My Favorite Pubs

It's hard to believe that my time in London is almost over. One week from tomorrow I'll be on my way home!

As I said last week, the topic of my favorite pubs is one that I've been "researching" all semester! I've put it off until now because I wanted to leave the door open to the possibility of discovering a new pub that would make the list. Now that I only have a week to go, that seems unlikely. I may revisit a few of the ones here, though! (Perhaps this is a good time to say that the opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the views of Missouri Southern State University.)

Some of you know that I am a home brewer. I picked up this hobby because of the appreciation that I have for good beer, and my desire to better understand what goes into it. Judging by the explosion of  craft breweries and brew pubs in the United States over the last ten years, a lot of people share my appreciation for good beer.

Most Americans, when they think about beer-producing countries, think of Germany. For my tastes, however, the UK makes the best beer. (With all due respect to Ireland. Guinness is an amazing beer!) The biggest difference is that German beers are usually lagers and British beers are usually ales. I won't get technical about the differences between the two (it involves the type of yeast and the temperature at which it is active) but I will say that I think ale produces a wider variety of full-bodied beers than lager. The UK, in my opinion, is also the best place to drink beer. That is because they serve it properly.

Americans who order a beer in a British pub sometimes complain that it is flat and warm. There is something to that. Good British ale is served from a cask. A cask is different from a keg in that it is not pressurized with CO2. That's why it has to be hand pumped. Since it is not artificially carbonated, it does taste "flat" if you're used to drinking heavily carbonated beers. Also, the casks aren't kept as cold as kegs. It's not "room temperature," like you sometimes hear people say. It's cellar temperature, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If you can get past these two things, however, you may find that the absence of carbonation and chill allows the flavor of these beers to come through. You will also know that the beer you are drinking is fresh. The CO2 in kegs acts allows it to be stored longer, while casks need to be finished off right away. (Unfortunately, this means casks can't be shipped to the US.)

Most lists make you wait until the end before revealing their number one, but I'm going to start with what has become my favorite London pub. The Churchill Arms in Kensington.

The Churchill Arms on Kensington High Street, London. As you can see, the owner loves flowers! The flags were part of the Olympic Games celebration. 

The Churchill Arms is not the closest pub to my building, but it has become my "local." There are several reasons why I am willing to walk past two or three other pubs to get to the Churchill Arms. The first is that it has a great atmosphere. There are no televisions or loud music, it's just a nice, comfortable place to sit and have a pint. The second is that the people are very friendly, even to an American in a place that doesn't attract a lot of tourists. Third, the place is filled with Churchill memorabilia, which appeals to my historical interests. Finally, they are a Fuller's pub, so they serve Fuller's ESB, my favorite beer in the world! They had Fuller's ESB from a keg at Pizza by Stout in Joplin, Missouri. Sadly, we lost Pizza by Stout to the 2011 tornado, may it rest in peace. (An added bonus to the Churchill Arms, and probably the only thing about it that isn't traditional, is that they have a restaurant that serves Thai food.)

Local pubs in the UK serve a purpose that bars in the US haven't really served since before prohibition. The point isn't to get drunk. The point is to have a place that you can go in the afternoon or evening, have a pint and maybe a bite to eat, and catch up with your friends, who you know will also be there. It really is a vital part of the culture here. There's no stigma attached to it. It's also perfectly acceptable to go to a pub by yourself, which has been great for me, since I'm on my own.

Like many bars in the US before prohibition, many pubs here are owned by breweries. That's why certain pubs serve certain beers, although they will often have one or two "guest ales" as well. There are also some "free houses" which serve whatever beers they choose. I have seen a few American beers as guest ales in London pubs, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale most frequently. I mentioned above that Fuller's ESB is my favorite. Back in October I had a chance to visit the Fuller's brewery in Chiswick, a neighborhood in southwest London (pronounced Chiz-ik). In addition to ESB, their most famous beers are London Pride, a nice golden ale, and London Porter, a very dark and full-bodied porter.

The shipping warehouse at Fuller's brewery.

My favorite beer. As you can see, it has a pretty high alcohol content, so you have to go easy.

