Brewdog Camden

One lazy conversation on a Sunday morning on how we always say if we have a spare weekend we will go to x place but never do meant, that instead of heading straight home, we headed out to Camden to try the only Brewdog bar in London.

My husband in his youth was a goth and thus spent many a weekend in Camden and it's shops and markets, this in mind he spent a good twenty minutes bemoaning the amount of standard chain shops and lack of atmosphere it now has. I can see his point, I last came here three years ago and to my eyes it is becoming rather bland.

Thankfully the Brewdog bar wasn't bland, many bloggers have mentioned the industrial feel..etc.. to the bar so I need not do so myself. We arrived just as the bar staff were re-writing the beer lists on the wall, nice to see a changing beer list from the previous evening's tweet to the next day's beers.

First beers were Blitz, a hoppy bitter which was only 2.8% and more flavoursome than some 5%ers we have tried, only critism from me would be if they can brew such a great lower abv beer then what was the excuse with Nanny State other than to brew an undrinkable beer? The other was Riptide 8% which was highly enjoyable stout but not as good as my second beer which was Chris from Stone's Stout 10.2% and blooming gorgeous!

We sampled our way though a fair number of the beers on offer, all of which were brilliant in their own rights, some we preferred to others and so on. Food at the bar is good but the pizzas and cheese & meat platters are better than the burgers. Sorry guys, but chips or wedges would be a welcome addition for us too especially for sharing amongst friends.

Brewdog have got a brilliant bar on their hands here, pricing just couldn't be faulted either. We got to try some beers that we had our eyes on without taking out a mortage with their pricing measures working on price per size. The staff are certainly some of the most friendly folks I have met behind a bar in a long time. Their suggestions for other beers were spot on, I got to try Lost Dog (fantastic suggestion by the barman) for £4.50 and the Stone's Stout was £2.50 both for a 1/3 pint. Getting to try the beers first before buying without needing to ask was lovely too.


Can't wait to head up there again.

McMullen Brewery's Firefly

4% ABV

First post of the new year, currently sitting in my favourite local with a couple of pints of the new seasonal from the local brewery. Like pretty much all of McMullens beers this comes as a very attractive pint with a full fluffy white head.

It is a lovely light golden brown bitter, quite fruity flowery tang on the first sip. It remains a lovely looking pint to the last drop as well. Looks do count in my world whether it is a oily stout which has just a thin lace around the glass to the last or a bitter with a fluffy head, these details count towards my enjoyment of a beer.

Firefly for me is a refreshing bitter, light and thirst quenching with a pleasantly fruity favour which doesn't overwhelm the beer. However it does have a weird smell, fruity sour which is no reflection on the taste of the beer, the same brewery did Beerberry last year as a seasonal which was an awful fruit beer and that had this smell too. A minor bad point for a lovely light session beer.

It is very easy drinking and when I was on my first pint without knowledge of it's ABV and I would probably put this at 3.2, and I was proven wrong at 4%.

Ah well I need to improve my beer-fu this year.