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Cambridge PuG Crawl, Friday 5th April 2024 with Mobyduck on the Pub Forum

BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush, Shepherds Bush, W12

Pub added by elizabeth mcgraw
15-19 Goldhawk Road
W12
W12 8QQ

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush

Ugly looking building (albeit larger inside than it would appear from the front), with the usual sort of industrial-look bar featuring a L-shaped layout, window booths along the frontage and the shorter side, and a row of arcade games at the back. Also has the expected very diverse selection of 28 craft beers of their own (two alcohol free), ten guests and a couple of ciders from the row of 40 taps on the bar-back. Opted for the 6.5% 'staff selection' Puppet Master' IPA (£6.55, schooner) in the end, mostly on the dubious basis that the name was an ironic reference to James Watt. I was going to leave it at that, but the puppet master did then make me look at the (very) mini real ale festival (with a few casks on a stillage put on to annoy Camra and its nearby Great British Beer Festival at Olympia), featuring six beers including its own new Shore Leave (£2.65, half).

On 2nd August 2023 - rating: 6
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Graham Coombs left this review about BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush

A slightly downmarket Brewdog with a student feel, in the usual industrial style. The bar looks a bit like a kitchen counter but fronts an impressive wall of 40 or so keg taps serving a number of guest brews alongside their own range, although all seemed to be IPAs of some sort apart from one stout. There are a couple of small seating areas to the rear, along with a bank of pinball machines and a couple of video games, with a pile of board games to one side. Just missing a nice cask ale.

On 30th October 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3322 recommendations about 3259 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Danny O'Revey left this review about BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush

Actually a good BrewDog, trendy inside, with a theme of gaming machines. Cask Punk is back

On 1st July 2019 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about BrewDog

Shepherd's Bush seems like a fairly obvious location for a Brewdog bar and this place has a great setting, just off the Common and close to the Empire. It's probably the largest Brewdog bar I've been to, with a sizeable seating area to the front and down the left hand side, and the servery along the rear wall. The bar has a corrugated counter with a black metal top, whilst the bar back is dominated by huge backlit cinema-style boards which list the vast range of beers available (plus the usual confusing, potentially misleading pricing structure). A mix of bench and high stool seating fills most of the front part of the pub, under the large windows and alongside the wooden plank walls with graffiti art that run down the sides of the room. Usual quirky Brewdog style art adorns the right hand wall, including a 'Meet the Team' caricature feature and a Space Invaders themed merchandise display. The room extends past the bar to the rear left where you'll find some brilliant retro slot machines and two pinball tables. Some more standard tables and chairs can be found back here in a space with bare brick walls and small lights suspended from metal pipes. The room swings round to the left into a further seating area which is screened from the rest of the pub, making it comparatively peaceful. The stairs leading down to the toilets are lined with posters for various beer styles and a rather excellent hand-drawn periodic table of beer.
The beer range here cannot be inferred from the plain keg fonts, but looks spectacular when viewed on the aforementioned backlit boards. I counted 38 beers available on this visit in total, including 14 from Brewdog such as Punk IPA, Dead Pony Club, This is Lager, Hardcore IPA and Brixton Porter at £4.95 for a pint. The guests were all from small batch brewers, providing a good mix of familiar craft brewing names and obscure beer geek favourites. I tried a very good pint of Buxton Jaw Gate and a pleasant enough half of the Brewdog Brixton Porter, both served by members of the very friendly and helpful bar staff team.
I've been critical of Brewdog bars in the past for their drab interiors and clinical approach to pub presentation and beer dispense, but I felt this place was a much more positive set-up, from the friendly staff to the dizzying beer range. I appreciate that the lack of cask conditioned beers will continue to alienate a lot of potential customers, but against all expectations, I would probably make this my first port of call when drinking in Shepherd's Bush.

On 10th January 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


paulof horsham left this review about BrewDog

With no less than 40 lines, this must be considered Brewdog's flagship and I have to say, of the 3 Brewdog bars I've tried, this is the best. That will be down to the choice, of course (there really ought to be something for you amongst all that lot), but also the staff who are knowledgeable, friendly and helpful in my experience.

The major failing of this and, indeed, any Brewdog bar, is the shortage of beers at a sessionable strength - only Dead Pony Club came in at under 5.5% if I recall correctly, so this is not the place to quench a thirst, or knock back a few quick pints. That's if a pint is available, since this bar does pursue the bewildering combination of serving size / ABV / price which the brewery is known for. My strategy is to decide on a rough strength of beer that you can face, consider the style you might like, then see if there's anything in the approximate price range: note that they will sell you a half if the beer's priced at 2/3 of a pint, but they won't sell you a pint.

I think I'd recommend this venue as somewhere to pursue a beer education - you could compare single-hop 'IPA is dead' efforts (there were two examples on my visit) or various attempts at Belgian styles from a variety of brewers from home and abroad.

Finally, I was particularly well-disposed towards this bar by the low number of beards on show and the total absence (so far as I could tell) of folk wearing a hat indoors - Shepherds Bush seems a bit too off-piste for hipsters, for which we should all be grateful.

On 1st June 2014 - rating: 8
[User has posted 449 recommendations about 421 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john gray left this review about BrewDog

Now Brewdog. Surprisingly large bar as I thought the previous pub was small. Industrial style interior but it works for me.Forty keg fonts with the beer served in halves,two thirds and pints. About 20 Brewdog beers and the rest guests. My Arbor beer was perfect temperature and low carbonation and was well worth the £4.25 for 2/3 rds.Very busy with the QPR supporters before the match but sadly only plastic glasses on matchdays.

On 4th December 2013 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john gray left this review about The Melrose

Not much has changed other than the name Vesbar then the Vandellas now the Melrose but still owned by Fullers.Scruffy untidy laid out tables and chairs.No real ale but Hoegaarden and Honeydew at reasonable prices.

On 8th June 2013 - rating: 5
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Philip Carter left this review about Vesbar

Not trying for an artistic shot, photo taken through the window of O'Neills opposite. Anyway, back to the pub. I think this is what is called a gastro pub, didn't see any real ale on sale, though being a Fullers pub, there must have been some. Memo to self, get eyes tested. Serves food all day. There is a bench outside, not sure if this is a patio or just a bench for everyone. Majority of the tables have a metal top, so may feel cold on your arms if you lean on them.

On 8th January 2009 - rating: 6
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]