London Ales Are Going Down

This past week my wife and I spent a week in London, staying with our friend Timm in Brixton. It's a lovely town and I wish we'd made a point to go there when the weather was nicer, but we still had a fabulous time. Since this blog is mainly about beer, I'll skip the traditional touristy bits and jump straight to my focus on the visit - pubs and good ale.

A few of these were suggestions - Allyson Shaw of Impy Malting and Feral Strumpet Teatime gave me a few great ones and Carl Hensman recommended The Turf Tavern in Oxford - and others, such as The Gunmaker's Arms in Clerkenwell were pubs I'd read about, in this case on Jeff's late blog. In chronological order, here were the ales and pubs of note:

Sunday:

• Zatec and Budvar Czech; Luxe in Spitalfields Market
• Timothy Taylor Landlord and Polar Beer; The Black Friar
• Rodenbach Grand Cru and Brugs Wit; Moules, Brixton

Monday:

• Suthwyk Liberation Ale; Tate Modern Café
• Harvey's Best Bitter, Woodeforde Wherey, Purity Mad Goose and a sample of Anastasia Imperial Stout (thanks Eddie!); Gunmaker's Arms, Clerkenwell

Tuesday:

• Fuller's London Pride; The Swan, Bayswater
• Cobra (with a curry takeaway)

Wednesday:

• Shepard Neame Rudolph's Reward, Cragg Valley Organic Bitter, Brains Party Popper; Eagle and Child, Oxford
• Greene King IPA, Hook Norton Old Hooky; Turf Tavern, Oxford

Thursday:

• Deuchars; Nellie Dean
• Tapas dinner at Fino, Fitzrovia

Friday:

• Acorn Pacific Gem, Mauldoon's Mid-Winter Gold; Wenlock Arms, Shoreditch

Saturday:

• Sharps Doom Bar; The Lock, Camden Town
• St. Peter's Organic Best Bitter, Charles Wells Bombardier, Meantime Pale Ale; The Engineer, Primrose Hill
• Greene King St. Edmunds; Prince Albert, Brixton

Although this is by no means a thorough and complete list, it's the

ales and pubs I remembered to write down. Many thanks to those who gave recommendations and to our gracious host for an unforgettable week.