This Newsletter has Jet Lag

Beers in London, a taproom in Latvia, and yet another brewery in a church

An appropriate sign at Stockholm Brewing Co. in Sweden

Hello from home in New York, where after a 2am arrival back home yesterday morning, I’m slowly climbing out of my jet lagged rut. That flight, along with every other flight I flew on my two-week trip to Europe, was delayed pretty significantly. If you’re flying overseas (or domestically too, really), pack your patience this summer.

This trip was memorable for a whole host of reasons, but most significantly, it was a chance to get back out into the world to see some old friends. I can’t stress enough the joy of simply striking up conversation to learn about a culture and its beer. That was especially true in Latvia, a country where the simple question of why I was visiting turned into connections and friendships in future travels. These adventures, though, can be exhausting. I need a vacation from this vacation, especially after what amounted to a four-hour nap upon arrival.

A Brief London Brewery Guide

Back in May, I used this space to give you a guide to the brewery scene in a city I visit quite often: Denver (coincidentally, I’m headed back there tomorrow). There’s another city that I often get asked about for brewery recommendations, and that’s London. So, fresh off another visit to the city, I’ve decided to offer you another brief rundown of some breweries I enjoy in London.

Before I do, let me acknowledge a couple of facts for those Americans not familiar with beer and brewery culture in London. First things first: brewery taprooms are rarely open throughout the week here, but instead choose to open a couple days a week, typically Friday and Saturday. And that’s often intentional, as to avoid competing with England’s precious and dying pub culture — which brings me to my second point: you should really go drink some good local beers at a few pubs. Among my favorites are The Rake in Borough Market, The Harp in Covent Garden, The Kings Arms near Shoreditch, and Euston Tap near Euston Station, just to name a few.

Anyway, on to the breweries…

The Cream of the Crop: The Kernel Brewery

The Kernel was the first brewery I ever visited in London, back in 2015 when the city’s beer scene was still emerging. These days, they’ve expanded and opened a lovely taproom along Southeast London’s Bermondsey Beer Mile, which boasts over a dozen breweries and satellite taprooms along a railroad viaduct, most of them inside brewery archways. Start your crawl here and you might not want to visit anywhere else once you’ve sipped on their single-hop Pale Ales, delightfully delicate Table Beers, and lovely Saisons.

The One in the Shipping Container: 40FT Brewery

Here in the states, I’ve seen some breweries integrate shipping containers into their taprooms or outdoor spaces, but never have I seen an actual brewery in a shipping container (or, in the case of 40FT, several shipping containers). Tucked away down a narrow dead-end industrial street in Dalston, this spot boasts a clean Pilsner and juicy Hazy Pale Ale that still stand out to me nearly three years after my first visit. The leafy courtyard is perfect for drinking outdoors on a rare dry day in London.

The American One: Old Street Brewery

When I heard a brewer with an American accent talking at Old Street’s first taproom four years ago, I took notice. Adam Green, who hails from Arizona, set up shop first in Bethnal Green, then in a larger facility in Hackney Wick (just spitting distance from two other breweries, Crate and Howling Hops). The new taproom is an homage to the Old West and new world beers, including an American Light Lager, New England IPA, and Imperial Fruited Sour with Prickly Pear Juice. If you’re getting homesick during your brewery crawl, this is the perfect stop.

The Tiny Hazy Specialist: Gravity Well Brewing Co

Go deep into East London and you’ll find this brewery taproom in a railway arch, where you can sip on their hazy Pale Ales and IPAs. If you seek New England style beers in Old England, this is worth the trek. You won’t be surprised to learn that the haze bro set has hyped Gravity Well up to be among the top-rated breweries in the UK on Untappd, but it’s not just because they make hazebois… it’s because they make them well.

The Most British-Sounding One: Anspach & Hobday

If you’re looking for another brewery to visit on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, you can’t do much better than Anspach & Hobday. Their London Black Nitro Porter is an absolute delight, and their 3.7% ABV Ordinary Bitter is classic in every way, and in no way is it ordinary. Sit outside here and sip a sessionable beer in the shadow of The Shard.

The One Near and Dear to Me: Hackney Brewery

In 2017, my friends at KCBC in Brooklyn sent me to Hackney’s original location on the day they were canning their first overseas collaboration beer. There, I got to see them can Sleeping Giants, and a friendship was born. But it’s not just the people that bring me back to Hackney — it’s their beers, too. I dig their Kapow! Pale Ale, a nice low-alcohol banger that packs in the hop flavor, and Millions of Peaches, a peach and basil kettle sour. Their gorgeous and huge taproom in an industrial estate in northeast London is a good reason to visit, too.

Honorable Mentions: I’d be remiss not to mention Cloudwater’s Bermondsey taproom, which, while not a production facility, is a great opportunity to get the acclaimed brewery’s beers without hopping on a train to Manchester (same goes for Moor Beers, a Bristol outfit with a taproom just feet away). Partizan is yet another Bermondsey spot worth mentioning. Gipsy Hill is a bit of a trek into South London, but I’ve always enjoyed their beers. And Mondo Brewing Company was an early entrant to the haze craze in London and is well worth your time.

Brewery Tracker

Total brewery count: 2,734
Total breweries visited in 2022: 205
Total breweries visited in Latvia: 3

Brewery Visit of the Week

Brewery #2725, Nurme Brewery, Riga, Latvia (Visited 8-Jul-2022)

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a nomadic brewing operation crowdfunds their way to opening a brewery and taproom of their own in an industrial neighborhood that draws young beer fans to a hip outdoor space with loud punk music. This isn’t something unique to the U.S., because it’s happening in Riga, Latvia, too, as I saw first-hand last week on my visit to Nurme.

But the beer selection from this relative newcomer also wouldn’t feel out of place in most of the U.S. Their Glacial, a Cold IPA, somehow won me back over on the style, with a snappy crispness and a great hop bitterness. But the star of the show was the Pinefruit, a West Coast IPA that was unmistakable from some of the best I’ve had in California, with a name that’s a bit on-the-nose given its bountiful aromas of pine and grapefruit. Sometimes I can feel a bit alone when I’m traveling in a foreign country, but beer can be a common language no matter where I am. I felt right at home drinking at Nurme, even through I was 4,200 miles away from New York.

Social Post of the Week

Beer delivery by boat:

Andrew @andwoo

I’m easily the only one stopping to take pics of beer distribution in Venice. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Long Read of the Week

I spent a fair amount of time in a church on a Sunday earlier this month, but the only worship I did was to beer at Omnipollos Kyrka — a converted church in Stockholm, Sweden that now is home to a brewing operation and taproom for its namesake brand. Somehow, I missed this piece in Good Beer Hunting by Jonny Garrett about the brewery last month, but it transports me back to my visit.

One Last Thing

A couple beer festivals to keep in your plans had tickets go on sale recently. Drowned Lands in Warwick, up in Orange County, is hosting their first invitational festival, Wild Acres, on Saturday, August 20th, and tickets are available now. And the granddaddy of them all is back on in Denver, Colorado, October 6th through 8th: Great American Beer Festival. Tickets went on sale yesterday for the fest, which is finally celebrating its 40th year after a two-year absence.

Cheers,
Chris