London Brewing Company
It wasn’t until July last year that I became aware of the London Brewing Company. This was when I saw some of their beers exhibited at the Ealing Beer Festival. Founded in 2011, they initially operated as a small brewpub at the Bull in Highgate before moving to a larger site at the Bohemia in North Finchley (N12 9QH) in 2014. Since then, they have expanded their facilities, although their original aesthetic as a brewpub still retains. This brewpub has become a popular focal point for the local community, with events such as their monthly Brewer’s Social evenings where attendees can have a chat with the brewers while supping a complimentary pint of their latest special. Also, on the last Saturday of each month, they hold brewery tours, which give visitors a unique chance to explore the site and learn more about their brewing operations. Keen to take up the opportunity and with my friend Graham in tow, we booked our places for the tour.
Unlike other breweries that I have encountered, which tend to be in remote industrial units, this one is situated in a prominent high street location that made it easier to find. When we arrived, the bar had just opened for the day and so activity was still light. As we waited for our tour guide to arrive, I supped a half of Flying the Mags (3.4% ABV), a dark mild created annually for Mild May month. Despite its relatively low strength, it was rich and flavoursome with prominent roasted malt notes and a caramel sweetness on the backend. Before long, our guide Maciej arrived and we were surprised to discover that we were the only two people on this tour. First, he showed us the mash tun, hop back and hot liquor tank, situated towards the rear of the bar area. Maciej informed us that up to 80% pale malt is used in all their beers and the wort is boiled at different temperatures depending on the beer, in order to extract the appropriate flavours and aromas. The mixture is then fed into the hop back where it is boiled for an hour with a base hop, used for bittering. More expensive hops, for flavour, are then added to the mixture and boiled for only 15 minutes. It is then rapidly cooled to stop the mixture from turning too bitter. Brewing normally takes place twice a week and, despite production of only 1,000 litres per day, up to two beers are produced during each working day.
Maciej then took us to a room at the rear of the building which contained several combi fermentation/ conditioning tanks that had pun-filled names such as Audrey Hopburn, Tank Sinatra and Britney Beers. During fermentation, CO2 is pumped into the vessels to drive out the oxygen to prevent the mixture from spoiling; the beers are fermented at different temperatures, higher for pales and IPAs and lower for lagers. Two weeks after fermentation, three kilos of hops are added via their hop gun, a unique device that resembles a cross between a syringe and a torpedo. I have never encountered such a device on any previous brewery tour.
The brewers double dry hop most of their beers, apart from dark mild and stouts, using this gadget. This helps to give their beers their characteristically bold flavour profile. Maciej then poured us some samples of London Lush (3.8% ABV) to try straight from the tank. The beer was more vibrant, fresh and hoppy than what we had tried from the bar earlier, which seemed rather meek in comparison.
A week after dry hopping, the contents of the vats are decanted into casks or kegs depending on the product. Maciej guided us into the barrel room where the tour concluded. This is a large cavernous space filled to the rafters with casks and kegs waiting to be dispensed later at their bar or sent on to the pubs that stock their products. These include the Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale and the Chandos in Brockley.
Scores of barrels were lined up against the walls with pipes connected to them, like the innards of an elaborate digestive system. Maciej told us that, to give the casks added carbonation, they add sugar to them. Their shelf life is limited to around four days while the kegs can last several weeks. This process is particularly challenging to manage, given the quantity of cask and kegs that are fed into the bar on a daily basis.
We then returned to the bar where we were able to ask Maciej more questions about the beers. I was particularly interested in All Ripe (3.4% ABV), their keg fruited sour. He explained that its distinct sour notes come from the special yeast used. We then tried some more cask beers, which were quite flavoursome and distinct in their own right. Owing to the hot weather conditions, however, they were too warm for us fully to appreciate the complexities of the various aromas and flavours.
Overall, we found the tour informative and insightful. We learnt intriguing details about the brewing process, although more information about the various hops and malts they use in their core beers would have given us a greater understanding as to how the beers get their distinctive flavours. This tour was relatively small scale compared to ones I’ve been on in the past and I found the admission price a tad overinflated, although it did come with a complimentary pint at the bar and 20% off gift token towards the overall tab. If you’re unfamiliar with the intricacies of the brewing process, I would strongly advise trying this tour because it provides a richly informative introduction into brewing and the unique chance to see the behind-the-scenes workings of a brewpub in action.
Mike Goldwater