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London's best craft beer bars and pubs

American-style craft beers are becoming hugely popular in London. Here's the best places to drink them

View the top 50 bars and pubs

© Ross Fortune

Here's our ultimate pick of the city's watering holes – how many have you visited?

View the best real ale pubs

© Anthony Webb

Nowhere in Britain drinks more real ale – cask-conditioned beer without chemical preservatives – than London. Here's the best places to sample these traditional bitters, milds, stouts and porters

Craft beer – interesting, progressive beers made by small-scale microbreweries, and distinct from real ale – is often explosively hoppy and quite unlike traditional British beer. There's an increasing number of London bars and pubs that specialise in them: here's our pick.

By Euan Ferguson

Do you have a favourite bar that serves brilliant craft beer? Let us know about it – leave a comment below.

  • Southampton Arms

      139 Highgate Road, London, NW5 1LE

    Lovers of traditional pubs who expect a thoughtful beer list to pick through cite the Southampton Arms as a perfect model. Everything on draught comes from small, dedicated and independent UK brewers such as Marble from Manchester, Fyne in Scotland and Slater's in Stafford.

  • White Horse

     

    You'd be hard pushed to find a pub that treats beer with more reverence than the White Horse in Parson's Green. Numerous Camra awards recognise its dedication to real ale, but craft brews also are taken very seriously. There's the fabulously hoppy and refreshing Little Creatures from Fremantle, Australia (on draught, too), and a spectacular range by the bottle, including sections of Trappist, Abbey, Pale, Amber, Dark, Lambic, Fruit, Wheat, Koch, to name a few… 

  • The Draft House

      206 - 208 Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1 2UP

    The list of bottles at this Tower Bridge branch (there are another two in Battersea and Clapham) are divided by style, rather than region. So 'Saison & Flemish Red' contains the Belgian Saison 1900 and Rodenbach Original; Left Hand Milk Stout and Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout grace the 'Stouts & Porters'. Draught, unsurprisingly, doesn't disappoint either, with Schremser Roggen among the more unusal options.

  • Euston Tap

      West Lodge, 190 Euston Rd, London, NW1 2EF

    Far more than a pre- or post-train pint stop, the Tap has eight beers on cask, 20 by the keg and a further 150 in bottle. Bristol's delicious Chocolate Stout and Camden Town's take on an English bitter (brewed nearby) are the sort of thing you'll see on tap.

  • Old Brewery

      Pepys Building, Old Royal Naval College, London, SE10 9LM

    Brewer Alistair Hook and his team's own artisan beers feature strongly on the menu at this Greenwich bar and restaurant, as you'd expect, but there's plenty of outside choice too. The full Meantime range, including the lesser-spotted Union dark lager, Chocolate beer and Cask Pale Ale are worth a visit on their own; the best of British, Belgian and beyond appear among the fifty-ish craft beers served by the bottle.

  • Old Red Cow

      71 Long Lane, London, EC1A 9EJ

    New owners have beefed up the beer offer in this historic Smithfield pub, fitting US-style back-bar taps and making them flow with a regularly changing selection of craft beers (there are real ales too). By the bottle, an interesting selection of larger offerings to share is welcome, and although the range is limited by fridge space, it's well chosen.

  • Powder Keg Diplomacy

      147 St John's Hill, London, SW11 1TQ

    An almost-over-the-top colonial theme might put off some serious drinkers, but a glance at the beer menu should dispel any doubts. The US, Australia and New Zealand are well represented alongside some little seen British beers from the likes of Bristol Beer Company or Lovibonds from Henley.

  • Railway Tavern

      2 St Jude Street, London, N16 8JT

    A very friendly neighbourhood pub on the Islington/Dalston borders that delights locals with a changing range of craft and real ales on draught. There's always a Brewdog, and Redemption, Purity and Meantime get a look in too.

  • Rake

      14 Winchester Walk, London, SE1 9AG

    Seven kegs, three casks and 130 bottles – you wouldn't expect the owners of Borough Market's comprehensively stocked Utobeer stall to hold back when it came to their own diminutive bar. The bottles come from all over the world; on draught is a changing selection of often rare beers from Europe, particularly Belgium.

  • Bull

      13 North Hill, London, N6 4AB

    There's a bias towards US beers at this refurbed historic pub in Highgate – look out for examples from Odell, Left Hand Brewing Co and Goose Island. There's quality on draught too, with five real ales (from the likes of Tottenham's Redemption) and ten kegs. The pub also brews its own beers.

  • Cask

      6 Charlwood Street, London, SW1V 6EE

    The Cask claims to stock Britain's biggest selection of bottled beer, and it's no slouch on the draught front either. As well as some of the best brews from Germany, Holland and Belgium, you'll find many rare beers from the USA too.

  • Craft Beer Company

      82 Leather Lane, London, EC1N 7TR

    A whopping 37 beers are served on draught here, and owners work directly with microbreweries to snag some rare and unusual tipples. The USA and Belgium are well represented in the selection of bottles. Look out for exclusive imported beers you won't see anywhere else in London.

  • Jolly Butchers

      204 Stoke Newington High Street, London, N16 7HU

    This no-nonsense Stokey boozer is known primarily for its real ales and ciders, but there is also solid representation on tap and in the fridges from local microbreweries like Kernel and Camden, and other progressive British producers like Thornbridge, Brewdog and Darkstar.

  • Mason & Taylor

      51-55 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA

    If you're struck by indecision when facing the 12 craft and keg beers on draught in this Bethnal Green beer nirvana, ask one of the friendly staff for a taster, or take advantage of the third-of-a-pint tasting 'flights'. Special mention goes to the presence of West Coast Pale Ale from Huddersfield's forward-thinking Magic Rock brewery, Thornbridge's Jaipur IPA and the changing Brewdog guest beer. In the bottle try Brodie's London Porter or something from the range of Belgians.


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Comments

By Euan Ferguson - Jan 10 2012

Update, 10/01/12: The Ink Rooms has closed, and we've taken it off our list – thanks.

Also, The Craft Beer Co: we've removed the reference to Flying Dog, thanks for pointing that out.

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By beef fan - Nov 13 2011

Based on an expedition earlier this week it appears Ink Rooms has closed.

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By Rugby Phil - Nov 6 2011

The Crown, Blackfriars rd, is the newby on the block when it comes to craft beers and ales. the current owners have been in situ' 2 years and got it coming along nicly. 3 real ales, always rotating ( Brewsters, Brentford & Highland breweries are on today). appprox 50 US beers in the fridge and 9 taps which also change quite frequently. The food is pretty good as well ( something that some craft pubs overlook!). In my opinion the crown is the best pub in the southwark area for offering a non-mainstrean generic beer! In fact, its the only pub in the Southwark tube station area that isnt a fosters/stella swillpit.

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By The Craft Beer Co - Nov 4 2011

For lovers of Flying dog beers we should clarify that we do not and have never sold any of these beers. We actually specialise in Genuine and authentic craft beers from the USA and Europe which we import into the UK ourselves which means that our entire range is almost entirely exclusive in the UK to ourselves or sister pub CASK. While we think highly of Sierra Nevada, Anchor and Flying Dog we do not sell these beers as there are so many others already doing a fine job in offering these beers. We uniquely specialise in small batch authentic Artisan beers, our cask ale selection matches this philosophy.

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