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 This weekend we're off on a jaunt to the country. For some reason friends have decided that Stonch and Goon might be appropriate house guests. It's time to show them the error of their ways.
To make our lives difficult we've decided to take a 20 pint barrel of Judy Garland Stout with us for a barbecue tomorrow. Getting it across London on the underground and onward by train will be interesting.
Tomorrow night we'll be celebrating the return of decent weather and the imminent smoking ban at The Falkland Arms in Great Tew, Oxfordshire (pictured right). If it's your local, see you there - mine's a pint and Dave's on the pineapple Bacardi Breezer.
Carlsberg looks set to close the Tetley's brewery in Leeds city centre, which was founded in 1822.
 Production of Tetley's may be shifted to Carlsberg's Northampton plant, or licenced to a smaller rival. The Leeds brewery is best known for it's abominable nitrokeg and canned products. It still produces cask bitter and mild for consumption by old boys in its northern heartlands.
To me, the Tetley's brand is synonymous with the bastardisation of British brewing. The buildings are fairly ugly anyway, and nowadays fly the Carlsberg flag. Any history worth preserving is long gone - call in the bulldozers. Apparently founder Joshua Tetley had a personal motto: "Quality pays". He was right, and the inverse is true also.
Incidentally, cask Tetley's used to be available in London at The Griffin, the legendary strip club on Clerkenwell Road. Predictably, it tasted like dishwater. They ripped out the hand pump last year, leaving nekkid ladies as the only attraction for the discerning gentleman like myself.
On Wednesday I wrote about Tony Blows of The Dog Inn, Herefordshire. He's the red-faced landlord who plans to break the law by allowing smoking in his pub. It seems he's not alone - there's another cancer stick crusader up in Blackpool. Thanks to Andy for the tip-off.
 The Happy Scots Bar (formerly The Crazy Scots Fun Palace) is a truly hellish karaoke bar in Blackpool. The website's a real hoot. Landlord Hamish Howitt has registered a political party, UK FAGS (Fight Against Government Suppression). In recent local elections he came eighth out of eight candidates, receiving less than 200 votes. Undeterred, the plucky freedom fighter has daubed his pub with banners opposing the ban.
Here's some moderate and intelligent remarks from the charming Mr. Howitt:
- Outdoor smoking shelters are "humiliation chambers"
- The smoking ban is a "government incited hate crime"
- "Fourteen million adult smokers are under house arrest"
- "Is this Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany?"
Of course there are concerns about the effect the smoking ban will have on the pub trade. Those of us who support publicans at this time of uncertainty should make ourselves heard. On Sunday, stub out the cigarettes and raise a pint glass to a smoke free future.
 England's smoking ban kicks in at midnight on Saturday. You knew that already.
What you might not know is that one Herefordshire landlord is planning to defy the ban. Tony Blows of The Dog Inn, Ewyas Harold (pictured) is quoted in The Publican as saying that “it’s totally out of order, it’s a draconian law based on lies and deceit, and yeah, we are fighting it.”
What a tosser.
. Information: . If you enjoy breathing in other people's smoke and coming home reeking like an ashtray, get yourself down to The Dog Inn, Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, HR2 0EX. According to the red-faced Mr. Blows, 95% of his customers smoke. Sounds like a classy place.
 You'll probably have read elsewhere that Diageo are to close the historic St. James Gate brewery, and move production of Guinness to another Dublin site. There seems to be considerable wailing and gnashing of teeth about this, particularly from the other side of the Atlantic.
Well-informed Irish drinkers will feel differently. They'll know that Guinness, in pursuit of a virtual monopoly, have spent the last century buying up and closing down any rivals. They finally saw off their last Dublin rival in the 1940s, then went round the country buying up and closing down the stragglers. Only Murphy's and Beamish down in Cork held out. In the end they relinquished their tied houses, and the black tide from Dublin wash over them. They were acquired by Heineken and S&N respectively, and brew mainly for export. All the while, the range and quality of Guinness' own products steadily declined.
