If you happen to venture out to the Kent borders of south east London, you would do well to book one of the beer tasting sessions held by Bexley Brewery and hosted at the Exchange in Erith. The Exchange is a quirky and historic community-run building, a bit of a jewel in the now (rather hollow) Erith town centre. Downstairs in the Garden Room we feasted our eyes on oats and various malts, the essential ingredients in Bexley Brewery’s beers. We had previously sampled a few of their bottled beers at Shrewsbury House in Plumstead and their Anchor Bay in cask at the Star in Plumstead, so we were ready to find out more about the full Bexley Brewery range.
This family-run local brewery is only just over ten years old and sells beer in cask, keg and bottles. Bexley Brewery started in 2014 when Cameron’s dad, Cliff, won a local home brew competition and, from there, he and wife Jane set up their microbrewery in Erith. It’s now a family affair; their son Cameron is sales manager. He also brews as well and he, with wife Becky (events manager and co-manager of their micropub, the Bird and Barrel) ran the tasting session. They have done well in the SIBA awards. Black Prince Rum Porter won the 2019 Gold SIBA award in the ‘Speciality Cask’ category. Last year, Spike Island Stout (5.3% ABV) won Gold in the ‘Bottle & Can Stout & Porter’ category and will make its way forward to SIBA’s BeerX 2025.
The tasting was in the usual format (light to dark) and started with a crisp lager, Arnsberg (4.8% ABV), which is named after Bexley’s twin town in Germany. It is made from all English hops and is perfect for a hot summer’s day. We moved swiftly on to something more to my taste, the lovely Anchor Bay (sounds like some tropical island? No, it’s on the River Thames). This is a splendid 4.8% ABV West Coast style IPA brewed with Mosaic and Cascade hops. We were then treated to a new beer from the Bexley stable called Chatter, which is the collective noun for a group of parakeets, as featured on the brewery’s logo. This is a 4% ABV hazy pale, dry hopped, using Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Amarillo and Idaho 7. It features tropical and grapefruit flavours (my kind of beer!). Moving onto the darker beers, next up was a more traditional autumn Burton-style bitter, Old Mill (4.5% ABV) with notes of malt and caramel and using Kent hops – Challenger and Goldings. Like many bitters, the flavour changes the warmer it gets. Finally, we finished off with Black Prince porter (4.6% ABV). Originally brewed as their winter ale, it has stayed the course. Here we have all the malts and notes of caramel and chocolate but it is smooth and still very easy drinking.
The tasting session was an enjoyable insight into the varied range of beers available from the brewery and it is good to see that they continue to develop new brews to meet the varied tastes of discerning customers. Local brews make great gifts and, of course, you can order for local collection or nationwide delivery via their online shop.
A date for your diaries: you might want to consider visiting Bexley’s own micropub, the Bird & Barrel in Barnehurst for their seventh birthday beerfest (Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 April). They are planning eight cask beers and four keg beers plus cider and food throughout the week. Check out the socials nearer the time for up-to-date information. You can also sample Bexley’s beers at the Exchange during the Erith Spring Festival ‘Here Comes The Sun’ (25 to 27 April). For beer and bar information, see here.
Having got the taste for Bexley’s beer, we thought we might as well pop along to the Bird and Barrel ourselves. I was delighted with their Raspberry Pale (4% ABV) on cask, as well as another Anchor Bay (4.8% ABV) on keg. My companion Ian sneaked in something darker. This was a guest beer from Verdant, Burnt House Porter (4.6% ABV) which we thought was very good. Also on cask was the Red House Ruby bitter (the Red House of course being the Bexley home of William Morris) but we didn’t sample this one. Most of the crowd here were enjoying the Six Nations rugby match but there was a nice, relaxed atmosphere. A visit by the seafood seller was very much appreciated by me, at this stage.
Having sampled a few beers, we thought a brisk walk might be in order. We then had to make a difficult choice: whether to pop to the Kentish Belle (great little micropub near Bexleyheath Station) or the Long Haul in the other direction (Bexley CAMRA branch’s Pub of the Year 2023 and 2022). As the very handy Untappd app informed us that one of our favourite beers was on at the Long Haul, we hot- footed in that direction. It was very quiet when we visited, perhaps due to rugby fans watching the game at home. This place also has doggy treats supplied by Kirsty; there was a friendly local feel to this micropub. Also on tap was Three Acre Session Pale, and Kent’s White Noise Winter IPA, so a good cask offer here. Also tempting was the excellent Anspach & Hobday London Black on keg.
If you’re prepared to venture south of the river, from central London you take a Southeastern train from London Bridge to Erith and it’s a short walk to the Exchange. From there the 229 bus goes to the Bird and Barrel (from Erith) but from central London, take a train directly to Barnehurst. From the Long Haul, you can get a 301 or 401 bus to Abbey Wood (where you can pick up a Southeastern/Thameslink or Elizabeth line train). The south east London/Kent borders have a few more micropubs to offer and these can be checked out by following the 51 bus route. For an account of a micropub tour on this route that I did with my local Women’s Institute a couple of years ago, read The Roses on Tour in the October/November 2023.
Maria Freeman