The Next Step

I had to take this adventure beyond the South East of London.  It was already Febuary and I still hadn’t been to anywhere North of the river.  My good mate Woody said he was around for a pub crawl.  It was with Woody that my original interest in pubs began.  Before then my interest in pubs was based only seeing them as a place to drink.  I was more interested in different types of beer and trying as many different beers as I could over time.  I still love trying new beers, going to beer festivals, going to Belgium (Bruge) or just to good pubs to try new beers but it was always just about the beer.  If I could get a good pint of beer that I had never had before that would be great but I didn’t really care where we were.  

Maybe it was because I was starting to have to go further afield to find new beers or if it was just age and looking for a more rounded drinking experience but I started to notice how interesting pubs can be.  I had drunk so many different types of beer (I recently was given a book called 1001 beers to drink before you die, I’d had a large proportion of them).  The reason why Woody played such a big part of this was because he suggested one day that we meet in London for a beer.  We met up at 4pm and went on an epic pub crawl during which I was introduced to some great pubs like The Salisbury pub, the Princess of Wales down by Charring Cross and De Hems in Soho.  This day out was the spark that set my interest in pubs going.  After that pub crawls around London became a semi regular event which has continued to this day.   Most of the pubs we visited were in the West End and Westminster.  Cheers Woody and long my it continue!

I love a guide, as you can probably tell from this blog which its self is based on a guide.  I don’t really follow the view that guides just take you to where all the other tourists go, usually guides like the good pub guide for example, do a very good job.  As such I went to waterstones and bought the CAMRA London Pub Walks book.  I had a look at this and planned to do walk number 21 in Notting Hill and Bayswater as my next pub visit.  This would include two pubs on my list the Churchill Arms and the Windsor Castle.  Importantly as well they were the first two pubs on the walk so I would not be too drunk to give them a good view.  

The FIRST pub

Of all 59 excellent sounding pubs how could I choose which pub should start my year long journey.  I was thinking about this for a long time reading reviews, researching histories, thinking I could start with the newest and finish with the oldest but in the end I decided to go start with the Greenwich Union.  The decision was simple, its my nearest 'good pub guide pub'.  I'd been to 'the union' on a number of occasions and even celebrated my 25th birthday there.

The pub is in such a fantastic location being close to Greenwich Park and Greenwich Market it was nice to have a short stroll through the park first to work up an appetite.  The pub is always popular and can be tricky to get a table but we managed to get one fairly quickly.  The place is clearly popular with the young professionals of Greenwich who have young children.  Even though I'm only 26 I have been known to be a bit of an old man when it comes to children in pubs.  I personally don't find it conducive to have chat with my friends and enjoy a nice beer with lots of children screaming around me.  Also breastfeeding just freaks me out.  However I guess being 26 and not having any kids I may change my mind when I want a pint if I ever had any.  The crowd changed after lunch and so did the atmosphere, what I would call a more usual pub atmosphere took over.  The pub is well set out for a pub of that size.  There is a garden which is great in summer.

Being aligned with the Meantime brewery means that the selection of beers is exemplary.  The staff also seemed knowledgeable and even if they weren't the beer menu is probably the best I've ever seen with great descriptions of types of beer.  They've even added in their own inventions for new types of beer like their London Lager described as 'a brand new style  created by Meantime' (there I've mentioned lager).  The pub also stocks a great range of beers from across the world that are good examples of different beer styles.  On the day I enjoyed a nice pint of Brugge Zot from the Halve Maan Brewery in Bruge (which incidentally offers a really good tour if you can ever find your way over the channel).

I couldn't visit a Meantime pub and not have any of the well tended Meantime beers.  Starting off with the London Stout was very enjoyable and a great pint for a cold winters day.  The London Pale ale however was a slight disappointment and did not have as much flavour or bitter finish as some of the better English Pale Ales out there such as a the Marston's EPA.  Not a problem though as it was more than made up for by the Meantime Winter Ale at 5.4% with great colour aroma and taste.

As mentioned I'm a big fan of real ale and have been a member of CAMRA since I was 18.  So I moved on to see how well kept the beer on tap was.  I had two excellent pints, the first, keeping with the London theme a pint of Sambrooks Junction followed by Dark Star Hophead which was my favourite of the day.  It went very well with the Alfred Stubbs pork scratchings they serve behind the bar.

The pub design is modern and my friends and I were lucky enough to get the window seats at the front.  The Union is located next door to the Richard I pub which has a more classic pub style if that is what you are looking for.  Personally I find the Richard I a better pub for general pub outings, its a Youngs pub and have well kept beers on tap.

The food at the Union was pretty good too.  We tried some of their burgers and the fish and chips which were all good, better than most pub food and priced fairly reasonably for London.  

Overall if you are looking for a great choice of beers then the Union is the place for you.  I love beer more than most so I have to say I was very pleased with the choices and quality of the pints.  However I still feel like the Union is lacking something in terms of character.  With great beer a  good location and good food this pub will continue to flourish so if you are ever over in Greenwich pop in and try some of the locally brewed beers.