September: Oktoberfest, Football Pints & When To Take Your Kids To The Pub
A monthly newsletter about London beer and pubs written by journalist Will Hawkes
Wiesn Season
On the face of it, organising an Oktoberfest event doesn’t seem too complicated. What do you need? Lots of German beer, bratwurst and pretzels, a crowd of thirsty punters willing to dress in lederhosen/dirndls and crash glasses together, and long tables for them to sit at/stand on. Otto’s your uncle.
Not so fast! There’s another crucial element that’s harder to secure, particularly on this side of the North Sea: an oompah band.
How many oompah bands are there in London good enough to entertain crowds for hours on end? “There’s so much demand now,” laughs Helen Busch, Beer Sommelier at German Kraft, which operates four venues in London, three of them (Elephant and Castle, Mayfair and Dalston) with breweries attached. She’s understandably cagey about the name of the band booked for German Kraft’s celebration. “At this time of year, the good oompah bands are really popular. But when you have a good one, it [makes the event] really great!”
Oktoberfest has never been bigger in this city. There are dozens of events, including (to name just four) London Oktoberfest, London Bierfest, Camden Oktoberfest, and Between the Bridges Oktoberfest. At a time when guaranteed revenue-drivers are needed more than ever, no bar or brewery can afford to let Oktoberfest go by.
You could be wearing lederhosen every weekend until November, if you so chose. There is, it appears, a burgeoning appreciation for German beer culture in the UK, driven both by the undeniable appeal of Oktoberfest’s straightforward, guilt-free hedonism, but also by a growing interest in German beer culture, fuelled by the quality of modern British lager and Bavarian imports.
German Kraft, founded in 2017 at Mercato Metropolitano in Elephant and Castle, has played a role, too. Having drunk their beer intermittently since the beginning, I think it’s improved hugely. In June, for example, I enjoyed a few glasses of the unfiltered pale Zwickl lager alongside famed beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones (he seemed equally pleased with his Marzen).
Given all this, perhaps it’s no surprise that German Kraft is one of London brewing’s most upwardly mobile companies, expanding in all directions. It’s shortly to open a brewpub in Vienna, as part of the Gleis//Garten development that’s bringing street-food-market culture to the culturally conservative Austrian capital.
Felix Bollen, whose lank blond locks make him look as much surfer as brewer, has driven this growth alongside father Florian, the project developer for Gleis//Garten. He’s in Austria getting the venue, a former tram shed, ready to open early next month, leaving 29-year-old Busch the public face of German Kraft’s operations in London.
Born and brought up in Erlangen in Franconia, Germany’s brewing heartland, she was a chef until a desire for a different lifestyle led her into the world of pubs - specifically, The Churchill Arms in West Kensington, one of London’s most famous pubs and Fullers’ most profitable. It rekindled a latent interest in beer, she says: “People started asking me, why is this called a white beer? Why do we serve cask ale in this glass? I started researching and realised I really enjoyed it.”
Having done a beer sommelier course at The Institute of Brewing and Distilling, she emailed Felix Bollen, explaining not only what she’d done but also that, as it turned out, they came from the same part of the world. “I said that I would like to do something more customer-focused, talking about the beer, would you need someone like me? And PS, I’m German.”
Amongst other roles, she now leads brewery tours at all the German Kraft sites. What does she think of Londoners’ knowledge of German beer? “It’s not bad!” she says. “I feel that, through Covid, everyone had these beer subscriptions, and people got more interested in different styles. And after I had more people who knew about wheat beer, for example, or Rauchbier, who know about the variety there is.”
That includes Berliner Weisse, available at the Dalston bar, for example. Each of the sites has subtly different offerings, based on the local clientele (Dalston, for eg, has plenty of IPA), but for volume Elephant and Castle can’t be beaten. With a 20-hectolitre brewery, and 12 fermentation tanks (nine 4000-litres, three 6000 litres), it’s a sizable operation, churning out beer for what German Kraft claims is London’s biggest beer garden.
It’ll be full on the 6th and 7th of October, when the Oktoberfest celebrations take place (events at the other venues take place over subsequent weekends), Oompah band and all. The Festbier, Leopold, is an amber lager, brewed with Munich malt, as was once traditional in Munich before most of the big six dropped the dark malt. (Their beers are now amped-up versions of their everyday Helles.)
