Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Hackney Wick

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Crate Brewery

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Crate Brewery

    This probably isn’t the best view of Crate’s exterior, but it’s the only one I took, so that’s that decided. This is a craft beer bar and they also sell pizza, located next door to Howling Hops.

    The interior wasn’t particularly busy, although there were a few people sitting outside overlooking the canal.

    The beer is their own, with the stout being pleasant and slightly sweeter than I had expected. Crate also produce some other stouts such as imperial coffee stout, toffee milk stout, imperial pecan stout, chocolate orange stout, bourbon barrel aged stout and sticky toffee stout to name just a few, although unfortunately none of these were available. They did have a few beers of varying different styles, so it felt like a well-balanced selection.

    Apparently this bar can get very busy at weekends and I can understand why, it feels like a place which would make for a good Saturday afternoon out….

    All told, I liked this bar, with the staff being friendly and helpful. It’s in an old factory setting which gives it some atmosphere, although the toilets probably need to be cleaner given the times in which we’re currently living. The reviews are mostly positive, although there are some ridiculous negative ones that the bar has responded to politely and with some considerable patience.

    The bar also does tours of their on-site brewery with tastings, and a food option, so when things return to some form of normality, that might make a rather lovely day out. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll come back here again, I liked the atmosphere.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    This is another recommendation from Nathan and he’s on a roll with these now…. This craft beer bar in Hackney Wick looked exciting from its selection on Untappd and it has a sizeable can and bottle selection. It’s a reminder of what can be done with a couple of fridges and some beer knowledge.

    The welcome was friendly, the pub was clean and the reviews are all positive. The pub is using Untappd as its menu system, which made things much easier, with food also being available in the form of toasties and cold platters. There’s an on-trend feel to nearly everything going on here.

    But, the most exciting thing about the visit for me was that they had Mexican Cake from Westbrook Brewing Co in the United States. This is a delightful stout with an array of flavours which almost fight for attention in the aftertaste, and, yes, this is a ridiculous statement, but I’m going with it. The taste of habanero peppers is there, along with chocolate, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, biscuit and I think that’s it. Decadent and delightful, I can see why this is one of the best rated stouts in the world. I only had a third of it, namely because that’s all I could afford, but that was sufficient as it was rich and smooth. Or, in short, this was bloody lovely.

    I don’t feel I’ve written enough about this beer yet. To have tastes which are subtle make a beer more delightful, but it’s easy for one to over-power the other. I now feel I need to go to South Carolina to visit their tap room, I get the impression that I’d very much enjoy that.

    So, all told, this was an excellent bar and this is one of the best beers that I’ve had. Right, I’ll shut up now.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    This makes for quite an impactful sight, the former Lord Napier pub in Hackney Wick. Opened in the mid-1870s, it was just a typical back-street pub until it closed in 1995. It then became known for graffiti, raves and adventure. I say adventure, but I have no idea what would have gone on here as raves aren’t quite my thing.

    There were plans announced last year to turn it back into a pub, although I can only imagine that it’ll need a complete refurb inside both structurally and design-wise. Given the rise of craft beer pubs in the area, I imagine that it will do well, although there’s no sign of work having started yet. It has become regularly used by graffiti artists, as in the professional ones who do decent work, so there was talk of somehow allowing that to continue in a measured way.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Changed Priorities Ahead

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Changed Priorities Ahead

    Well, quite….

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Howling Hops

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Howling Hops

    As an aside, I’ve been trying to ensure that my London posts get put in the right borough, rather than just putting London. It looks like by just a metre or two that this bar is in Tower Hamlets and not Hackney, not that it makes a great deal of difference to anything….

    This was one of Nathan’s bar suggestions, the brewery of Howling Hops and their own tap room. There was a prompt and friendly welcome from one of the staff members when I arrived, with the menu available by scanning a QR code. Table service was then offered and the surroundings were all comfortable and on-trend. The place is just outside of Hackney Wick overground station and it’s well reviewed on-line.

    The beer is poured from the tanks and they also have a wider selection of beer available in cans as well. I opted for the Soft Top, which is the brewery’s stout, and this was rather lovely, all the appropriate temperature and with a richness of taste. The brewery use the word decadent in their description of the beer, so that’s another selling point to me.

    It wasn’t particularly busy, although it was the early afternoon and so I can’t imagine that it’s ever noticeable busy at that time on weekdays. The prices weren’t the cheapest, but my half pint of stout wasn’t unreasonable, and the surroundings are all suitably industrial for a brewery. Definitely one of Nathan’s better recommendations (although he always seems to be in the pub, so he should be good with suggestions).