Imagine your worst nightmares about Greene King's future plans. Now multiply the horror by a factor of ten, and you'll get an inkling as to what the big G has done to brewing in its homeland. It's no coincidence that Eire is one of the last countries in Europe to see any kind of craft beer revival. Aside from micros and brewpubs, there isn't a single independent brewer on the whole island of Ireland. Real ale is almost unheard of.
If you must be sentimental, save it for a worthy cause. The listed buildings within the brewery complex will be converted to commercial or residential use. When you visit Dublin, you'll still be able to gawp at them, before retiring to a pub for a pint of bland, nitrokeg stout from the suburbs.
I'm all for preserving history, but Guinness leaves a nasty taste.
Ron Pattinson, who regularly comments on this blog, yesterday launched his own.
Ron is an invaluable source of material on the history of London brewing. Sources for several of my own articles have come directly from him. If the European Beer Guide is the online equivalent of Ron's back office, hopefully the blog will be the window display.
The name, Shut up about Barclay Perkins, is explained in his introductory post. Barclay Perkins was an 18th century London brewing company that survived right up to 1955, when it merged with Courage. Not content with rediscovering it's history, Ron has even recreated KK, one of the brewery's old beers in collaboration with Dutch micro De Schans.
Last week you watched our latest beer ferment in real time. Dave has condensed the action into a two minute timelapse video. Press play now, and watch nature take its course.
Once again, thanks to Hop & Grape for sponsoring the BrewCam. I hope you like Dolly Parton ...
 I dropped in at The Queen's Larder this afternoon for a quick pit stop, and ended up staying longer than intended. There's been a pub here for centuries, but the current name is a reference to the wife of the "mad King", George III. When he was undergoing treatment at a doctor's house nearby, Queen Charlotte rented a cellar here where food was prepared for her husband.
 Those who inexplicably see London's "theatreland" as something other than an embarrassment will delight at the framed posters of old shows. Those who like creepy dolls will coo at the menacing clowns perched atop the gantry. Personally, I'm more attracted by the location on handsome Queen's Square and the welcome from the friendly staff. Sadly, there's a drawback. The Queen's Larder is tied to Greene King, and the regular ales are the bland GK IPA and the now-repellent Old Speckled Hen. This is, however, one of the few pubs to carry the seasonals from the budding national brewer.
The summer offering is Ale Fresco, a 4.3% abv golden ale that slips back nicely. Perhaps unsurprisingly, people aren't keen to give credit to anything from GK, but this really is a decent pint. It tastes juicy and fresh, with light citrus notes and a clean aftertaste. Not bad at all, and if you ignore the beer politics for a moment, you'll probably enjoy it.
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Information:
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The Queen's Larder is at 1 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 3AR (Tel: 020 7837 5627, map).
 I've asked a few times for tips on where to pick up interesting and unusual beers in London, particularly from those planning a visit.
Since the closure of the Pitfield Beer Shop last year, Utobeer at Borough Market has been pretty much the only show in town. Real Ale in Twickenham and Nelson Wines in Merton, neither of which I've visited, sound good but are out in the suburbs. My last find of note was the City Beverage Company in Hoxton, offering a good range of Pitfield bottles alongside a small selection of international beers.  Today I dropped in at Army & Navy, the House of Fraser department store by Victoria station. Alongside a few Belgian beers and some uninteresting but hard to find "holiday lagers", there's an eclectic choice of British ales. Benedictus, a mighty barley wine from Durham was the first from that award-winning micro I've seen in London. Whoever's doing the ordering clearly has a soft spot for the Scottish isles, with a few from Orkney and Arran on offer. A couple of the more unusual Samuel Smith beers are stocked, alongside the wonderful lambic fruit beers from Melbourn Brothers in Lincolnshire. The small glassware section included one of the world's strangest - the thistle shaped chalice for Belgian brew Gordon Scotch (they sell the beer too). This isn't a one stop shop for all your beer needs, but if you're one of the many commuters or tourists that pass through SW1, it's worth a look. Information:
Army & Navy is at 101 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QX (Tel: 0870 160 7268).
