The BeerCast

London’s Borough Market has long been a popular attraction for food-loving locals and tourists alike, with plenty of stalls offering choice items from around the world. It can also be a worthy destination for the beer lover, with three fantastic – and very different – drinking experiences within thirty seconds of each other. Inside the market itself is another - Utobeer (pictured above), a beer stall with an outstanding selection of bottled beers – including a regular selection of rare US craft brews. For example, I picked up a bottle of Stone’s fantastic Supremely Self-Righteous Ale (8.7%) – not cheap at £8.20 for 22oz, but absolutely worth it.

Anyway, to begin this mini pub crawl, stand where this photo was taken from – and instead of looking into Utobeer, turn right and the Market Porter will be right in front of you.

Market Porter 9 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AA
Open: 6am-8:30am, 11am-11pm (Mon-Fri); 12pm-11pm (Sat);
12pm-10:30pm (Sun)
Link: Official Website

The first thing that strikes you about the Market Porter is that it looks like a proper pub. Green wooden frontage, colourful hanging baskets, a crowd of drinkers spilled out onto the pavement. There must have been about fifty people outside, getting a quick lunchtime drink in the sun. Inside, every conceivable space on the wall and ceiling is adorned with old pump clips, and the bar serves around ten cask ales. They always have at least one beer on from Harvey’s (when I was there it was their 4.0% flagship Sussex Best). The pub is named after the workers from the wholesale market (which opens from 2am to 8am every weekday), and to cater for the end of their shifts it opens in the early morning – 6am to 9am (last orders at 8:30am).

Beer choice – when I was there I wanted something summery and that I had never heard of before, ending up with a Summer Sizzler (4.2%) from the Coach House Brewery in Warrington, Cheshire. It had a dark gold colour with a thin head, but unfortunately for me was too thick and sweet, with an aftertaste of honey that rode over the session strength to make it pretty unappealing.

The Brew Wharf 14-16 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD
Open: 11:30am-11pm (Mon-Sat)
Link: Official Website

A short stroll along Stoney Street brings you to the entrance of Brew Wharf, with the iron sign spanning the entrance, set back from the street. As the name suggests, it’s a functioning micro-brewery – but one with an emphasis on food rather than just beer. As a result, it’s probably not for the cask lovers – but they have an incredible range of beers from all over the world. When I was there, on tap were such delights as Straffe Hendrik’s Brugse zot Blonde (6.0%), Meantime Pale Ale (4.7%), and De Koninck (5.0%). The range of bottles was even better, with Mikkeller GIPA (6.6%), Kernel IPA C.S.C (7.1%), Founders Centennial IPA (7.2%), and Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale (6.4%). Admittedly, Brew Wharf isn’t cheap – the latter will set you back £7.50, and a pint of Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted is £4.50 – but there’s a great choice of beer there, and they brew their own after all.

Beer choice – as tempting as those beers above were, I had to go for something produced on site. The day before I’d visited the Kernel Brewery (stay tuned for a Kernel BeerCast special as a future podcast), and Evin had recommended Brew Wharf’s Military Intelligence Black IPA (6.8%). I’m glad he did, it was outstanding – an aroma of sweet malt with a trace of hops, totally black pour with a thin coating of bubbles on top. The taste was some hop and then all roasty malt – it doesn’t taste 6.8% at all, until halfway down when the punch hits. Very drinkable stuff – I had no idea the name was a pun (even though Evin hinted at it) – military intelligence, otherwise known as Black Ops. Black hops. It’s easy when you know…

The Rake 14a Winchester Walk, London SE1 9AG
Open: 12pm-11pm (Tue-Fri), 9am-11pm (Sat), 12pm-10:30pm (Sun)
Link: Utobeer (who own The Rake)

If you leave Brew Wharf and turn left, a few seconds meander will put you at the junction of Winchester Walk (where Brew Wharf morphs into Vinopolis). A small blueish building on the right is one of the smallest pubs in London – the Rake. This tiny room (I judged it to be about 15ft x 10ft) has a small bar at the back, with a couple of large fridges, and a patio outside underneath a jumbrella – which pretty much doubles the size of the establishment. The staff are really friendly, and the right-hand wall is emblazoned with signatures of the many brewers who have stopped by over the years. Being owned by the same people as Utobeer certainly means a fair number of beers (around 120) find their way into the fridges, with a decent selection on tap as well. I can imagine the Rake would get incredibly busy (i.e. if there were more than ten people there), but a trip to Borough Market isn’t complete without trying to squeeze in.

