Mondo Brewing Company - Battersea

Six West Berkshire based beer enthusiasts headed to South London on Saturday 16 January. Blog posts by London Beer Guide and Matthew Curtis Total Ales inspired us to visit Mondo Brewing Company in Battersea.

Having visited Brixton Brewery and Bullfinch Brewery at Herne Hill earlier in the day we arrived at Wandsworth Road station by Overground train in the late afternoon. Leaving the station we turned right and walked along Wandsworth Road past McDonald's.

Amesbury & Durrington - Westbury Estate

We turned left into Stewarts Road and walked 300 metres to reach Mondo Brewing Company at 86-92 Stewarts Road. There was a view of the sun setting behind two tower blocks on the Westbury Estate as we neared the brewery.

Unlike the two breweries, situtated underneath railway arches, which we had visited earlier, Mondo Brewing Company has an industrial building as its home. The taproom is situated on the ground floor with security windows made from glass blocks.

The leather seated bar stools are comfortable to sit on and the large tables are ideal for groups like ours.

The oak barrel tables near to the bar, the polished floor and industrial style metal lampshades are other noticeable design features in the taproom.

A wide choice of beer styles was clearly listed on the board near the bar. The columns list ABV and price in £s for 1/2 pint, 2/3 pint and 1 pint.

Our party chose half pint glasses in order to sample as many beers as possible. My first beer was Rider APA (4.6% ABV) served in a distinctively shaped branded glass. Mondo Brewing Company branded beer mats are also provided in the taproom.

From our table we could see through a full height window into the brewery itself. The glass block taproom windows are reflected in the window separating the taproom from the brewery. This was a Saturday so there was no visible activity in the brewery itself.

(Photo: Chris Reynolds)

The state of the art bottling machinery is also visible through the window from the taproom.

(Photo: Chris Reynolds)

My second beer at Mondo Brewing Co was Queenstown APA (5% ABV), another refreshing pale ale.

There wasn't time to taste all the beers so I bought 330 ml bottles of Kemosabe IPA (6.4% ABV)  and London Alt (4.8% ABV) from the tall fridge beside the bar to take home. Columbus, Cascade and Centennial hops are used for brewing Kemosabe. London Alt is a Dusseldorf style 'old' ale with a sweet malt character balanced with a floral aroma from the Spalt hops. The bottles have a distinctive smoothly curved shape which match the branded glasses.

Look out for framed original paintings in the taproom and on the staircase to the toilets on the first floor.

The spotlit artworks are another visible example of the care taken by Mondo Brewing Company over all aspects of the business.

Mondo Brewing Company, 86 Stewarts Road, Battersea, London SW8 4UG
Website: www.mondobrewingcompany.com 
Tel: 0207 720 0782
Twitter: @mondobrewing

The Tap House - Opening Hours (copied from website 24/1/2016. Phone to confirm current hours)

Monday & Tuesday     Closed

Wednesday - Friday    17:00 - 23:00

Saturday                      12:00 - 23:00 (NB: Winter opening at 14:00)

Sunday                        12:00 - 18:00 (NB: Winter closed on Sundays)

Blog posts which include more information about the founders, brewhouse, beers and taproom:

Leighton Smith blog post for London Beer Guide - The Mondo Tap House: one of London's best brewery taprooms www.londonbeerguide.co.uk/2016/01/the-mondo-tap-house-one-of-londons-best.html

Matthew Curtis blog post about Mondo Brewing Company, Battersea and UK Craft Beer's Second Wave www.totalales.co.uk/blog/2016/1/2/mondo-brewing-company-battersea-and-uk-craft-beers-second-wave