There's a discussion over at Lew Bryson's blog about the meaning of the term "craft beer". It's a term of art unfamiliar to most in Europe, but central to the discussion and marketing of beer in the USA. To Lew, "it's about the beer" - what's in the glass is what matters. To others, nothing from a macrobrewer can be considered craft. As the man himself says, "it starts getting tortuous".
As Roger Protz reports, in 2006 the craft sector claimed a record 10% share of total beer sales in the US. There were 1,377 American breweries describing themselves as "craft" at the last count. Individually, and collectively through the Brewers' Association, they're forging ahead and producing some great beer along the way.
In the UK, our entire debate about beer has been too focused on cask v. non-cask. I'm a firm believer in the joys of real ale, and I want spread the word abroad. You'll recall how gratified I was to discover it in Rome. However, not all good beer fits CAMRA's definition of "real ale", and vice versa. It's time to acknowledge that the Greene King IPAs and Marston's Pedigrees of this world aren't interesting, they're characterless products aimed at the dullest of palates. They don't need an organisation like CAMRA cheering them on. Our talented craft brewers do.
No-one can come up with an objective definition of craft beer, but as an idea it works. Yes, "craft" means something slightly different to each of us. That doesn't matter, as long as the term lies at the heart of a drive to increase awareness and appreciation of fine beers. It's time we embraced a similar concept here in the UK, and started to concentrate on substance rather than form.
So here's the question: how many of our cask breweries would you describe as craft? If your answer is "all of them", I think you're missing the point.
 Not much TLC went into this brew. I don't care how you define "craft beer", this certainly isn't it. What did go into it, however, was a whacking great slug of vanilla extract - it seemed like a great idea at the time.
 Our mild was crafted from the cheapest of homebrew kits. 50% of the fermentable content was brewing sugar, one step up from the stuff you put in your tea. The only part of the process we didn't skimp on was the yeast, using the renowned Whitbread strain (Safale-04). This has had over three weeks in the barrel to mature. By our standards, that's a lifetime. It's dropped pretty bright and looks good in the glass, with a lasting off-white head. How does it taste? Rubbish, to be honest. The vanilla is there, a bit more restrained than we'd thought. There's an unpleasant cidery twang that hits you immediately and lasts all the way to the end. Yuck. That'll be the brewing sugar (if you're kit brewing, go for spray malt every time). Apart from that, it's just a vaguely beery mess. Apparently Joe from the Jerusalem Tavern is willing to polish the rest of this batch off for us. She's all yours, mate. Good luck.
A few weeks ago I mentioned Downton Brewery, a 20 barrel micro in Wiltshire. It was founded just in time for Christmas in 2003. Martin Strawbridge, formerly of Hop Back and Fullers, has manned the brew kettle from the beginning. After reading this article, Charles of Abbey Stores (a site sponsor) kindly offered to send me samples of Downton's beers. After sitting on these for a few weeks (not literally) I cracked them open last night in front of the telly. Usually I like to share new beers, but after a heavy weekend a night on my lonesome with quality bottle conditioned ale was just the ticket.
 Chimera Dark Delight (6.0% abv) is variously described as a strong mild and an old ale. It's deep, dark and ruby in the glass with a smooth white head. The gorgeous malt character produces an almost creamy flavour, with an earthy edge of roasted bitterness. The alcohol adds warmth but not heat. This is one of best new beers I've tried in a while, and I want to drink a lot more of it soon.
 Chimera India Pale Ale is even stronger at 7.0% abv. It's a beautifully clear, pale ale. As with the Dark Delight, East Kent Goldings and Pioneer hops are used, although presumably in far greater quantities. The citrus and grapefruit notes I expected were there, but this is far from being a hop bomb and slips back very easily. Downton's effort is similar to the more widely available Meantime IPA but this is the better beer, I think.
Judging from the two beers I savoured last night, Downton fits my ideal of where British brewing should be heading. Hand crafted ales produced with the best ingredients, pushing at the old boundaries while remaining well balanced and true to our traditions. The days of dray horses and wooden casks are finally coming to an end, but there's plenty to rejoice about in England's malt kingdom.