Beer choice – I’d been to Utobeer earlier and had bought a bottle of the BrewDog/Mikkeller collaboration I Hardcore You (9.5%), being the first time I’d seen it on sale. As it happened, the second time was when I entered the Rake and found it on tap – so had to order one (I’ve kept the bottle for a rainy day). A blend of Brewdog’s Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller’s I Beat You, and at £2.60 for a half – it was too much to pass up. Outside under the jumbrella, thick, dark amber with no head to speak of. There’s a massive hop aroma, and a dark, sweet hop flavour with a resinous bitterness. Rich, punchy mouthfeel and that US craft-esque long piney aftertaste, I Hardcore You is outstanding. It reminded me a little of Stone’s Ruination IPA - and you can see how highly we think of that from our BeerCast rankings. A great way to finish London’s shortest pub crawl.

On a recent trip to London I needed to seek refuge from a crowded and extremely wet Covent Garden, when I managed to scurry to nearby Maiden Lane and into the Porterhouse - billed as Ireland’s largest ‘genuine Irish’ brewery (who can they be getting at there?). From the outside it looks like part of Aintree has been erected to keep the punters out, but once you get over the fences the inside is enormous - many levels, several bars, and all kinds of different historic beer bottles in wall-mounted cabinets.

Porterhouse are a chain, having been founded in Bray, County Wicklow in 1989. Four more have since opened, three in and around Dublin, and the one I scuttled into in London, which has been there since 2000. To me, it looked like an American-style brewpub (which may or may not be their intention), with long tapped bars and chrome and tile fittings, everyone there was very friendly. My visit coincided with their seventh annual Irish Beer Festival, which meant there were things on offer from other producers, as well as their own hefty range. I had a couple and then left, definitely to return at some point in the future. Although they serve their beers nitro’d under pressure (so are not classified as real cask ale), they are more than worth a visit.

Porterhouse Red (4.4%) Porterhouse Brewing Company, Dublin
Leaving aside stout for a moment, red ales are a classic Irish style produced by many breweries, the roasted barley giving a distinctive deep colour. Porterhouse’s ‘house red’ is served with a creamy head which takes some getting through, but the sweet caramel flavours come out eventually once the beer warms. As it does so, more bitterness becomes apparent as well - it’s pretty good, and was a favourite of legendary beer writer Michael Jackson, who remarked “It makes Caffrey’s taste like Tizer”

Galway Hooker Dunkelweiss (4.8%) Galway Hooker, Galway
As the festival was on, for my second I sampled a guest from the Galway Hooker brewery. I would have tried their Pale Ale - apparently modelled on the peerless Sierra Nevada - but alas it wasn’t on yet, so I went for their Dunkel Weissbier instead. It poured with a large head, but one that dissipated very quickly. It was very roasty on the palate, but not thick or chewy, with a nice touch of fruit at the beginning. Malt takes over in the aftertaste, and rounds off the flavour, which is extremely refreshing indeed.

Porterhouse Brewing Co
Galway Hooker Official Website

After the refinement of classical Bruges (or Brugge as it’s referred to when you’re there), we travelled the short distance inland to Brussels. There are even more beer opportunities here, as befits a major European city with a pretty rich history. We visited the Cantillon Brewery (see previous post), and also several bars and cafés – the most notable (and famous) being the Delirium Café, hidden in a backstreet to the north of the Grand Place. The street address is Impasse de la Fidélité 4, but it took some wandering along alleys populated with tourist restaurants before we found it, even with the street name.

There are three floors to Delirium, the top one is non-smoking, and this followed the pattern of every other non-smoking area we saw in Brussels – in that it was almost totally deserted. Coming from the UK, it was a shock to the system to be surrounded by smokers again – of course we’d forgotten how much it affects those of us that don’t – so we started up the top, joined only by a couple of middle-aged American men clearly on a beer holiday. As the place was so empty, the barman was chatting to them and helping them choose, then bringing each drink to their table – no wonder they were enjoying themselves. He even let them go behind the bar and pose for photos. In their honour I had the only non-Belgian drink to pass my lips during the holiday – a Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA (7.1%), which was predictably hoppy and alcoholic, and very nice.

But we’re here to talk about Belgian beers after all, and as there was a complete lack of atmosphere upstairs, we descended into the bottom-most bar. Things were much better here, we got a seat at the back in the raised area and picked from the ’select beer menu’ that was on the tables. Delirium is renowned for it’s enormous range – they were in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most beers on sale in the world (I think it was over 2000 in all). Those larger menus were at the bar, and as the table versions had about a hundred Belgian ales on them, that was more than enough choice!

