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It's Official - London Has a Thriving 21st Century Beer Scene!

Yes, in case you've been living under a rock London has a dynamic, innovative and world class modern beer scene. The emergence of the London Brewers Alliance and their inaugural showcase event held last Friday night is more proof that London should be on every beer enthusiasts schedule. During the Friday festivities we tasted the following brews:
  • Ha'penny Brewing Co., Ruby Red, silky mild with hints of cinnamon. Brewrank:15/20
  • London Brewers Alliance Porter ~ 5% special one off brewed as a collaboration by all the brewers. Nice, hoppy. Brewrank: 17/20
  • Kernal IPA, Citra hops. Another great one from our favorite nano brewery. Brewrank: 16/20
  • Redemption Pale Ale, solid. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Windsor & Eton Brewery Best Bitter, smooth malty. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Brew Wharf Fire from the top of a monkey's head, hoppy madness. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Camden Town Brewery Pale Ale. Brewrank:14/20
It is good to see both Fuller's (the grand daddy of London brewing) and Meantime (the big innovator) supporting the LDN Brewers Alliance. The only reason we didn't drink any of their brews on Friday is we have a cellar full of the stuff... Overall the Showcase event was a solid 7 out 10. Next time we hope to see an event guide of some sort and a food selection. Maybe even an entire week of events - are we going to see a London Beer Week in 2011?!

Here's a good video by the London Brewers:


And here is the current list of all 13 London brewers that are either brewpubs, micros and local/family/regional brewers (sorry no bud or mass produce crud!):
  1. Brew Wharf - brewpub
  2. Brodie's Beers - micro & brewpub
  3. Camden Town Brewery - micro
  4. The Florence - brewpub in Herne Hill
  5. Fuller's - regional, family run
  6. Ha'penny Brewing Co. - micro
  7. The Kernel Brewery - nano, look for the bottles at places like the Rake
  8. Meantime Brewing Co. - regional, the innovator
  9. Redemption Brewery - micro
  10. Sambrooks Brewery - micro
  11. Twickenham Fine Ales - micro/medium
  12. Windsor & Eton Brewery - micro
  13. ZeroDegrees (Blackheath) - brewpub
Who will be number 14?

In the meantime here is our first mini guide to other places to experience London's Great Beer Scene... Including festivals, beer bars, food& beer events etc.

CAMRA Festivals:

Local & Independant Festivals (check Twitter, Ratebeer and other social outlets as well):

Great Beer Pubs/Bars that also do meet the brewer and other events:
Top Beer Stores:
Brewery Tours
London is also a great town for pub crawls - one of these days we will publish some suggestions but check any good beer guide. Happy drinking...