Information:
Downton Brewery is based on Downton Industrial Estate, near Salisbury, Wiltshire (Tel: 01722 322890). Their cask beers surface on the free trade from time to time, but if you're in the market for bottles, call or email Abbey Stores and Charles should be able to sort you out.
On the left hand side of this page you can watch a beer as it ferments. In a few days, when the action is over, we'll post a 3 minute timelapse video showing the whole process.
In the next twelve hours we're hoping to see a burgeoning cap of foam, as the yeast chows down on the fermentables in the wort, producing alcohol and CO2. Remember - the brewer makes the wort, but it's the yeast that makes the beer. Let's cheer the little fellas on. Frankly, this beats the shit out of Big Brother.
[UPDATE - CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FINAL VIDEO]
Information:
- Thanks again to our sponsors, Hop & Grape. They can send you everything you need to create your own brews. Go on, get yourself a nice hobby, like your dad.
- To watch the timelapse video from our last brew, click here.
 Wetherspoons are up to their old tricks again, persuading continental brewers to produce cask versions of their regular beers for the UK market.
The latest effort is Herold Granat from the Czech Republic. I tried it today at The Angel, a ropey pub in Islington. It'll be available in selected Spoons outlets for the next week or two. This 5.0% abv beer is of a style unusual even in its home country. Vienna-style amber lagers used to be very rare, although the popularity of Staropramen Granat in recent years has coincided with something of a revival.
This special cask version is naturally carbonated, and as such looks and feels far more like a real ale. The caramel notes and aggressive hop character are appealing, but the distinctly sour flavour - even from a freshly tapped cask - are surely unintentional. This is worth trying for the curiosity value, but I'm unconvinced the experiment has worked.
Do cask lagers really work? I've sampled quite a few now, and the answer seems to be no.
Information:
- The Angel is 3-5, Islington High St, London, N1 9LQ, Tel: 020 7837 2218, map). It really isn't a nice place, but the location's very handy.
- Herold Granat is featured along with the rest of Wetherspoons' current guest ale list here.
 I used to live in Prague, Czech Republic, and I think that's where beer really got me in its grips.
 The dark lagers really grabbed me at the time, and when I returned to the UK I couldn't find any for love nor money. A couple of years ago Budvar Dark, a new brew from an old brewer, was introduced at CAMRA festivals. It quickly found a permanent home in The Lord John Russell. It's not my favourite example of the style, but it's certainly a lovely beer - full bodied, with rich, smoky notes.
One of the places you can enjoy this dark and satisfying lager is the appropriately named Bar Prague, right in the heart of Shoreditch. I've been a few times before, once meeting up with Ludi, the Czech owner. He's done a good job. It's a great place, more of a cafe bar than a pub. The lighting is low, the atmosphere is relaxed, with groups clustered around dark wooden tables. It doesn't half remind me of the new generation of great drinking holes tucked away around the Bohemian capital.
 The drinks selection takes in a range of bottled Czech lagers, although there's nothing you can't get elsewhere in London. Pilsner Urquell and two types of Budvar are on draught. The Czech "usual suspects" (Fernet, Becherovka, Slivovice) are handy if you fancy getting ruined.
Last night I arranged to meet a few of the lads there for beers. Mike turned up already half cut and had to bail mid-session, dazed and confused. The rest of us ploughed through until midnight. I stuck on the Dark all night, taking in a few Becherovka shots for good measure. Kebabs were involved, naturally.
Friday morning never felt so good.
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Information:
- Budějovický Budvar is online here. It's the last state owned brewery in the Czech Republic, although unfortunately the current right wing government want to sell it off. The rotters.
- Bar Prague is at 6 Kingsland Road, E2 8DA (Tel: 08714268480 , map, website).