La Guillotine (9.0%)
Brouwerij Huyghe, Melle

We’ve featured Delirium Tremens on the BeerCast before, and surprisingly it didn’t do that well. I attribute this to the early days of our beer journey when we reviewed it – as it’s become one of my (and my girlfriend’s) favourites. I’d never tried La Guillotine before – which is essentially a stronger version, so gave it a go at Delirium. It pours a dark golden amber colour, and gives off deep alcohol aromas. The taste is wonderful, it really is a darker, punchier, DT. It really doesn’t taste 9% either, so could be very dangerous. Aside from the Van Steenberge Tripel de Garre I’d had in Bruges, this was one of the beers of the trip for me.

Queue de Charrue Brune (5.6%)
Brasserie Vanuxeem, Ploegsteert

La Guillotine was a tough act to follow, so I figured a change of tack was the best way to go. Sour Flemish ales are an acquired taste – possibly the hardest to acquire in the beer world (you need only look to the bottom of our beer rankings). Having not had much experience with the style – and certainly none that were pleasant, I nonetheless went for one to counteract the rich grassy fruit of the last beer. Picking a total random beer I’d never heard of (always one of my favourite things to do) landed me Brasserie Vanuxeen’s Queue de Charrue Brune, from Ploegsteert. The bottle looked old and battered, but the beer was actually pretty good. Crucially for me there was just a touch of sweetness that counteracted the more acrid flavours from the tart yeasts. It was in no way as bitter as something like Rodenbach Grand Cru, although still being quite puckering. It made an impression on me, that not all sour Flemish reds are the same, and was actually pretty refreshing.

Bobeline Blonde (8.5%)
Brouwerij Huyghe, Melle

Keen to try as many types and styles as possible in what was sadly a limited time in both Delirium and Belgium, next I went on to a blonde ale. I’d tried one before – the really rather good Bruges Zot Blonde, in the city of the same name – so went for another from the minor menu in the café. Bobeline Blonde packs a punch at 8.5% (the small menus in Delirium don’t have abv contents listed), and comes in a nice-looking artistic bottle. I found out later it’s actually produced by our old friends Brouwerij Huyghe, so I actually had two rarer ‘house beers’ in the Delirium Café. Bobeline was very sweet and rich, with a peachy taste. It poured a hazy golden colour, with a dense pillowing head. It kind of reminded me of champagne, with that carbonated sweet/dry palate and fruity tinge (although the tinges were more ripe stone fruits than tart green ones). Again, it didn’t taste anywhere near it’s weighty abv. These Belgian brewers know how to craft a good beer, of that there is no doubt.

Delirium Cafe website

I realised very quickly just how good Belgium is for beer drinkers – every restaurant or bar has a local selection that really cry out to be sampled. Most of them have a decent selection on draught, many are even house specials or are renowned for one particular type or style of beer. One place such as this is Staminee de Gare in Bruges, tucked away down a narrow passageway between the two focal points of the city - the Markt and Burg squares. In researching the drinking options beforehand, the house tripel here - Tripel De Garre had been mentioned numerous times. I’ll say right now that every single one of these people who mentioned it were absolutely right – it was the nicest beer I tried the whole time I was in Belgium.

Brewed by the Brouwerij Van Steenberge in Ertevelde the menu leaves you under no illusions as to the strength of the Tripel – at 11.5% it warns that they will only serve a maximum of three per customer (although I have since read that if you sweet-talk the barman he’ll let this slide, as long as he ‘keeps an eye on you’). As I was sampling at midday on an empty stomach I left it at the one, but the large chunky glass arrives on a doily-draped tray with a small dish of cubed cheese (kaas, in the Flemish). This turned out to be so good, we ordered a cheese platter to accompany – and compliment – the beer (my girlfriend having ordered a Huyghe La Guillotine on my recommendation, before I realised it was 9%). Anyway, it made for a pleasant lunch.

Tripel de Garre is poured from a wooden barrel on the bar, and so comes with a colossal pillowy head, at least a couple of inches. The aromas are amazing – alcohol esters, rich citrus, wheat beer notes, some mild spices from the hops. The mouthfeel is as good as I’ve ever got from a beer, strong warming alcohol mixed with the sharper hops and mellow sweetness. This mellowness continues into the aftertaste, where the strong witbier flavours come to the fore along with some flowers, and then finally the punch of the 11.5% alcohol, which remarkably is never overpowering. It was astonishing, I was genuinely amazed. Truly one of the nicest beers I’ve ever had the pleasure of sampling – and quite simply a must if you find yourself in Bruges.

