Southwark Brewing, Bermondsey, SE1

Having only ever visited the Brew By Numbers Taproom on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, I thought it was about time that I explored some of the other bars along here. Starting at London Bridge station, you pass a number of very commercial-looking ventures. Southwark Brewing is the first proper brewery that you come to. This was a good starting point and was the place stocking the most cask ales on my Saturday evening visit. All 6 cask ales were from Southwark. Bermondsey Best & London Pale Ale are the regular beers. The other 4 were Mayflower, Potters' Fields Porter, Saison By Sam & Top Drop. Craft beers also all from Southwark were Big Bear Wish You Were Here Pale & Crazy Diamond & You Crazy Diamond Saion. They also had their own draught cider. This place in a railway arch was much smaller than some of the other ventures, but I enjoyed my Porter and of all of the places I visited on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, I found this to be the best.

Usual Bermondsey Beer Mile deal, with canteen tables under the railway arches and little else apart from beer and chatter. However, it is one of the best options for cask ale with five available on handpump or gravity dispense - LPA, Bermondsey Best, Bankside Blonde, Nelson Sauvin (£3.25, schooner) and Mayflower Session IPA - plus four craft keg beers.

Depending on which end you start, this may well be considered the first stop on the famed Bermondsey Beer Mile, and is a good introduction to what to expect from most of the other stops. Located in the arches under the railway track, it is of course a brewery tap rather than a pub, and this is reflected in the somewhat industrial style décor, if one could go so far as calling it that. Flooring was some type of concrete covered in flaky red paint, whilst the walls and arched ceiling were clad with corrugated iron which had been painted white and seemed to act as a drainage system to channel the continually dripping water from the tunnel roof away from the punters underneath. In a nod to on-trend pub design, a number of exposed filament style light bulbs were strung around, as well as a few strings of fairly lights. Seating was basic and rather flimsy wooden benches whilst a TV screen was up in the corner, although this was not in use on our visit. The rear of the pub contained the brewery equipment, and a number of vessels and so forth were visible. Beers on tap were all their own as might be expected, and consisted of Routemaster Red, Fagins Den, Oatmeal Milk Stout, Southwark LPA, Potters’ Fields Porter and Mayflower Session IPA. Unfortunately there were no ciders on tap, just a rather disappointing Bulmer’s in bottles, which I politely declined.

This is yet one more brewery along the Bermondsey mile. The interior is still as described by Pubsignman over three years ago, although I wouldn't say that the brewery operation is hidden at the back as it's openly visible for all to see. Also, there were no facilities for outside drinking, although of course smokers can be seen lounging around leaning against walls. There were six ales on handpump during my Wednesday evening visit - Belair Park; Potter's Field Porter; London Pale Ale; Bermondsey Best; Rhode Island New England IPA; and Barbe Rouge Single Hop. This looked a good variety of styles. I had pints of the Rhode Island and the Porter (£4.20 a pint) and both were in excellent condition. This is the only one of the Bermondsey mile breweries that I've visited, but I suspect that the the real ale selection makes it one of, if not the, best.