Industry rag the Publican reported this week that Fullers pubs are serve to the brewery's own Honey Dew ale over ice with with a slice of lime. Honey Dew is a keg beer. All in all, this is a pretty grim picture.  Twerps who force a wedge of fruit into a bottle of Mexican pisswater can be safely ignored. Fullers should know better. The company's Clare Draper has this to say for herself:
We have obviously seen the effect the over-ice serve has had on the market. We looked at it, wondering if it was something we should do. We decided to trial Honeydew – ice in sweeter tasting products has been proven to work before. And it really does taste great along with the zesty lime. What next? ESB with an ice cream float? London Porter with a Cadbury's Flake sticking out the top? . Fullers is a solid brewer with a fabulous history. They resisted the keg revolution in the 60s and 70s and stuck to their guns. It's no coincidence that they're the last man standing among London's historic breweries. The marketing people probably advised ditching cask back then, just as they're telling them to stick fruit in their beer today. Ice and lime belong in a G&T, not in a glass of ale.
 So far our beer has only reached those lucky enough to visit the brewery tap. It's time to put that right, and break into new markets.
After much deliberation we've decided to invest in a high-tech bottling line. Our set-up now includes an extra piece of plastic tubing, a crown capper and a few boxes of used St Peter's bottles. Please ignore the unsightly appearance of the Goon's lower half. Last night we racked the world-famous Judy Garland Stout into a 2 gallon keg and 19 half litre bottles. In three or four weeks it'll be ready for drinking. . We're expecting the first Greene King takeover bid any day now...
 England's old regional brewers are an endangered species. Many have been bought up and closed by their larger brethren, while others have merged themselves out of existence. Some manage to cling on, but seem incapable of devising beers suited to the modern palate. For me, the new generation of microbrewers are the great white hope, producing most of the innovative and appetising brews I prefer.
 Nevertheless, it's sad when another great name from Britain's brewing past falls off the tree. Many new generation brewers operate with a skeleton staff from drab boxes on industrial estates, a far cry from the elegant breweries that were once a feature of many British towns. The dray horses have been put out to pasture, and most of us drink beer brewed far away.
Harvey's of Lewes is a real survivor. Taking a break from our own nascent brewery, we took a train from Farringdon to the South Downs. We wanted to see the iconic brewery with our own eyes. It's housed in a truly beautiful building, in the shadow of a great white cliffside at the foot of the main thoroughfare. Lewes is one of England's most beautiful towns, every street and narrow lane offering another view of the hills. The centre is crowned by a magnificent 14th century castle. Replete with beautiful architecture and handsome, traditional pubs, it's impossible not to fall in love with the place.  We stopped off at the brewery tap, The John Harvey Tavern. It's a converted stables where the full Harvey's range is available from casks on stillage (pictured left). We enjoyed a perfect pint of seasonal Harvey's Copperwheat, a distinctively English wheat beer.
 Before leaving, we also dropped in at the town's most famous pub, The Lewes Arms (pictured right). Earlier this year it was the centre of a controversy which brought it to national attention. Owners Greene King tried to drop the local ale from the bar in favour of their own substandard beers. Thankfully GK backed down. We were able to enjoy a pint of Harvey's Sussex Best, thanks to the concerted efforts of determined locals. Sitting on the pub's terrace with a pint in hand, looking down on a street that has barely changed in a hundred years, we were more than happy to toast their victory.
Information: - Harvey's are based at The Bridge Wharf Brewery, Cliffe High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AH UK (website).
- The John Harvey Tavern is at 1 Bear Yard, Cliffe High St, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AN (map).
- The Lewes Arms is at Mount Place, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1YH (map).
Here's the final video of last week's fermentation: six days of yeast orgy condensed into three minutes of fascinating viewing.
We've decided to name our creation Judy Garland Stout, and you'll hear her singing Howard Arlen's classic Get Happy! as you watch the video. Just like her, it grew up in the public eye, and turned out very bitter...
Cheers to Dave the Goon who put the video together while suffering from a monster hangover. At one point he considered giving up, suggesting I put together a flipbook and mail it out to readers. Thank also to the BrewCam's sponsors, Hop & Grape. They're Britain's leading homebrew supplier, and can send you everything you need to create your own brews. Have a bash at homebrewing, you won't regret it.
Watch out - next week the BrewCam will be back in action. [UPDATE - CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR LATEST TIMELAPSE VIDEO]
 At the beginning of 2006, only two of London's historic regionals remained. By the end of the year, Fullers stood alone, with keg-pushing Meantime becoming the capital's second largest brewer. Young's merged its brewing operations with Wells, and upped sticks to Bedford. The company retained its own pub estate.