Cambrinus is only a stone’s throw from Bruge’s famous Markt – the square around which all touristy things seem to revolve. The old bell tower, bike tours, restaurants and friteries all vie for the attention of visitors – but a short stroll away down Philipstockstraat is a tremendous distraction – Beerbrasserie Cambrinus. The old wood effect frontage gives way to a modern-looking bar bistro with brass fittings and a large bar, well-stocked fridges behind. The night we were there a large contingent of drunken Spaniards were belting out songs in what seemed like an opportunistic session – supported by guitars, bongo drums and – of all things – a kazoo player. But they added to the atmosphere rather than detracted from it, and we managed to get a table in the window and (most importantly) one of the hefty wooden-backed beer menus.

And what a menu – I don’t know exactly how many beers it contained, but there were hundreds I’d never heard of. Unlike the famed Delirium Café in Brussels they were all Belgian; all local. I’m certainly in favour (in theory) of a place like Delirium with over 2000 beers, but would much rather have a few hundred that I could only find in the country I was in (and that’s actually what we drank in Delirium too, as it happened – but stay tuned for that post later). The Cambrinus menu was arranged by style – Trappists, Wheat Beers, Fruit Beers, Darks, Blondes etc. There was even a small section of bespoke Belgian lagers. However, the largest section was ‘speciality’ beers – so given only a limited time, it was there I invested my energy.

Bink Bruin (5.5%)
Brouwerij Kerkom, Sint Truiden

I started off with a brown ale – one of Belgium’s most classic styles. Being from Northern Britain I’ve something of an affinity with foamy brown beers, although of course the Northern Belgians do them slightly differently (as with everything else). A totally random selection, Bink Bruin hails from the Brouwerij Kerkom in Sint Truiden, roughly forty miles east of Brussels. It poured a very dark chocolate brown colour, with a rapidly disappearing head. I was expecting something sour, but Bink was dark roasty malt with a portery taste. It wasn’t too strong or bitter, similar to UK porters, and shared that bittersweet malty aroma. There was a hint of caramel about it too, that stayed within acceptable limits (for my palate). It was very drinkable, certainly - a session Belgian ale, maybe?

Adelardus Dubbel (7.0%)
Brouwerij Kerkom, Sint Truiden

The second was also from the Kerkom Brewery, and I selected this one because of the added ingredient listed on the menu – Gruut. Adelardus is Kerkom’s Abbey-style Dubbel, and was named after one of the Abbots from Sint Truiden’s monastery – indeed the label features a portly monk spilling a frothing chalice of beer, so it may be the man himself. Gruut was what the old-time Belgian brewers flavoured their beers with before the use of hops became prevalent, and consisted of a mixture of about a dozen herbs and spices. As you can imagine, the ratios differed from producer to producer, but the Gruut traders became very rich importing and trading these specialist ingredients. Adelardus is tremendous – very balanced, and leads to a slight spicy, peppery bitterness that cuts through the sweet alcohol flavours really well. The Gruut (also known as Sweet Gale) makes this one really stand out.

t’Smisje+ Dubbel IPA (10.0%)
Brouwerij de Regenboog, Oudenaarde

In true BeerCast fashion I decided to end on a strong note, with a 10% Belgian double IPA. I’d only had three beers in Cambrinus, but it was 12:30am at this point and I’d already had a fair few that day (more to come on that note), so decided to go out with a bang. One of the more bizarre beer names I’ve come across, initially I thought it was simply Smisje IPA (as that’s what it seems to say on the bottle) – but the full title is t’Smisje+ Dubbel IPA (I don’t know if the plus sign is silent or not), and the label has a cartoon dog cramming hops into a bottle using a funnel. This and the abv should have given me some clue – and indeed so it proved. Paying homage to American Double IPA’s, this tasted like something BrewDog would come up with – massive, biting hops followed the violently hoppy, almost blue cheese aromas. This thing is a t’hop monster+, it’s actually spicier than the beer with Gruut added, so many hops having been pounded into the bottle (there are four different kinds added). Near the end I experimented and added the sediment to the glass, whereupon it went dark brown and became totally undrinkable. It’s a shame – at 10% it would be alright, just without the trampling hops (I have no idea what the IBU’s would be). It just doesn’t seem crafted to me, there’s no subtlety or balance about it, unlike other double IPA’s I’ve sampled. Although, it’s one hell of a way to end a night’s drinking, that’s for sure.

BierBrasserie Cambrinus