Craft Beer Co, EC1

An exciting, new wave craft beer emporium, tucked away just off the Clerkenwell Road. Rather smaller than I was expecting and decked out in the slightly sparse modern style, but still impressive for all that. Basically, beer is king here and even the most jaded palate should be able to find something suitable from the 16 hand pumps, 21 keg fonts and scores of bottles on offer. I was more than happy to stay with the ales and found my Thornbridge ‘Kipling’ and Crouch Vale ‘Yakima Gold’ in good nick, but heart flutteringly expensive, at £3.80, for someone used to paying around a pound less, per pint, in the north. The young bar staff were friendly and slick and there was a good atmosphere, from a surprisingly varied clientele, when I called mid-afternoon on a Friday. However, I wouldn’t like to visit at peak times, as I can see it getting ridiculously crowded. Despite that small reservation, I’d recommend the CBC to any true beer fan and will almost certainly call again if in the area.

My first and definitely not my last trip to this beer emporium,which is fast becoming one of the best in the capital.The exterior is smaller than I expected and is situated in an interesting neighbourhood,while the interior has been largely stripped out but still includes interesting features like the mirrored ceiling and chandelier.The raised bench seating around the perimeter walls with high tables and stools is not the most comfortable ,but understandable given the popularity and the need to drink vertically at busy times.I really liked the polite but firm instruction to two potential bar blockers when they moved stools to sit in front of the handpumps,the staff explaining the error of their selfish ways and asking them to keep the bar clear.If only other pubs would adopt this kind of policy at a peak time such as 6pm Friday.If you don't like crowded pubs ,you may want to carefully schedule any visit here or check out the first floor seating. The ale selection was outstanding ,featuring micros with a reputation for excellence such as Dark Star,Redemption,Magic Rock and Durham on my trip.Prices vary with ABV,and some of the strong stuff I sampled was closing in on £4pp but worth it.Quality was very high on all pints sunk by the team. The keg beers appeared much more expensive than the ale,although many were rare and imported.I missed the opportunity to have a drink off between the cask and keg varieties of Dark Star Revelation as a result of the cask running out quickly.Maybe that was the answer to that particular question. I felt that this was even better than the sister pub Cask in Pimlico,and to describe it as a must visit is a gross understatement.

I have visited this establishment 3 times in the past couple of months, each time on a Sunday lunch. It never gets busy, just 4 or 5 guys drinking and reading the papers. Excellent selection of real ales and Keg but at a price. Some of the unusual foreign Keg stuff is very expensive, Having seen a Rogue Ale from Oregon USA and having been to the brewery on my travels I was going to give it a go, but at £6 a half, I decided on 2 pints of somthing from this side of the Atlantic. Still, don't be put off, excellent pub, superbly knowledgable staff and good bar snacks makes this a london destination boozer. I will definatly be in there again, but not over the Christmas break as they are closed for most of it!

“What today’s Ale drinker wants is choice” is a line increasingly peddled by the growing number of micro breweries, including the head brewer of Wibblers Brewery in Essex, who was propping up the bar with his good lady wife after trying to influence the Craft Beer Co to take some of their wares. And if that is the case then this place delivers it in spades. And evidence on this visit would infer that they may well be correct. Six months into this venture the pub was jammed when I arrived early midweek evening and whereas most city pubs will empty out as the after office crowd venture home, this remained full throughout the evening as others arrived at a steady rate. The interior and impressive array of beer pumps has been well covered by previous reviewers and I will concur that this is more of a proper pub experience than the location in Pimlico. But its current popularity means standing room only, so not likely to be a comfortable or quiet experience, unless there is enough of you to book the upstairs lounge. . The service is very sharp and the beer quality of all the ones we tried was top notch, but it will not be a low cost experience, as mentioned by others below. The Cask Ale tariff of £3.40 to £4.50 depending on gravity is not too outrageous for central London prices, but it does ratchet up significantly for the very high ABV brews and bottles as mentioned There’s no food on offer except for ‘high quality bar snacks’ in the shape of handmade scotch eggs and pork pies. But here again, the local cash point will be busy at £5.00 for half a 4inch Pork Pie and £3.50 for a Scotch egg. And as much as I adore real scotch eggs, the hard boiled egg would need to have been shelled using the thighs of a virgin during the manufacturing process for me to fork out £3.50. But all in all, this is already a must visit location for the ale drinker and one I am sure is destined for future success. And the company pub web site is requesting suggestions to where they can open other locations this format looks likely to grow. However the Nimby in me hopes that no-one suggests my backstreet local in N21 as that would spell the end of me getting a seat or being able to afford to drink there with regularity.