Here I am in the tasting room at the Fuller's brewery. I have to say, they were very generous with samples after the tour!

I'll move on now to some of my favorite pubs in London. You don't have to look for pubs in London, they are everywhere. Because there are so many, you need some way of choosing which ones to go to. The way I do that is by finding pubs that are historic. For me, there are few things cooler than ordering a pint in a pub that has been around for hundreds of years!  If you've been reading my blog you know that I have spent a lot of time exploring neighborhoods in London. Before going out for the day, I do a little research and find the oldest pub in the neighborhood. Then I stop in for a beer and sometimes lunch. Pubs are a great place to have lunch when you are alone, and the food is often very good. In choosing my favorites, I picked ones that were historic and met all the other criteria I mentioned above: good atmosphere, friendly people, and good beer.

Here my top five (not counting the Churchill Arms) in no particular order.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, located in a narrow ally off Fleet Street. A lot of places use "Ye Olde" without deserving it, but this place was built in 1667, just after the great fire. The building has a small footprint, but there are two basement levels with tables in lots of interesting nooks and corners. They have Samuel Smith's Best Bitter on cask here, an excellent beer.

The Princess Louise on High Holborn Street. This has to be the most beautiful pub in London. Very Victorian, a sign out front says "Established 1872--Redecorated 1891." Surprisingly, you can get a pint here for £2.90, making it one of the cheapest beers in London. (I'm always too self-conscious to take pictures inside pubs, so I stole this one off the internet.)

The Jerusalem Tavern on Britton Street started as a coffee house in the 18th century. It is the opposite of the Princess Louise. Its interior is about as stark as you can get. It is the only pub in London that serves beers from the St. Peter's brewery in Suffolk. That alone makes it worth the trip. It also has good food at lunchtime. I recommend the brie and cranberry on freshly baked bread.

The Grapes is an 18th century pub on Narrow Street in Limehouse, in London's East End. The pub has a small back deck that is directly over the River Thames. In fact, on the day I was there, the tide was unusually high and the deck was under water.

The George Inn in Southwark. The only galleried coaching inn left in London. They serve Speckled Hen, an ale familiar to some discriminating American beer drinkers.

No list is complete without a few honorable mentions.

The Dog and Duck, a tiny Victorian pub in Soho with a great selection of cask ales.
The French House, also in Soho, was a meeting place for the French Resistance during WW II.
The Hereford Arms, in South Kensington near CAPA, was a favorite of Americans during the War.
The Three Famous Kings, in West Kensington, is the only pub I have found that shows NFL football.

One other place gets honorable mention, but I hesitate to call it a pub, it's more of a beer bar. BrewDog in Camden Town serves the amazing craft beers of BrewDog Brewery in Aberdeen, Scotland. They keg and bottle, no casks.

I tried a few more of these high-alcohol content beers than I should have. I loved the Libertine Black Ale, the 5 a.m. Saint, and the Punk IPA.

In earlier posts I have mentioned my favorite pubs and beers encountered in my travels outside of London. I'll review those here and add one new one.

The Twice-Brewed Inn, in Once Brewed, a very small town near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland.
The White Heart, in Edinburgh, which serves Bellhaven 80 Shilling Scottish Ale, an amazing beer.
The Fiddler, in Drumnadrochit, near Loch Ness. Great food, I made an exception and ordered Scotch whisky here instead of beer.

In my recent blog about my trip to Cardiff, Wales, I mentioned that I had found the best pub there, but did not elaborate. So, here it is.

The Goat Major on High Street in Cardiff. They serve beers brewed by Brains, a Cardiff brewery. Brains dark is the best mild dark beer I've ever had. Plus it's fun to say "A pint of Brains, please."

Well, I had a lot of fun putting this together. Hopefully you don't think I haven't done anything but sit in pubs and drink while I've been here! Please check back next week for my last installment of "News from London." I'll be listing some of my other favorite things from my semester in the UK, as well as posting some of my favorite pictures that never made it into the blog.

I always close by saying "Cheers!" but this week it seems especially appropriate.

Cheers!