obviously food is available, the burgers are priced at £17 which seems about average for the airport. Food is ordered by scanning a QR code stuck to the tables, I got the feeling that the food and drink parts of the business are separate. The service was exceptionally slow. There was only one customer in front of me, but it still took over five minutes to be served by the two bar staff, one of whom was very friendly and the other couldn’t have been less interested to be there if he tried. This is a good addition to the bar scene in this terminal, but they need to get their act together.