Brixton Brewery

Six Berkshire based beer enthusiasts headed to London on Saturday 16 January with the intention of visiting Craft Beer Co in Brixton, Bullfinch Brewery taproom and Mondo Brewing Co taproom.

We arrived at Brixton tube station at noon and paid our tributes at the David Bowie mural on Tunstall Road, opposite. We did not visit 40 Stansfield Road, his childhood home, on this occasion.

After crossing Brixton Road again we walked under the railway bridge and turned right into Brixton Station Road. We found that the Brixton Craft Beer Co branch was closed.

Richard suggested we visit Brixton Brewery instead so we walked past Brixton Recreation Centre and along Brixton Station Road with its Jamaica Patty stalls and grocers with all kinds of fruit and vegetables on display.

We soon arrived at Brixton Brewery which is located in a railway arch (number 547) and pushed through the transparent plastic curtain flaps to enter.

The taproom had just reopened after a winter break and we had a choice of benches and tables to sit at. After perusing the list of beers we chose half pints from the list which included Reliance Pale Ale, Atlantic APA, Effra Ale and Megawatt Double IPA.

On our visit, beers were priced at £2 for 1/2 pint and £4 for a pint. Most beers were served from keykegs with a cask option for Megawatt.

Now we could sit down and enjoy our first taste of beers brewed only a few feet away. My first half was a refreshing Reliance Pale Ale (4.2% ABV) named after the nearby Reliance Arcade.

The taproom area at the brewery is quite basic with a concrete floor. White panels against the walls and underside of the arch make the environment quite bright.

The taproom area near to the entrance had a variety of basket style lampshades and colourful pendant flags to add some style to the utilitarian surroundings.

Different colourways of the Brixton lettering are used to distinguish the beers making the labels colourful.

My second half was Atlantic APA (5.4% ABV) an American Pale Ale brewed with Citra, Galaxy and Simcoe hops to give some tropical fruit flavours. Brixton Market started on Atlantic Road in the 1870s and lends its name for this beer.

While we were drinking we noticed that brewing activity was going on with some dry hopping by Sam from the top of a gantry.

When he had finished this job, Sam came over to talk to us and kindly offered me a sample of the Megawatt Double IPA (8% ABV). This was originally brewed to commemorate the first hundredth brew. It is now an annual release in December. The 2015 release uses Galaxy, Centennial, Equinox and Falconer's Flight hops. We learned from Sam that most of the brewery's beer is bottled but that cask and keg sales are increasing as word spreads about the quality of their beer.

Before leaving I purchased two bottles to take away - Lupolo Pale Ale (4.5% ABV) and Electric IPA (6.5% ABV) .These are keenly priced at £2.50 each (330ml). Lupolo Pale Ale is produced exclusively for DF/Mexico and Wahaca Brixton. Electric IPA, named after nearby Electric Avenue which was one of the first roads to be lit by electricity, is an American IPA brewed using Cascade, Centennial and Amarillo hops.

Brixton railway station is closer to the brewery than the tube station and is served by trains from London Victoria to Sevenoaks.

Brixton Brewery, Arch 547, Brixton Station Road, London SW9 8PF
Tel. 020 3609 8880
The brewery is usually open on Saturdays from 12-5pm. Beer is sold to drink in or take-away. Please check twitter for weekly opening times.
Website: www.brixtonbrewery.com

Beer in Madrid

Jarra of Mahou Clasica from Cerveceria 100 Montaditos

The weather was unseasonably cold for my first visit to Madrid in March 2012 so we did not get the anticipated opportunity to sit outside a bar in the sunshine with a refreshing cool beer. However, we did go inside several bars, drink some cañas (small glasses) and jarras (glass tankards) of draught beer and take the occasional photo for this blog. The most popular beer in Madrid seems to be Mahou (pronounced like (Chairman) Mao) but we also spotted domestic beers originally hailing from Barcelona (Estrella Damm) and Seville (Cruzcampo). International brewers are also represented e.g. Amstel and Heineken.

Shelf behind the bar at Cerveceria Santa Barbara, Plaza de Santa Barbara, 8

Bars seemed to vary between the very small local bars, cervecerias - bigger and often brightly lit and atmospheric neighbourhood bars with subdued lighting that may specialise in cocktails and tasteful music.

The price of a beer would also vary accordingly from one euro at the 100 Montaditos cerveceria chain for a jarra (when purchased with food) to three euros for a caña at Cafe Belen, Chueca (served with complimentary nuts).

Cafe Belen - Calle Belen 5

Cerveceria Santa Barbara prides itself on the quality of the beer and the method of serving at its bars where the bar staff wear smart white uniforms. Cerveceria Santa Barbara - Beer webpage (English version)
However, in several bars the beer would be served with a big foamy head despite (mainly ineffective) efforts by some bar staff to get more liquid beer into the glass. Based on this experience, perhaps the best advice would be to choose an interesting bottled beer, when a choice is available.

Naturbier - Plaza Santa Ana

Some research before the trip revealed that Naturbier in Plaza Santa Ana brew their own beers and these are served unfiltered. Their website claims their beer is 'the only natural beer brewed in Madrid.' Naturbier home page (English) This square, which is quite near the central Puerta del Sol Metro station, contains several bars and cervecerias including Cerveceria Alemana and Cerveceria Santa Ana which are on the same side of the plaza as Naturbier. This makes Plaza Santa Ana a good place to aim for if you want to sample a variety of beers inside or outside in the plaza.

Helles & Dunkles beer with complimentary olives at Naturbier

Another area with several good cervecerias having space for outdoor seating that we visited was Plaza Santa Barbara, by Alonso Martinez Metro station. The original branch of Cerveceria Santa Barbara and one of the Cerveceria 100 Montaditos branches are on the east side of the Plaza. Just beyond the southern end of the plaza, Cerveceria Cruz Blanca, serving Cruzcampo beers, has a branch at Calle Horteleza 118. Large tiled brewery scenes decorate the walls of the bar (photo below). Cerveceria Cruz Blanca webpage (Spanish)

Their trademark is a penguin with a barrel marked with a cross and this is reflected in the beer font on the right hand side of the bar (photo below)

and the novelty figure just outside (photo below). 

A number of small craft breweries are establishing themselves in Spain and some of these concentrate on producing bottled beers. In Madrid you may come across draught beer or bottles from these new small breweries: 

Cervezas Las Cibeles (Madrid) Cervezas Las Cibeles webpage (Spanish)

Cerveza Sagra (Toledo) Cerveza Sagra webpage (Spanish) 

Calvin's Beer (Madrid)  Calvin's Beer webpage (English)

Fabrica Maravillas (Madrid) Fabrica Maravillas webpage (English)

Cervezas Lest (Colmenar Viejo) Cervezas Lest webpage (Spanish)