Sambrook's Brewery Taproom, Wandsworth, SW18

At least there's now a brewery tap again in Youngs former Ram Brewery site, although that's just a small corner of reinstated heritage in what is now a huge housing development. Anyway, the high ceiling allows some tall brewing vessels to tower above the bar counter on one side and pizza kitchen on the other. Also has a number of tables under canvas outside in in the Bubbling Well Yard. Four real ales on handpump: Junction, Pumphouse Pale, Powerhouse Porter (£6.35) and Chiswick Railway Bitter.

First visit to the new Sambrook’s tap room and it certainly is a bigger, more professional set up than their former premises. I can appreciate that the industrial feel of the room with all its exposed brick and air conditioning and plumbing piping will not appeal to all but it does benefit from a fairly large benched external space that stretches out into the new Ram development. Looks like they have modified the bar since opening and there is now a bank of four hand pumps (as there was in the old tap room) and then two banks of five chrome taps for the Sambrook keg products and a couple of guests. On the ale front, Wandel, Pumphouse and Junction were on but I went for the Powerhouse Porter which was very nice indeed. Food comes in the form of Pizza’s but I cannot comment on these as we were only here for the beer.

Went when it first opened so it was quiet onmy afternoon visit.Well described below.Found it a bit industrial and quite ugly really.They had a couple of cask beers from the barrel behind the bar and about 6 keg beers.Tried a couple of keg beers but they were a bit dull..Lots of outside seating so pleasant to sit in the sunshine.

Having outgrown their old brewery site in nearby Battersea, Sambrooks moved their operations to this new site in part of the old Ram Brewery in the heart of Wandsworth, and opened a taproom in July 2021. In many ways, this is yet another industrial-style brewery bar, but the location inside one of the capital’s most iconic breweries makes it stand out from a crowded market. You enter via an archway that runs through to the excellently named Bubbling Well Square - a large, attractive courtyard with a decent amount of seating giving you a view of the various other former brewery buildings. A door here leads you into the concrete floored room which boasts a mix of painted, metal clad, and bare brick walls. The bar is on the front wall, to your left as you enter, and has a curved modern counter with a pewter top and a rather drab bar back that is towered over by the evocative old bare brick walls. Most of the seating is to the left of the bar in the form of high tables and stools, although a narrow space to one side of the room sees plush button backed banquettes with chairs run along the roadside wall, albeit in a rather nondescript part of the room that feels a little disconnected from the main bar area. A pizza oven and serving area stands opposite the bar and was putting out some very tempting aromas which a lot of punters had succumbed to. There’s one huge brewing vessel alongside the bar and two more at the far end of the room, but these felt like they were mainly there for decorative purposes, and the brewing operation is completely separate from the taproom. Stairs near the entrance lead up to a mezzanine level which has a few rows of tables and chairs overlooking the bar area below, and can be hired for private events. Music was playing at quite a loud volume and this combined with the echoey nature of the room, created quite a lot of noise, which helped give the place a lively feel, despite a modest mid-week turnout. Beer menus on each table suggested that four cask ales are normally available, but I could only see Sambrooks Junction on the bar, with the other handpulls left unclipped (Wandle, Pumphouse Pale and Tomahawk were the missing cask options). However, there are plenty of Sambrooks keg products to pick from, so I opted for a pint of the Night Light Porter (6%) which came in at a fairly steep £6.00. The bar staff seemed pretty dismissive and begrudgingly served me in between making a load of cocktails. I didn’t make it to Sambrook’s former taproom, but I would imagine this is a significant improvement, making good use of an attractive old brewery building to create a modern bar in a style that seems to be very popular. I’m not a massive Sambrooks fan, but there seemed to be enough of a selection here to suit most people’s tastes and I came away feeling this was a good addition to Wandsworth pub scene.