All about the Beer 60
A long journey to Long Pond
Long Pond, Eltham (Rating 9.3) SE9 1UT
This micropub is very like the Little Green Dragon in N21 but more spacious and the beers are a better temperature. It serves five ales. I am having an IPA called Ninth Life from Mad Cat Brewery. It is the colour of my light tan shoes. The taste is good, the temperature is good and Becky the barmaid is very friendly. The stats are 5.8% and 15c. I think this is the best pub in Eltham, with the Eltham GPO second. I have been three times to Eltham in the past three months. It is a trek from Wimbledon but the town is well endowed with good watering holes. I count nine of which i can say that six are good to very good. It is worth the journey.
Old Nick, Holborn (Rating 7.6) WC1R 4PZ
I am surprised that I haven't been here before, as I worked not far away for four years. It is a very sumptuous emporium of all things Badger. Not the animaux with grey snouts, but Hall & Woodhouse ales from Dorset. I came across another Badger house about two weeks ago in Westminster. In London, Badger pubs are as rare as the animals of the same name inside the M25. I am drinking Tanglefoot which is 4.7% ABV and 13 Celsius. The pub is simply charming and the beer is tasty. If you go here, you should also go to the Ship Tavern which is now my third favourite pub in the whole of London. They are a couple of minutes apart. They offer Butty Bach.
New Inn, Richmond (Rating 8.0) TW10 7DB
This is a very pleasant pub on the edge of Ham Common between Kingston and Richmond. It serves two or three beers including London Pride and Landlord. I chose Landlord and it came at 13.5c. The pub has a large terrace at the rear and a few pavement seats at the front, overlooking the Common.
The Woodman, Highgate (Rating 8.3) N6 5UA
This is quite pleasant, though not as characterful as The Crown which is owned by the same company. It offers Pride, Landlord and a 3% Pale Ale from Redemption. I had Landlord. The temperature is 14c. After the disappointment of cold Sussex Best half an hour previously, it seemed heavenly.
Craft Beer Co, Limehouse (Rating 8.9) E14 7JD
I came here about 18 months ago. It was a sunny Summer's evening and the entire population of Limehouse was here before me. My pal Richard arrived and we decided to go somewhere else. Today, there are five people in the pub. It serves four ales on tap. I am having Siren Broken Dream. I had it in Aldgate about 2 years ago because it was the only beer on tap. I enjoyed it, almost to my surprise, and I have looked for it in several hundred pubs, to no avail. I did discover City of Cake which is similar, but better (from the Hammerton Brewery) and similarly, I cannot find that again. I do understand that Stout maybe should be drunk cold, so I am being tolerant. Since writing the above, I had a pint of Broken Dream on Cask in the King’s Arms (Roupell Street SE1).
Pint of the Week: XPA in the Bricklayer’s Arms in Putney, last night