German Kraft seems to embody the long-term shifts taking place in London drinking. Food markets, not pubs. Lager, not cask ale. Events, not quiet pints.
The next project, Busch says, is a new bar in Tranmere, Merseyside, catering to fans heading to nearby Prenton Park. German beer is on the up and up in Britain. What more could Busch ask for? “I’d like for people to stop calling Helles [emphasis on the e] a Hells,” she says with a laugh. Isn’t that Camden’s fault? “Yes! They butchered that name. It’s awful.”
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Crossed Wires
Panic on social media last week when it appeared that legendary King’s Cross pub McGlynns was about to shut permanently. As so often on the socials, that wasn’t quite right: the landlord, Gerry, died recently but the family are looking for someone else to take the pub on, and suggestions that it’s about to be ‘turned into flats’ look to be a bit wide of the mark. Let’s hope the pub reopens soon.
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Match Makers
The best thing about football is going to the pub beforehand. The game itself may be better than 25 years ago, when I started going regularly (most of the players can now trap and pass the ball, which is a plus) but it’s still often dull and fans are not as loud or funny as they used to be - thanks, I suppose, to high ticket prices and the related fact that people take it much too seriously.
Some of my most memorable football moments have come in pubs. The White Horse - all roaring open fires and Bunterish bonhomie - on a freezing January afternoon, hoping that afternoon’s game against Blackburn would be called off (it was); being threatened in full central-casting Cockney by a squat West Ham fan outside the Springbok in W12; watching England beat Argentina in The East Dulwich Tavern in 2002, and celebrating afterwards for long enough that I was able to buy the Evening Standard on the way home; and so on, and so on.
What’s all this about? Well, the football season is, you may have noticed, very much upon us. So where should you drink if you’re going to one of London’s Premier League or Football League clubs and you want something decent, and definitely no aggro? Here’s where.
Arsenal
Arsenal is lucky in that it’s surrounded by pubs, and plenty of them are worth a punt. This is my favourite: small, independent, good beer and other booze, 15 minutes’ walk from the ground.
Brentford
This handsome inn overlooking Kew Bridge is basically in Brentford’s new ground. The amount of cask ale they offer worries me - try before you buy - but it’s a lovely spot with plenty of space out the back.
Charlton
A lot of fans drink in Borough and then get the train out to Charlton, where most of the pubs are focused on home fans. Here’s another option, just under half an hour’s walk from the ground. Opened in 2022, the Green Goddess offers the best of British microbrewing.
Chelsea
The Sloaney Pony may not be quite the beer mecca it once was, but it’s still head and shoulders above the rest of the pubs close to Stamford Bridge. The Harvey’s is usually excellent here.
Crystal Palace
Sorry, Palace fans, this was a tough one. An admirable club in many ways, it’s a bit short of high-quality drinking options. Cast your net a bit wider, and head to Gipsy Hill’s taproom. There are direct trains from Gipsy Hill Station to Norwood Junction, a short stroll from the ground.
Fulham
Fulham supporters can also use the White Horse (Fulham & Chelsea are never at home on the same day) but let’s mix things up. The Bricklayers is over the river in Putney; a vintage Fulham scarf behind the bar demonstrates the pub’s allegiance. Lots of lovely Tim Taylor’s here to get stuck into.
Leyton Orient
Do you know many Leyton Orient fans? It’s time to meet some, particularly if they’re members here. This club is easily the best place to drink in the environs of Brisbane Road: expect eight cask beers, including a Mild, normally Mighty Oak’s Oscar Wilde.
Millwall
There are, of course, plenty of places to drink in Bermondsey but this is the best. The current taproom will be closing soon, but don’t worry - it's just moving around the corner into a new unit. Try the Dunkel.
QPR
There are some decent if unspectacular pubs around Shepherds Bush - including a Brewdog - but this is a more interesting option, with its 16 taps and Kansas City BBQ.
Sutton United
This marvellous pub wins award after award, and for good reason. It’s a genuine local hero - it’s community-owned - with high-quality beer to match. A couple of miles from the ground, admittedly, but worth it imo.