An article in this week's Publican suggests that Fullers, keen to expand, have their eye on Young's pub estate. They'd be getting their hands on some real gems, such as The Flask in Hampstead (pictured left). If they were to rebrand these pubs, Fullers would have a much bigger presence across London, and Young's beers would become relatively rare.
What the article doesn't say is that if Fullers were to acquire Young's & Co Brewery plc, they'd also acquire its 40% stake in the Wells & Young's Brewing Company.
Greene King, eat your heart out.
Yes, according to Jason Alstrom, one of the two brothers responsible for BeerAdvocate, a beer website which is seen as an online bible for many devotees in the USA.
The tone on the discussion forums tends to be abrasive, but they're certainly the most active on any beer website. I participate from time to time. Yesterday, in a discussion prompted by the CEO of SABMiller's prediction that the craft beer resurgence in the US is going to "fade", Jason said:
"in the next ten years look for an up swing of US craft beer being exported as a few European countries that are on the down turn have created a void. England and Germany to name two ... Germany is losing loads of breweries and English brewers are brewing beer for people who don't like beer ... that is what I have been hearing." Do you agree with any of this? I'm not sure I do.First of all, I don't see that the beer scene in England (by which I assume he means the UK) is suffering a downturn. On the contrary, the future seems bright. Old regional brewers are indeed fading away, with only a few remaining truly independent, but on the other hand new micros are opening all the time - 29 new breweries have opened so far in 2007 alone, with lots more in the pipeline. Indeed, I've posted about a new London brewpub today. Secondly, I'm not sure that the good beer that makes up around 5% of the US market is going to cancel out the negative perceptions of American beer engendered by the other 95%. The fact that imported American ales would come in keg form won't help the invasion either - a pint of real ale is one of our beloved national icons. Comments, as ever, are welcome.
.JPG) Many of you will remember the Firkin brewpubs. The first was opened in 1979 by ex-brewer David Bruce, in an ex-Truman Brewery house down in Elephant and Castle. Nine years later he sold what was now a national chain to European Leisure. Sadly, the estate ended up in the hands of Bass, who promptly closed down the brewing operations in 1999. A happy side effect was a flood of second-hand equipment on the market, snapped up by eager microbrewers. Bruce's latest venture, the Capital Pub Company, was founded in 2000. It now owns more than 20 local pubs across London, all unbranded and free of tie. Among them are The Cock & Hen in Fulham and The Florence in Herne Hill, the capital's newest brewpubs. While Bruce may be the backer for these new ventures, the man brewing the beer is Tony Lennon. I met up with Tony on Sunday at The Cock & Hen to talk about his new career as London's newest - and at 27, youngest - brewer.  Down in Herne Hill, Tony's currently putting the finishing touches to his new creation - a golden ale to to be christened Weasel. This will be available soon, and you can expect to see a review here. Across town in Fulham, the house beer is Bonobo, named after a libidinous breed of chimpanzee. There are plans to make make each of the beers available at both pubs in future. The mash tun and fermenting vessels are housed in the Cock's spacious cellar. You could hold a ball room dance down there and still have room for a game of darts. The boil takes place up in a brew kettle upstairs (pictured left), filling the bar with the heady aromas of malt and hops once every three weeks.  Conditioning tanks ( pictured right) stand alongside the casks in a temperature controlled room. Tony allows the beer to properly mature for a month before sale. The batch size is roughly five barrels (180 gallons). As he showed us around, it became clear that Tony's proud of both the set-up and the quality ingredients he's using, and dedicated to developing his beers.  It's not how shiny your equipment is that counts - the proof is in the drinking. We sampled the fruits of Tony's labour out in the sunny beer garden. Bonobo (4.5% abv) is a light bodied, quaffable ale that's a clear amber in the glass. The emphasis is on drinkability, with the fruity flavours providing a gentle hook and the long malty aftertaste settling in nicely for the session. This a beer that combines the allure and promise of a dark beer with the easy going drinkability of a lighter ale. Chinook and Cascade hops from New Zealand are used, offering grapefruit and a refined bitterness. This is a very solid beer, interesting enough for the hardened beer lover but accessible for the casual drinker. .In my pub review of The Cock & Hen, I said it was a new highlight for the London pub scene. As a brewery, it's a welcome peer for The Horseshoe in Hampstead, the only other London brewpub turning out beer of this quality. Certain others in London have concentrated on turning out poor quality continental-style beers, and serve them in unappealing, gimmicky surroundings. It doesn't have to be that way. .At last, we're seeing a new wave of quality pub brewing in London. Great news for all of us.
