7000 Jars of Beer, Kingston Town, Kingston Upon Thames

Side street bottle shop with a small and uninspiring seating area for on-trade consumption – you’d struggle to fit double figures in. Four keg offerings (WhatPub says real ale – there wasn’t), I plumped for a Cloudwater Midwinter. Always a bit hard to score these places as the on-trade is often very much a secondary option and with just the four keg offerings in basic surrounds this one is really only a should-do for the hardened beer enthusiast as opposed to hardened pub-goer.

Down a narrow alleyway in the centre of town, this is a decent little bottle shop/craft beer bar. Like most ventures of this nature, the premises comprises a simple single room layout, with a linoleum tile floor and large rows of shelves down either side wall, filled with an impressive number of bottles and cans, although perhaps not quite the 7,000 implied in the pub’s name. Despite this, there’s enough space between all the booze for some tables and chairs plus one high table with bar stools, providing sufficient seating on a quiet Thursday evening. The bar is to the rear and has a brick counter front with a metal top in front of the usual white tile bar back with all of the keg taps lined up along it, leaving some space to the side for shelves holding all the glassware. The room has been painted in a pleasant dark shade which sets it apart a little from the usual plain, uninspired bottle shop décor. Things get back on track with a vast collection of pump clips which have amassed over to one side of the bar, as well as a beer bottle display to the left of the bar back and a few posters for the nearby Park Brewery dotted around elsewhere. The place had a very laidback midweek vibe which was enhanced by a chilled reggae soundtrack which chugged away in the background. It's not all about the bottled beer here, as four draught keg beers are available at the bar. On this visit, they were from the likes of Ayinger and Up Front, although I ended up trying a pint of the Drop Project Crush, which was a very drinkable NEIPA. All of the stuff on the shelves is available to drink in as well as for takeout, although unusually, I don’t think a single customer came in for off sales whilst I was here. The barman seemed pretty friendly and spent the entire duration of my visit chatting away to one of the locals at the bar. These bottle shops generally leave me a bit cold, but I thought this was marginally better than your average example. I quite enjoyed my time here and wouldn’t have minded staying for another, had I not needed to leave for a gig. This place adds something a bit different to Kingston’s otherwise rather modest pub scene and whilst it’s far from a destination venue, it’s worth a look in passing if you fancy something a bit out of the ordinary.

A bottle shop when it first opened a couple of years or so back but now there are four changing keg taps set into the back wall. There are a few seats at communal long tables across the middle of the room. Shelves and fridges along one side wall contain a selection of interesting bottles and cans but all at a fair old price. The opposite wall has a selection of wines and spirits. I've passed by many times and have rarely seen anybody drinking inside although I've never looked post-work. I look in occasionally to see what's on sale but it doesn't appeal as somewhere to sit and drink.

Have looked in here a few times but they had a restricted licence but now you can drink without eating.Four keg beers from the local Park brewery on my visit but interesting and expensive bottles and cans in the fridge.Just a rectangular shop with a few tables and chairs.

Official site of 7000 Jars of Beer - www.7000jarsofbeer.co.uk

Official site of 7000 Jars of Beer - www.7000jarsofbeer.co.uk

Modern bottle shop with a drinking area of 3 bench-type tables. 4 keg craft beers on tap, plus a vast range of bottles and tins, covering local, national and international brands.