Craft Beer Co, Limehouse, E14

Facebook page of Craft Beer Co - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Craft Beer Co - www.facebook.com

Dating from the late 19th century, this was until 2016 the Railway Tavern, built for Charrington’s, their trademark leaded and banded stained-glass windows still in situ. There’s a boarded floor, then pale grey paintwork or bare brick, including two unused bare brick fireplaces, mixed simple furniture with plastic folders for beer menus on tables, a multitude of defunct brewers’ mirrors and hipster lighting, including Anglepoise lamps as sconces; one item of note was the retention of the pub’s original name as a lovely polychromatic mosaic to an entrance. Customers were very mixed, all probably living locally in this increasingly gentrified area. There are 21 taps catering for the keg brigade, otherwise the discerning cask drinker is offered three unused pumps, then just the CBC inhouse – and rather bland – Pale, then Liquid Light’s Ramble On and Great Northern Ale’s Northern Monk, served by a friendly barman and very nice, but at a painful £2.80 a half. This place is ok I suppose, especially given that there’s so little in the way of pubs around here, where at the start of the twentieth century, this postcode boasted more than 330 pubs that have now gone, but the place is a bit austere, expensive, with just the three ales not really enough to justify a trip; if I lived locally, I’d venture further afield, agreeing with Moby in that this place isn’t the chain’s best effort and he had a choice of six ales as opposed to my three.

Visited here on Sunday afternoon while staying in London for a few days. Six hand pulls at the bar and many keg taps including craft beers and Lilley's ciders. The exterior is tiled and the interior consists of a mix of bare brick, painted brick and painted wood. Bare boards downstairs, a dark bar, brewery mirrors on the walls, and the windows are attractive old wooden things with some feature coloured glass. A lounge and "secret" roof terrace is signposted as being upstairs, though I did not investigate. In terms of COVID guidelines, you scan a QR code at the bar to register your visit but other than that it felt like a normal pub experience, ordering at the bar and finding your own seat, etc. I had a pint of Buxton Moor Top on cask, which slipped down very nicely, followed by a couple of keg options - Deviant & Dandy Malthazar (apparently the pub's house stout) and Old Street Brewery Vlad the IPAler (an absolutely superb 7.2% IPA). There were plenty more options to tempt me and I think it's fair to say there will be something for everyone here. A decent pub, and I really enjoyed my visit here.

Formerly the Railway Arms,this street corner pub retains very pleasing leaded window frames,but has been stripped out internally with an exposed brick fireplace (unused) on one side,a wooden floor throughout and modern and trendy low profile sofas,stools ,single seaters with formica topped small tables.With little decoration it can get noisy,but the jazz muzak didnt up the ante.There is still a mosaic Railway Tavern design by a non opening front door,which may hint at a multi room original layout.Two flatscreen will show BT sport events but will be off at other times thankfully. There is a calmer first floor lounge with some larger tables,and this leads to a charming enclosed beer terrace with old brewery metal signs on display .A real sun trap,but be aware that on comedy club nights a charge will be made to access the first floor. The star turn here is the beer selection.The six handpumps were drawing Holler Bro Peep,Extra Pale and West Coast IPA together with Hawkshead Session IPA,Siren Broken Dream Breakfast Stout (excellent) while the house Clerkenwell Pale was reversed.The 21 craft keg taps featured beer from Siren ,Hammerton,Mad Squirrel,Magic Rock,Weird Beard,Tiny Rebel,Wylam,some foreign brews and some sparkling cider.The food offering besides burgers was local street food style from a short menu. This is the place to sup real ale in Limehouse and I will most certainly return.

It was perhaps inevitable that the successful Craft Beer Co chain would eventually expand into craft beer loving East London, but what was less easy to predict, was that they would spring up in the comparative beer desert of Limehouse. The new bar is situated in the former Railway Tavern, directly outside Limehouse DLR station and thus easily reached from both the City and Canary Wharf. The pub has a fairly run-of-the-mill layout with a single ground floor room, bare boarded throughout and sporting an inoffensive pastel shaded colour scheme. The servery runs along the right hand part of the back wall and has a decent dark wood counter and simple bar back adorned with plenty of old pump clips. Unlike some of the chain's other bars, this place has a bit of the 'Antic' feel to it, with its crazy mishmash of tables and chairs, much of which looks like it has been kept in storage since the '70's or was rescued from a skip. Nice leaded windows run around two sides of the room and a bare brick wall over to the right was adorned with some fine old Bass and Charringtons mirrors, which help give that place more of a pub feel than some of the chain's city centre bars. A staircase behind the bar leads up to a first floor lounge and so-called 'secret' roof terrace, neither of which I managed to explore. Music was playing quietly in the background during my late night Wednesday visit, which saw the place pretty much empty, although I have since returned here on the night of a gig at the nearby Troxy and the place was so rammed with only two blokes behind the bar, that I gave up and went to the Grapes instead. There are six handpulls on the bar, three of which were out of action on my midweek visit, leaving a choice of Kent Pale and Cobnut and Harbour Cornish Bitter. I've never tried their house beer, so gave the Kent Pale a go at £4.35 a pint and thought it was a pretty tasty pint in good condition. When I returned on the busier gig night (also on a Wednesday coincidentally), all six handpulls were in action, so it seems they adjust the selection to suit demand - shame they couldn't do the same with the staffing though! The usual vast keg range (I think I counted twenty taps in all) is present and correct, along with beer menus on each table to help you find your way through the range. I've been a big fan of this chain since their beginnings as the Cask and Kitchen in Pimlico, but I'm starting to wonder if they're not losing their direction, as with each new opening, I'm generally finding myself less and less impressed. I thought this place had plus points in the general pubby feel it presents and its beer quality, but the sparse decor, random furnishings and hopeless service were all off-putting and left me with unfavourable impressions when seeing the pub at both busy and quiet times.

A nice Green tiled exterior,small downstairs room with a mix of exposed brick and Blue painted plaster on the walls, there is an upstairs lounge and roof terrace but I did not investigate these. Only provision for six cask ales but twenty craft keg taps, on cask were Thornbridge Lord Marples, Kent KGB and Pale,Wishbone Abyss and Dark Star Hylder Blonde. Its ok but not this chains best effort.