. Information:. - The Capital Pub Company PLC is based in Mayfair (website).
- The Cock & Hen is at 360 North End Road, SW6 (Tel: 020 7385 6021, map, website).
- The Florence is at 133 Dulwich Road, SE24 0NG (Tel: 020 7236 4987, map).
 You'll have seen my earlier articles on The Cock & Hen and The Florence, London's newest brewpubs. The Cock & Hen's house beer, the dark and fruity Bonobo, is now on sale and we were eager to try it out.
Emerging from the underground into an anonymous shopping centre, we were met with a banner insisting that "life begins at Fulham Broadway". I beg to differ. The location for this new venture is well chosen: this is an area in which "last chance Sunday" at the Pitcher & Piano is a social highlight. This part of West London is long overdue a beery shot in the arm.  Manager Scott and his team, backed by the Capital Pub Company, have taken a run down high street boozer and converted it into the entrepreneur's dream - a destination pub. The interior is airy and spacious, but remains interesting thanks to listed dark wood panelling and period fireplaces. There's a gleaming brew kettle on display behind the enormous bar. At the back, the pub opens out into a large L-shaped patio, a welcoming sun trap well away from the traffic of North End Road.  The main draw for me, as you might have guessed, was the beer. The brewing operation in the cellar and the house ale the produce will be the subject of the next article. Nothing on draught or in the bottle comes from the normal, throwaway brands. The two cask ales, aside from Bonobo, come from Adnams (Explorer plus a seasonal), with keg beers from Meantime, Budvar and Erdinger. I was particularly pleased to see not a trace of Guinness, with Sam Smith's Extra Stout on tap instead. The West London Antipodeans will be pleased to see Speights from New Zealand's South Island and Coopers from South Australia among the bottles. I imagine the cute Aussie barmaid won't go down badly either. I don't normally say much about food in pubs, but we were impressed with the menu here. The Sunday roasts looked spectacular, but we opted for fish and chips with Bonobo batter and mushy peas. £6 for a plentiful, home cooked lunch is fantastic in London. This is definitely a place to pair beer with food. The Cock & Hen is London's newest pub highlight, and deserves to do very well indeed. Regulars of all ages are beginning to emerge after only a few weeks. They might well have one more . . . Information:
. The Cock & Hen is at 360 North End Road, SW6 (Tel: 020 7385 6021, map, website).
 If you look to the left hand side of the page, you'll see Stonch's BrewCam has replaced the normal welcome graphic. The image updates every two minutes.
 Now you can watch a brew as it ferments, instead of having to stare at my hirsute visage.
At the end of primary fermentation, we'll post a video clip showing the entire process compressed into just thirty seconds of yeasty madness. Enjoy.
This batch is another stout, and we're fairly optimistic after the last effort. We're using a condensed wort from Cooper's of Australia, made up with a kilo of dried malt extract.
PS. In case you're wondering, this isn't an open fermentation. After taking the photo above left, we covered it over with lashings of cling film to keep the nasties out.
[CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FINAL VIDEO]
A number of London's old pubs are blessed with interesting ceramic work inside and out, but I've never seen anything as spectacular as this.
The Macbeth at 70 Hoxton Street (N1 6LP) isn't somewhere I'd stop for a drink, appearing to be more of a pool and lager joint than a proper boozer. However, passing by I spotted this depiction of a Shakespearean scene inside. Wonderful.
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This weekend we're off on a jaunt to the country. For some reason friends have decided that Stonch and Goon might be appropriate house guests. It's time to show them the error of their ways.
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