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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Barrel Project
The Barrel Project was one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting along the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Run by London Beer Factory, this is where they store their barrel-aged beers.
Set in the railway arches, it's a long, narrow space with plenty of barrels on display and with the bar on the right-hand side. The bar was absolutely packed. I was lucky to get a table when I saw some people leaving.
It's certainly an interesting place with an intriguing range of beers - London Beer Factory Factory Produce & Provenance: Pinot Noir, Produce & ProvenanceL Peaches & Nectarine, Produce & Provenance: Chardonnay, MFS - Rakau & Moutere, MFS - Kohatu, Skin Contact Chardonnay, Daydreamer & Jungle Trip, Wereweolf Creepster & Horrorshow & Howling Hops Tropical Deluxe, Hammerton Crunch, N7, Panama Creature & Tint.
I opted for the cider, which was Kentish Pip Highdriver. But I nearly fell backwards when I saw that it was £4.50 for a half. I'm fairly certain it wasn't barrel-aged!
Sitting down, I contemplated how something that is £6.75 for a pint could be £4.50 for a half and also how I was probably the oldest customer amongst about 100 youngsters. Somehow I'd always expected the Bermondsey Beer Mile to be frequented by middle aged people who enjoy trying different types of beer and breweries and moving along from one to the next. Whether it was or not at one time, based on my Saturday evening visit, it is now more of a trendy place for young Londonders to get stupidly drunk in one single place. Perhaps it is the breweries' fault, as charging obscene prices for halves hardly encourages the sampling of beers. This is purely and simply profiteering and leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.
On 14th November 2023
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Moby Duck left this review about The Barrel Project
A good sized venue with no less than 23 beers available along with a solitary Cider from Kentish Pip, the beers covered most styles with sours heavily featured, I chose Employee of the month, a milk stout from Pretty Decent and Barrel Project Reburried Cherry. Another arch to add to the list of revisits.
On 5th May 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Barrel Project
This is the London Beer Factory’s contribution to the Bermondsey Beer Mile, housed in a large railway arch that runs the entire width of the approach lines into London Bridge station. The arch has the usual concrete screed floor and metal cladding across the vaulted ceiling, but the walls have only been partly clad, leaving a degree of exposed brickwork visible, which makes the place feel a bit less clinical and sterile than a lot of the other taprooms along the mile. The bar is positioned midway down the right-hand wall and has a nice glazed tile counter front with the brewery name spelt in full across it, beneath a polished stone counter top and a lovely bare brick bar back complete with a central recessed arch surrounded by more glazed tiles and backed with mirrors. Huge boards either side of this arch list the extensive beer range, with the corresponding keg taps lined up beneath them and a TV screen to one side, which was not in use on this occasion. The entire left-hand side of the arch is lined with extensive racking which holds something in the region of 200 crusty looking old beer barrels, which are used to barrel-age a number of the beers available here. Tables and chairs run down this side of the room, replaced by some high stools around upturned barrels in the space opposite the bar. A few more barrels can be found to the right, screening off the area used for brewing, with the kit visible as you walk towards the rear of the arch, where some stairs lead up to a mezzanine seating area above the toilet block. A small kitchen can also be found, to the right in a space with map-themed wallpaper, next to the entrance, although I didn’t see any menus anywhere so I’m not sure what they were serving. A cool indie soundtrack played in the background and there was a good stream of customers coming and going throughout my visit, in sharp contrast to some of the mile’s other venues on a cold and wet Sunday afternoon.
There are no less than twenty-four keg lines on the bar here, serving eighteen LBF beers, five Barrel Project (barrel-aged) brews and one cider. I tried the LBF Voodoo Nitro Stout, which was £1.85 for a third (they don’t serve half pints), and was presented to me in a ridiculous ‘glass’ that was shaped a bit like a petri dish - nice beer though.
I liked this place and thought it was one of the few beer mile taprooms to actually have a bit of character. The extensive range of beers available means that every niche style of beer should be covered, which also makes the place viable for a longer session. If you’re doing the mile and want to just pick out the highlights, make sure you include this place on your itinerary.
On 12th March 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Barrel Project
Much bigger inside than it looks from the single-arch frontage, because it extends all the way through the multi-tracked entrance arches on the approach to London Bridge station. That said, the area between the bar and the barrels stacked up the side wall is very narrow, but further seating is available on the mezzanine at the far end. Two chalk-boards list the 11 barrel-aged beers, plus another 12 from the main London Beer Factory brewery, in a huge range of styles. I ended up with the oaky Motueka Kaupeka dry-hopped mixed fermentation saison (£6.40 for a schooner, but a remarkably different beer so OK for a one-off special). Certainly worth a visit if doing the Bermondsey Beer Mile.
On 12th August 2020
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Barrel Project
One of many similar establishments forming part of the famous Bermondsey Beer Mile, like many of the others this is located in the arches under the railway track, and is of course a brewery tap rather than a pub, and this is reflected in the somewhat industrial style décor, if one could go so far as calling it that.
The flooring was some type of concrete screed, whilst the usual white corrugated iron of these establishments was cladding the ceiling in order to channel the continually dripping water from the tunnel roof away from the punters underneath. Here though the walls had been left as exposed brickwork which added a little more atmosphere and although the majority of the lighting was industrial style fittings and fluorescent tubes, in a nod to on-trend pub design there were also a few exposed filament style bulbs hung above the bar. The bar counter itself was quite attractive, with green glazed tiling across the front and a “London Beer Factory” motif emblazoned on inlaid white tiles. A few leather clad bar stools were arranged in front of the counter, but the majority of the seating was basic tables and chairs. The main feature of note though was racks and racks of barrels stacked from floor to ceiling and covering the entire left hand wall, all marked with the date of filling. A few more vertical barrels were dotted around, although whether these were overflow storage or just for resting your pint on, I’m not sure.
Beer choice was entirely keg rather than cask, dispensed from a row of taps on the wall behind the bar with the current choice chalked up on a couple of large boards above, as well as the style, ABV, etc. They were almost entirely their own, although a couple did appear to be collaborations with others brewers such as Piggy and Brew Dog. On our visit the selection consisted of Boulder, Shallow Waters, Sour Solstice, Big Milk, Gâteaublaster, The Brux of It, Pointless Innocence, Acorn Dreams, Simple Complication, Cheek to Cheek, Biere de Courage, Pumba, Tip Top, Acidulicious, Dance Juice and Hazel Daze, as well as a couple of lagers. The only guest beer was Hammerton’s Chicha and the solitary cider Hawkes Soul Trader. I was tempted by the Gâteaublaster which was described as an Imperial coffee, cherry and chocolate stout, but at 11% and £12 a pint, I decided to give this a miss as I still had another dozen or so pubs to visit.
On 5th February 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]