ReviewAnother London brewery and bar located in a railway arch, this place is just a short distance from the main Brixton Road but a little tricky to spot if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. The bar is a simple, concrete floored area with corrugated iron cladding covering the brick arch, but the place stands out from similar venues thanks to an unusual split level set-up. The bar is at the far end of the ground floor area, with the taps all on the back wall and a very helpful and well laid-out board above which lists all the various draught options. Seating is limited to a couple of high tables and stools in the middle of the room, a drinking ledge and some banquette seating in the front right corner. Elsewhere, the room is packed with fridges and shelves full of craft bottle and cans, whilst a shelving unit next to the bar displayed a selection of home brew equipment. Stairs near to the entrance lead up to a first floor seating area, but I was unable to explore on this occasion, as the brewers were hosting a tutored tasting event. Pop music played very quietly in the background and there were a few customers in on my visit, although it was so unbelievably cold in the arch that I could only manage to stay for the one pint.
There are 14 keg taps which offer roughly a 50-50 split between guest beers and those from the London Beer Lab brewery, with six of the latter described as experimental, limited-edition brews. Most of their own beers were priced at £4.00 a pint, which only increased for those that were 6% abv or higher. I tried a pint of their Lapsang Porter which was a little flat and far too cold on such a chilly evening, but tasted great nonetheless. All of the goodies on the shelves and in the fridges are available to take home or drink inside and tasting flights of five beers were available for £6.00 with the tasters presented in miniature lab flasks. The staff seemed pretty friendly and were happy to chat beer and brewing to anyone interested and I spotted a range of London Beer Lab merchandise available for sale should you need additional clothing to warm up.
I quite liked this place and thought there was a lot here to draw you back for repeat visits. It's a shame that the place suffers from the usual issues afflicting these railway arch bars, insomuch as they are cramped, cold and uncomfortable - perhaps the upstairs area resolves that problem. I'll definitely be back here to try out a few more of their reasonably priced beers as this is a good addition to the local scene for craft beer fans.
