I purchased two tickets for a brewery tour and meal at London Fields brewery as an anniversary gift for my boyfriend. We were booked on the 15:00 tour on Saturday the 8 November and had not previously visited the Tap Room, despite drinking the beer and living in East London. It was a dreary, rainy afternoon and the bar was bustling when we arrived- it was very comfortable and buzzing with crowds of people both eating and drinking. Staff members at the bar were enthusiastic and extremely helpful, although it was very busy and they were out of some of the beers that we wanted to sample on tap (the black IPA in particular). They sold their regular and seasonal offerings in half and full pints and also had an affordable house wine by the glass with some spirits behind the bar.
We were gathered up at the bar for our brewery tour- it was very relaxed and the group size was about 20 people. The group did vary in age, but the highest contingency were noticeably young professional 30-somethings who had a penchant for craft beer (as most of them had been to Meantime, Camden, Kernel and other local breweries). We were led into the brewery, which is very bijoux and we had several brewers trying to work around us. The tour lasted about 30 minutes; it was very informal and the tour guide was an enthusiastic brewer herself, so she was able to explain some of the chemistry and science behind the various stages of the brewing process. She was happy to take questions throughout and we got the impression that the tour was bespoke and based on the interests of the group. We spend some time differentiating cask ales versus keg ales, for instance. There is not much to actually see in the brewery, but you do get a sense of the small scale of the operation and how hands-on the brewers are with every batch that they brew- aside from this, it isn't a walking tour and we were kept in the same spot throughout (but you can see some of the machines used to carbonate the beer from windows in the Tap Room).
We were taken back to the Tap Room and invited to taste some of the beers that we had discussed- in particular, it was very elucidating to compare Hackney Hopster in both cask and keg forms. I was surprised to find that the keg variation was much more flavoursome and the cask did taste very flat and bland in comparison. We also tried Love not War, an ale, which was pleasant and their wheat beer, which I particularly liked.
We opted to add food to our brewery tour and this was served with the beer tasting portion of the tour- only a couple of patrons on the tour had food tickets, so it was slightly awkward to interact with others in our group (but they were looking on with envy). The food comprised of a meat and cheese sharing board with bread and a selection of one of their burgers/rolls- this ranged from a pulled pork, jerk chicken, halloumi or rarebit sandwich. I actually bought a vegetarian ticket because I wasn't sure what the food selection would be in advance and I don't eat most red meat, so I was a bit surprised to find that they did not have an alternative for the meat and cheese platter (i.e. perhaps meze instead of meat); I asked our guide and she was very happy to offer us a larger cheese board, but my partner does eat meat, so we declined. They had also run out of their halloumi burger, which was a disappointment, but I was swayed by the pulled pork instead. The burgers were good and arrived with apple sauce, pickles and slaw, but no chips or any sides.
Before leaving, I wanted to try the pumpkin spice seasonal beer and it was delicious! I had already tried Camden Brewery's pumpkin ale and the former had a more pronounced taste, more like pumpkin pie- it was very balanced and the sweetness was more of an aftertaste, but I thought it a successful and extremely quaffable attempt!
I would recommend going on the London Fields tour for beer aficionados- it's laid-back and informal compared to most brewery tours that I have been on, but we enjoyed it. The groups seem to get very busy and they do several tours a day on the weekends, but in spite of this, I didn't feel too rushed. The food at the Tap Room is perfect for lunch, but I would have preferred ordering after the tour and relaxing with our lunch to soak up the atmosphere in the bar- I wouldn't necessarily recommend the combo ticket, but I would stay and eat there. The burgers that we were offered ranged in price on the menu from about £6-£7 each.
I think that we will definitely be visiting the Tap Room again for a few cheeky drinks and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to scope it out and put it on our East London radar. read more