The last two years have flown by for Moncada who are now on their third brewery. While running their previous site in parallel, they moved into their current premises in 2017, opening the tap room in 2018. There are no signs of them moving again for a while.
There has been a lot of change since the brewery was set up by Julio and his wife in 2012. Originally it was all cask and bottle-conditioned beer. These days, it is only 15% cask with a quarter small packaging (cans and bottles) and the rest keg, but it is all unfiltered. James, who works at the brewery, commented that cask sales seemed to be picking up again and he has noted the growing number of bottle shops taking keg beers for filling ‘growler’ take-away containers.
There is a main core of beers that the brewery produces in bottles, cask and keg: Blonde, Pale, Ruby Rye, Oatmeal Stout and APA, all under the Notting Hill branding which reflects the brewery’s original home. Distribution is mainly in London although they do use a number of small distributors plus Eebria for their bottles.
Their biggest sellers are Blonde and Pale but Impy Custard stout has been an unexpected success. Sold under the Blueprint range, the label for their experimental beers, this 10.4% ABV Imperial Stout has created great interest and a loyal following. The beer was available in keg in the tap room and fortunately also in bottles for those who prefer to sip stronger beers at home.
Also available in the Blueprint range are Floor Shaker IPA, a little less alcoholic at 6.2% ABV and, at the other end of strength, a couple of keg Berliner Weisse style sours (Pink Grapefruit and Apricot) at 2.7% ABV, providing a refreshing contrast.
The brewery is near the Staples Corner roundabout, (37 Humber Road, London NW2 6EN) close to the Wing Yip Chinese supermarket. Moncada’s large tap room provides a much needed outlet in what is a beer desert. It has plentiful seating, a mix of benches and black sofas, plus a table football machine. To find the tap room and bottle shop, walk in through the brewery doors, go up the stairs (to the right) and you will get a good view of this state of the art brewery. It has a 35 hectolitre brew length plant with six fermenters, three ‘bright’ tanks and its own bottling line.
The bottle shop (alongside the bar) is open Monday to Thursday, 11am to 4pm and Friday 11am to 11pm. The tap room is open every Friday (5pm to 11pm) and every first Saturday of the month (12 to 9pm). There are other dates so check their website: www.moncadabrewery.co.uk.
For the London Tasting Panel’s tasting notes (including on the Impy Custard), visit the brewery pages of the CAMRA regional website: www.london.camra.org.uk.