London – Islington (Borough of) – Brewdog Clerkenwell

I’m slowly working my way around the Brewdogs of the world, although unfortunately my attempt to go to Brewdog in Gothenburg this month has rather fallen through. So, I visited the one in Clerkenwell instead.

This isn’t a great photo, the layout makes it a bit difficult to take photos without walking about and that’s not an ideal situation given the current health climate. It’s a spacious Brewdog which is split over a couple of floors, with the usual range of different seating types.

This is two thirds of a pint of Breakout Space from Full Circle, although I only ordered a third. I did query that, since this is an expensive beer, but they kindly just gave me the extra third. I suppose since their beer stocks will be thrown away on Thursday, it perhaps matters a little less. The bar didn’t have as many darker options as they usually would, so I veered into this hoppy IPA and it was quite decadent for this beer style. Very fruity, smooth, slightly sweet and an aftertaste of pineapple, this is about as tropical as I’ll be getting for some time.

Since Brewdog were so gracious with the free third of a pint they ended up giving me, I ordered their own doppelbock of Weizen Up (which was also over-poured, although that’s a useful side benefit of ordering thirds). I’ve never quite understood what the difference is between a doppelbock and a dunkel (my friend Nathan will tut, as he’ll find that obvious no doubt) so I’ve finally looked it up, and apparently “with alcohol concentrations of 4.5% to 6% by volume, dunkels are weaker than Doppelbocks, another traditional dark Bavarian beer”. So with that mystery now solved, back to the beer, which had a caramel and toffee taste, it was likely being back in Germany. Well, without the McRibs.

I had noted that Brewdog were doing this as it was featured on Untappd and it seemed an interesting collaboration with that many breweries taking part. Unfortunately, that weekend is now lost for Brewdog, but hopefully they can do something similar in the future.

I had a look on TripAdvisor and this bar has done well to only get two very low scores over the years that it has been open, one which was about it being busy when football was on (the manager seemed confused as the bar doesn’t show football) and the other complained he wasn’t asked if he wanted fries. I’d say that they’re doing pretty well if that’s all people can complain about.

The staff here were friendly and pro-active, although it was very quiet on a Monday afternoon. They were serving food, although I’m not sure they were selling much, but the bar environment was clean and everything seemed ordered. It’s not the cheapest location, but the range of beers is usually well balanced and there are also some decadent and tempting options in the fridges. Slightly strange to see that Wetherspoons are selling off pints of Brewdog Punk IPA for £1.50, whilst they were nearly £6 here, but such is the strange world of alcohol retailing….

Anyway, I liked this outlet of Brewdog, calm and welcoming. Goodness knows when I’ll next be in a Brewdog though…