BrewDog Ealing, Ealing Broadway, W5

Pub SignMan left this review about BrewDog Ealing

This is a surprisingly smart Brewdog bar in a relatively new development in the centre of Ealing, offering more of a modern restaurant/bar feel than the usual industrial chic associated with this chain. You enter into a large, bare boarded room with a big, star pattern tiled space between the front door and the bar. The servery is on the rear wall, opposite the entrance, and has a heavy duty, timber fronted counter with the usual stone top and cinema-style beer board across the bar back, with a handsome row of keg taps lined up beneath it. There are a couple of high tables and stools to the left, but the vast majority of the seating is in a sizable space to the right, with high tables and stools through the centre, broken by an impressive firepit with lots of very dry looking plants hung from the extractor hood above, and banquettes to the rear and down the right-hand wall, where they've been formed into cosy looking booths. "Beer To Go" fridges have been positioned to the rear of the room, next to the chain's trademark neon pub sign. Walls have been painted in a neutral two-tone shades that looks smart rather than the bleak, industrial grey-scape I'd normally associate with Brewdog bars. A few TV screens were dotted around, but they all seemed to be off, with some classic indie tunes playing in background instead. There's a good amount of pavement seating outside, with views across the adjacent square, which could be a nice spot in warmer months.
I counted nineteen Brewdog beers on the board above the bar, with three guests, two ciders and two alcohol free options completing the line-up. Having recently enjoyed a pint of Brewdog Wingman in their Gatwick Airport branch, I picked the same again, although that was partly due to the fact that at £6.65 a pint, it was one of the cheapest beers available. The barman was friendly enough, but gave me the card machine with a "would you like to add a tip" question pre-loaded, which I thought was a bit of poor form. The Wingman was very nice and there was a big Saturday evening crowd in here, many of whom appeared to be eating, which I was a bit surprised about.
I feel like I'm pretty much done with Brewdog's standard, industrial- style template, so I've enjoyed visits to places like this, which break away from that mould and offer something more akin to a smart, contemporary craft beer bar of the sort you could take friends who don't really like pubs to. This is a good addition to Ealing's pub scene and would be well worth adding to any crawl around the local area.

On 30^th January 2024 - rating: 7
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