A trip to the Kernal Brewery in Bermondsey

After coming across the London Brewers' Alliance website ( www.londonbrewers.org) I thought it only right to follow up and visit some of the breweries listed in there.  There is nothing better than doing things first hand so a trip to the the nearby Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey was in order.  The Brewery have managed to place its beers in some very smart restaurants throughout London including Hibiscus and the highly rated Hawksmoor so they must be doing something right.


Today's selection

They are open to sell directly to the public on Saturdays and I thought it would be a good excuse to stock up on a few libations for the coming Easter period.
thekernelbrewery.com/

Its easy to find, just look for the railway arches on the right just after going through the tunnel.  The brewery lies within two arches with a counter (as seen in the picture below) at the front of one and a seating area in the other for those wishing to sample the draft beer on site. Wrap up warm if you are going to stay for a drink  and don't expect any home comforts, as everything (as it should be) is focused on the beer.

I opted for a mixed case of bottle conditioned beers and went for a selection of pale ales and IPAs.  I'll leave the porters and stouts for another visit.

I like the understated branding on the brown bottles and the lack of fancy names.  The labels have a particularly nice touch of explaining which hops were used.  Like the grape varieties on wine bottles this allows you to understand what's contributing to the flavour and allows you to select styles of beer you like rather than just taking pot luck, and I would like to see more breweries taking this up.


Subtle Branding Focuses on the Beer

 Well Easter is not until next weekend and I just couldn't wait until then to sample the goods so later that day after the bottled conditioned beer had a chance to settle down I popped open a couple.

The first to try was the Table Beer.  Don't be fooled by the name, I found this 3.3% beer a decent quaffable pale ale.  The sharper Citra hops were balanced out nicely by another more fruity hop called Mosaic (which appears to be a fairly new variety).  I can imagine spending a summer afternoon in the garden on this stuff.

Later, I popped open the second beer as a night cap.  It was a stronger 5.6% pale ale (they have a number of different styles on offer), with four different hops again including Citra.  While it naturally tasted sharper than the Table Beer it was not overpowering and was a decent palate cleanser.

If the other beers are as impressive as these two then I am very much looking forward to trying them out next week (if they last that long!).