Tottenham Hotspur
Beavertown has opened a new pub next to Spurs’ space-age ground, but they don’t need your money. Spend it instead at Redemption, one of modern London brewing’s pioneers. Spurs fans will enjoy Hopspur, an amber ale.
West Ham
The area around the Olympic Stadium is not exactly full of pubs, but Hackney Wick is not too far away. Beer Merchants is excellent, but I think Howling Hops is the pick due to atmosphere & consistently good beer. One of the most enjoyable of London’s taprooms.
AFC Wimbledon
Why go to one pub when you can do two? The Sultan and the recently reopened Trafalgar are two of London’s best, both within stumbling distance of The Dons’ shiny new home.
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Saint’s Alive
Saint Monday, the new brewery from the Graceland team, is launching on September 21st, from 6pm. Here’s what to expect.
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August Performance
German Kraft isn’t the only London brewery to be thriving at the moment. Pillars in Walthamstow enjoyed their busiest ever August, “in terms of customers delivered to, beer that has left the brewery and trade sales revenue,” according to head of sales Peter Kennelly, while Two Tribes “shipped more beer in the first two weeks of August than in the whole of 2019”.
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LBA Festival tomorrow!
This weekend sees the London Brewers Alliance Festival take place at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick. More than 50 of the capital’s breweries will be pouring beer, with food from Prairie Fire (see above). Tickets, which cost £44 and include all your beer, are still available for afternoon and evening sessions.
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What I did on my holidays
Spain is a fascinating country when it comes to booze. It feels like a wine place - it is in southern Europe, after all - but it isn’t, really. They make wine, it’s true, and plenty of it, but in terms of domestic sales it trails a fair way behind beer. Most of that beer, inevitably, is industrial lager. This year, I spent two weeks in Sitges, a seaside town close to Barcelona that is home to innumerable bars, most selling Estrella Damm (cloyingly sweet, very light, maize and rice) or Moritz (less sweet, rice).
Away from the golden sand and crepuscular streets running away from them, though, there’s more interesting beer - and this is where the London link emerges. There are two breweries in Sitges, as far as I can make out: La Sitgetana and Wylie, both of which operate on the dusty hills overlooking the main town.
At La Sitgetana, I enjoyed a superb Robust Porter, rich and balanced, roasty and bitter, served with huge care. (They also make a Brown Ale, described on their website as ‘a genuine Real Ale’.) Wylie’s British beer, a Best Bitter called Shonkey, was less successful. There was lots of sweet malt and fruity yeast character, but no bittering hops to tether it to. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see - at a time when British beer is struggling in Britain - that there is some thirst overseas for London and the UK’s beer tradition.
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Westminster Gossip
Gerry Dolan, who has been managing the Westminster Arms for 30 years, retired earlier this month. The 68-year-old Cavan native says he’s seen them all during his time at the Shepherd Neame boozer. “I’ve served everybody. You name it, they’ve been here – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldof and Prince Edward. I think a lot of the celebrities come here because we never bother them. They just come for a quiet drink.”
Amongst those who turned up for his farewell party was Nigel Farage, a divisive figure if ever there was one. It reminded me of what another publican, whose central London pub hosted Farage on occasion, once told me: staff always served the former UKIP leader in an unbranded glass in order to avoid unwanted publicity.
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Going Dutch
Among a spate of recent openings, a new Dutch-focused bar in Bermondsey stands out. “It Ain’t Much If It Ain’t Dutch” (try that after one too many De Molens) offers 30 Dutch beers on tap at 67-68 Enid St, the same road as Moor and Cloudwater.
Two new brewery openings, both of which we’re planning to feature more here about: Blondies, an off-shoot of a dive bar in East London, opened in Clapton in August; and EKO, which makes African-inspired Vegan beers, has secured a space in Peckham. Good luck to them both.
Finally, The William IV in Shepherdess Walk, N1, has re-opened with a very decent if keg-centric beer list.
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One City, Two Pubs
Blythe Hill Tavern, SE6, and The Honor Oak, SE23
The nine-year-old boy by my side is amazed by the size of a pint. He pokes me in the midriff as the barwoman at the Blythe Hill Tavern pours a glass of Harvey’s Sussex Best. “Woah! Is that how much a pint is? That’s a lot.”
