London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Battersea Brewery

The rain was pouring down in south west London and so I thought that the best thing I could do was to find a brewery to rush into in order to keep dry. It’s important not to panic during such occasions and this brewery is in the shadow of the former Battersea power station seemed a sensible option.

The beer menu, which is also available on Untappd, was self-effacing and also I thought reasonably priced for London. The service at the bar was timely and friendly, the whole arrangement felt inviting and comfortable. They seem to pride themselves on loud music judging from some of their marketing, which is something that I certainly would have avoided but fortunately it was all quiet and relatively peaceful when I visited.

I went for the Your Local MP which is one of the brewery’s own beers, a drinkable if not exceptional sour which had some mango flavours flowing through it. I liked the brewery’s description of this beer which is “sourer than Liz Truss against the wokerati”.

A table with a slope which I frankly thought was sub-optimal.

There’s a central bar area with a reasonable amount of seating around it, including some extra upstairs, which was all clean and organised.

I could note that I was watching the world go by from where I was seated, but I was mainly watching the rain pour down.

And some inspirational reading material. The venue does bar snacks such as crisps, pork scratchings as well as sausage rolls, chicken wings and toasties which are again all reasonably priced.

The on-line reviews are generally positive, although there are a few angry people out there, not least:

“I’m familiar and accepting of the cost of a beer in London. I will pay £6+ with nothing but a sad memory of what things were like before. But £10 pounds for a bottle of Augustiner helles is robbery. And I paid for 2. I was told that this was because of the cost of importing… This fine German lager can be found online at the beer merchants website for £3.60.”

I’m with Battersea Brewery on this one, they’re selling their own beers which are reasonably priced but have bulked up the menu with some additional choices. The cost of importing is currently often horrendous and a quick look at other venues in London suggests to me that this beer is retailing at something between £6 and £10, so it doesn’t seem unreasonable. Looking at their Untappd list, it seems that they don’t sell the beer now, but their other guest options aren’t unnecessarily high and it must be soul destroying to see reviews like this when it’s apparent upfront what they’re charging anyway. I applaud locations that are a verified venue on Untappd as it gives me clarity on what beers are available and usually what prices are being charged.

Anyway, before I get distracted with reading endless reviews, all seemed well to me during my visit. I’ve never had a beer from this brewery before and I think they’re relatively niche as they’re still small, but it seems a worthwhile endeavour to set up a taproom. They’re in an area which is becoming more popular with tourists and where more people are moving to, so I can imagine that this will remain a profitable little enterprise.