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Beer of the Week (w/e 15th March 2026) with Wittenden on the Pub Forum

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Submitted on Friday, 9^th January 2026
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Small Beer, Crouch End, N8

22 Tottenham Lane
N8
N8 8PT

Phone: 02083414471

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Served areas

Crouch End

Reviews of Small Beer (Average Rating: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

David Walton left this review about Small Beer

Visited 07/01/26. Visited previously 21/03/22.

There were four options on hand pump, the Almasty Best Bitter, the Snake Eyes pale ale from Two by Two, the Small Pale from the Kernel and the Stand & Deliver Dark Mild from Howling Hops so a score draw between London and Newcastle in terms of brewers! Keg options were the Martina session lager from Bohem, a fruit sour from Howling Hops, the Elderflower Lemonade sour from Goodness, the Table Beer from Kernel, the Santiago pale ale from Two Flints, the Hum pale ale from Beak, the Mooch pale ale from Two by Two, the NZ west coast pale ale at a lofty 10.5% abv from Two Flints, the NZ2025 IPA from the Kernel, the Lagerbier lager also from the Kernel and the Mooch coffee Milk Stout from Villages. The cider offering was the apple cider from Umbrella.

This is a shop fronted, bare boarded venue with the bar counter in the rear right-hand corner. Venue has bare brick walls with a drinking ledge down the right-hand side served by tall stools and regular tables down the left-hand side served by a wall fixed bench. Some tall tables down the middle with tall stools. No screens and a very rap-based soundtrack on my visit. Nice lighting and annoying music aside thought this was very decent venue well worth visiting. There is a pizza over in the rear left-hand corner and the proprietor was very generous handing out samples to tempt drinkers to try his wares!

On 9^th February 2026 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1340 recommendations about 1323 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Moby Duck left this review about Small Beer

A beer cafe style craft bar with four handpumps, the choices available on my visit were Almasty Best Bitter, Verdant Penpol and Two By Two Leap Frog Pale Ale along with Crafty Apple Rhubarb Cider on the fourth handle, this is backed up by twelve keg taps offering beers from A list craft producers. The interior of this shop conversion is made up of a wooden floor, bare brick walls and a high ceiling with the hard surfaces allowing some rather noisy acoustics. The Pizza menu was in full swing attracting young families on a Saturday afternoon as well as beer drinkers. Despite the downside of noise particularly from toddlers attached to the aforementioned families, something that may be remedied in part by a later visit, I found this bar to be quite enjoyable and certainly on a revisit list.

On 27^th October 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2291 recommendations about 2255 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about Small Beer

This is a small shop converted craft beer bar with a great cask ale policy, that makes it much more interesting than your typical keg-led craft beer joint. It's set in a rather basic bare boarded room with exposed brick walls and mid-height front windows, which means it's not like the goldfish bowl of many shop converted micro pubs. High tables and stools run down the right-hand side with a long banquette down the left, supported by metal frame chairs. The servery is in the rear right corner and has a metal mesh counter front which affords you a rare view of the pipes, bins and other such ephemera that hides behind your avearge bar counter. In addition to this, there's a stone top and simple bar back with an arched recess containing shelves for spirits and a long row of obligatory keg taps. A TV screen above the taps lists the keg and cask range plus a lone cider and two non alcoholic options, whilst blackboards to one side detail cocktails and shots. Opposite is a small open kitchen where pizzas are prepared until 1am on certain nights, making it an attractive late-night hangout for those wanting food without having to move on. Muted lighting makes this feel like a cool and cosy space, but I can equally imagine it's all a bit uninspiring in daylight hours. To be fair there was a lively crowd on a Thursday night, enhanced by a good 00's indie soundtrack, and the place felt like a proper boozer rather than a hobby pub or cliquey club.
The cask options on my arrival were Unbarred The Long Black (£6.00 a pint) Park Brewery Tazman, Almost Best Bitter and Two by Two Leapfrog. As if that wasn't enough, twelve craft keg beers from various hip and obscure breweries filled the keg lines, but my Long Black was excellent and I never thought twice about switching to keg.
I assumed this place would be a bottle shop with draught beer, but it was so much more than that, conforming to the classic micropub format in most respects and offering some great cask ale in a friendly environment that's easy to settle down in. There are a few pubs I have enjoyed in this part of town, but this would be the first that I'd return to.

Date of visit - 21st March 2024

On 15^th August 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3387 recommendations about 3387 pubs]

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