It’s the last day of the summer holidays and I’ve brought my son to the pub. It’s a learning experience, for me as much as him. For him, there are multiple revelations: the size of a pint, the purpose of a fruit machine, whether it’s better to drink Diet Coke from the glass provided or straight from the bottle. For me, it’s about tackling the thorniest, most hornet’s nest-y of subjects: children in pubs.
Plenty of otherwise reasonable people froth at the mouth just thinking about an infant in a boozer. The internet is replete with tales of children running riot on licensed premises, knocking over glasses and getting under feet, while their oblivious parents get blotto on Prosecco, or something else equally un-pub-appropriate.
My own view is, as you’d expect, richly nuanced. I don’t really like taking my kids to the pub because 1) it’s not much fun for them, & 2) consequently it’s not much fun for me. I feel, in a sort of general sense, that kids in pubs are a good thing, and that those who oppose it are mean-spirited and wrong. On the other hand, I still don’t want to take my children to pubs.
But maybe I’ve been doing it wrong. Most of my limited visits to pubs with kids have taken place at the weekend, when everyone else has the same idea, and some pubs can feel a bit creche-y. Maybe it’s better to take them at different times, like, for example, on a Tuesday afternoon? That’s when I like to go to the pub, after all. Maybe children do too?
There’s only one way to find out.
The Blythe Hill Tavern, one of my favourites, is a traditional pub: carpet, three rooms, basic loos, excellent service. It’s not really a pub for kids, if I’m honest, although I’ve seen plenty in here, particularly during those mad months immediately following lockdown. (Soon after, a sign went up on the door asking parents to fold up their pushchairs before entering.)
We’re well past that, thank God. Having secured a pint of Harveys and a Diet Coke (£8.05 for both), we head into the large back yard, a concrete space enlivened by hanging baskets and branded sun shades. There’s a handful of other people here: an old man drinking something orange through a straw, a middle-aged man watching racing on his mobile phone and a younger couple who are giving off a slightly grumpy vibe. They are all, as far as I can tell, unmoved by the appearance of a child.
But why would they be upset? My child is as well-behaved as me. He’s a chubby-cheeked delight. And then there’s the weather: it’s sunny, but not too humid. You couldn’t pick a better day to be in a pub garden, and only an ogre would get grumpy about a coke-sipping infant at such a moment.
We enjoy a happy half hour, rattling though some key discussion points - what he thought of the pub (4½ stars out of five), what he was looking forward to about school, which started the next day, and the infuriating rise of paper straws - before we moved onto our second pub: the Honor Oak.
10 minutes’ walk west of the BHT, this pub has been at the centre of a culture war face-off, if you can call it that, recently. And it’s all about children! The pub occasionally hosts events during which drag queens read storybooks to kids, and some people - not many, in all honesty - have got their knickers in a twist. There have been a number of protests and counter-protests at the pub over the past year.
Britain’s half-arsed culture war seems a long way away today, though. There’s no cask ale (the lines are currently being cleaned, a sign says), so I order Forest Road Ride, while my son goes for draught Diet Coke and a packet of Piper’s salt and vinegar crisps (£11.65 in total).
This is my first visit to the Honor Oak. Why? Well, it's always looked more of a food than beer pub to me, the sort of place that fills up with local families at the weekend, more Chablis than Carlsberg.
But today - and it is, admittedly, almost entirely empty - it’s a delight. We occupy one of the large wooden booths at the front, enjoying the malfunctioning plant watering system - which sprays erratically here and there, like a baby boy mid-nappy change - and speculate as to how the button which controls the lights and heating in the booth works.
By the time we’ve finished, my son is plotting both future pub trips and future packets of crisps (Pipers are ‘9/10, better than Walkers’). As for me, I think I’ve worked out how to make going to the pub with kids fun: do it on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, when the pubs are empty. Take them out of school, if necessary. After all, it’s an education.
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London Beer City is written by journalist Will Hawkes. If you’ve got a story or an observation, contact me on londonbeercity@gmail.com. If you like what you’ve read, please share it with your friends; if you’ve been forwarded this email and enjoyed it, you can sign up here. Thanks for reading.