Craft Beer Co, WC1

When I was in here the other day they seemed to be showcasing beers from the Salamander and Rooster breweries. We had the Rooster Mission Impossible; a decent enough ale at £3.95 a pint. They use the rarely seen lined glasses here, ensuring one gets a full pint. There are sixteen handpumps here, all of which were in use, one dishing out a cider, and the other fifteen real ales. Numerous keg fonts (30 or so perhaps) form a seemingly impenetrable cage along one section of the counter. There didn’t seem to be any beer lists on display, and while it was easy enough to scrutinise all the pumps and fonts when quiet before deciding what to order, I reckon it would be nigh on impossible to see everything that’s on offer when it gets really busy. As is the case with Craft Co outlets, food is from Forty Burgers, with the standard burger, including chips etc, weighing in at £9.70. The ground floor main bar has just tall tables and tall stools, and with the only piece of (admittedly rather nice) decor being an ancient Worthington Brewery mirror. There’s also a basement room, with more standard furnishings, although no natural light of course. This is where those who were eating moved to, and who can blame them? I could have done without the raucus rock music playing upstairs, but others must like it I suppose. I can see no reason to visit this pub other than for the excellent range of beers.

The same ,now familiar Craft Pub Co set up beer-wise,this one is more Bar than Pub but none the poorer for that,the upstairs was busy Saturday afternoon and all seating was taken,there was room in the downstairs lounge area but not really my cup of tea down there so I was happy with some vertical drinking at the bar for my stay.My Magic Rock Ringmaster was in good form.Handily placed for a Covent Garden pub crawl.