The Park Brewery, Norbiton, Kingston Upon Thames

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Tucked away in a small factory unit on the fringes of an industrial estate on the outskirts of Kingston, this is the brewery tap for the Park Brewery. The taproom is located on the first floor of the factory unit, essentially occupying the roof space, with the brewery presumably filling the ground floor area and a few benches available outside the front of the unit, where a bloke was cooking up some very tasty smelling food from a small gazebo. A metal staircase takes you up to the bar area - a bare boarded space with windows to the front, looking out across the neighbouring estate, the bar midway through the room, close to the entrance, and more brewing kit in the rear part of the room. The walls are whitewashed and there’s a high gabled ceiling with metal beams, poles, pipes and whatnot criss-crossing it. A drinking ledge with mid-height stools runs under the front windows, with various potted plants along its length, whilst tables and mis-matched chairs fill out the bulk of the space and a couple of canteen-style tables and benches stand opposite the bar. The servery has a squat, timber-fronted counter with a mini-fridge full of Park Brewery cans at one end and a cask on stillage behind. A second counter, to the rear right, had what looked like a food warming cabinet on it, albeit an empty one, plus American diner-style stools for punters to perch on. Some cool art was displayed on the walls, including a few nice photos, presumably taken in the eponymous Richmond Park, whilst over to the right, a large TV screen was showing muted tennis coverage, with brewery merch on display next to it, alongside a small pump clip collection. A hipster indie soundtrack was playing in the background, but there was only one other customer in attendance during the course of my visit.
On the bar, five of the seven keg taps were in action, dispensing a good selection of predominantly pale beers, whilst a lone cask ale - Park Saw Pit West Coast Pale (£4.50) - was available, with the cheery barmaid giving it a try before serving. The beer was in good nick, but a little too warm for my liking, although it was a very hot day, so perhaps this was understandable.
I quite liked this place, which felt like a proper brewery tap, rather than some sort of drinker’s concession within a brewery. The service was super friendly and the place had a bit of a micropub feel to it, despite the more industrial setting. It’s not in the most convenient location to add to a crawl around Kingston, but I’m sure I’ll make the effort to head back out this way again sometime soon.

On 6^th November 2022 - rating: 7
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