You live in a nation with a rather proud beer heritage, so it’s basically your patriotic duty to welcome the return of London Beer Week with open, slightly wobbly, arms. Running until this Sunday 19 March, expect a whole host of boozy events and special offers, as hop-heads make their way to LBW’s pop-up beer market, at Oval Space in Bethnal Green (open Thursday until Saturday). Read on for our pick of pubs and bars taking part this week and what’s on offer – see you at the bar.
Words: Eamonn Crowe
Sharp’s Brewery Lost & Found pop-up restaurant, Bethnal Green
As part of London Beer Week’s beer market hub this weekend (called The Beer Edit and opening on Thursday), Sharp’s Brewery is launching a temporary micro-restaurant, called Lost & Found. Guests are promised a gastronomic journey via beer and food pairings, all the work of Sharp’s beer sommelier (that’s surely a contender for job of the year). The restaurant is going to operate a no-bookings policy, with the Sharp's team hand-selecting punters for entry who 'look a bit lost'. As with The Beer Edit in general, Lost & Found’s opening hours are Thursday to Saturday from 6pm until 11pm, with an extra daytime session on Saturday, from midday until 5pm.
Where: Oval Space, 29-32 The Oval, E2 9DT
The Sun Tavern, Bethnal Green
This no-frills, Lower East Side-style drinking den is a comfortable bolthole that focuses on Irish whiskeys and the finest ales from local breweries, with a tap lineup which changes daily.
LBW offer: Beer Edit ticketholders can enjoy limited-editions ‘hoptails’ for £5 each
Where: 441 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AN
Peg + Patriot, Bethnal Green
From Matt Whiley (the man behind Talented Mr Fox), this edgy haunt is known for creating unlikely marriages between spirits and strange ingredients: parsley, butter, coriander, verjus (a pressed juice of sour fruits), bitters and smoke, for example – totally normal.
LBW offer: Enjoy a bourbon and beer cocktail for £10
Where: Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, E2 9NF
Hopscotch, Shoreditch
This new Brick Lane bar mixes one part booze food, to two parts great drinks. Expect small plates of lamb shank with cooling raita or raw scallops with jalapeño, for example, alongside fun cocktails such as the punchy Beijan Café (coffee, cherry and rum).
LBW offer: Enjoy a bourbon and beer cocktail for £9
Where: 202 Brick Lane, E1 6SA
Company Below, Soho
Why here: One of Soho’s smallest cocktail bars, this place is hidden beneath meatball restaurant Balls & Company and has a simple, unfussy charm. Snack on polenta chips or chocolate brownies with your bevvies.
LBW offer: Enjoy limited-edition ‘hoptails’ for £9
Where: 58 Greek Street, W1D 3DY
The Cocktail Trading Company, Shoreditch
A 1920s-inspired gin joint, this drinking den is unashamedly garish. Expect gimmicky presentation along the lines of the Tom & Jerry (a spicy bourbon, curaçao and salted chestnut gelato float, served with a cheese-baited mousetrap on the side). Fortunately, CTC's cocktails are more sophisticated than they look and taste pretty damn good too.
LBW offer: Get an Irish Ginger Snap Shandy for £6
Where: 68 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6GQ
For further information on London Beer Week and to order The Beer Edit entry tickets, check out London Beer Week's official website, and for more inspiration on where to drink in London, take a look at our latest bar round up.
This article was published 15 March 2017