The Craft Beers of Covid Conversation – Part 2/3
Hello, and welcome back to The Covid Conversation. Part One ended with Joey admitting his receptacle-related pun game was not at its best, and Simon introducing a brewery that some will be surprised is on this list…
Simon: I’m going to cheat a bit for my next one but it’s a ridiculous story, and you might be surprised which brewery I’m about to mention. I had my first ever DEYA beer during lockdown! I bought a can of Steady Rolling Man and a can of Glue from Caps and Taps in Kentish Town in mid 2020.
Joey: Old school Caps location down on Kentish Town Road like an OG.
Simon: I enjoyed Steady, but Glue had so much sediment in it to the point it was a bit gross. SO – I sent them a very polite email, saying “just so you know, by the way,” all niceties, that’s my British side, “this can has a lot of sediment and I wanted you to be aware for others in the batch.” They immediately responded, really apologetic, and sent me a 12 pack! Saying let’s fix this for you and we’re so sorry. I was really impressed by their customer service, you know, even now they’ve gotten so big it’s such a win that they care about quality.
Joey: It’s what separates the best breweries from the sediment. DEYA blew up during Covid. They did a great job on quality and also distribution. I think rural breweries, who didn’t rely on taproom visits, did well, if the beer was good. Obviously now it’s right next to Cheltenham train station and they have the shiny taproom but that came later.
Simon: Another one where I’d been aware of them just before the pandemic but never tried were Gravity Well. I saw some stuff online about their Double IPAs, so I messaged them (they didn’t even have a website at the time) saying I would like to buy something. And Ben, the owner, because I think he lived not too far away, drove to my house with a crate of his beers! Legend. I wasn’t even allowed to shake his hand at the time. I owe him one.
Joey: They’re so good, they’re so personable, the beer is unbelievable, it’s everything I want in a brewery.
Simon: And they haven’t tried to get too big too quickly.
Joey: Totally. They’ve doubled their space and they’re brewing in a bigger capacity, and the quality remains. To me they’re a top five London brewery right now, probably top three in fact.
Simon: Uh oh, I sense a tangent coming.
Joey: We live for tangents. Top London breweries right now, let’s go present tense for a second. I’m going The Kernel first. Diversity and relentless quality there.
Simon: The Kernel is number one. It’s no coincidence that it’s also the place with that consistent quality you’re talking about.
Joey: They’ve gone medium sized, and really consolidated that level perfectly.
Simon: When will we get a can of The Kernel?
Joey: Never. I like that it’s all bottles. It’s iconic. Now that we’re on this, number two right now, I’m curious what you think – whenever I go into their tap rooms, I’m obsessed, and it’s Pretty Decent. They aren’t pretty decent, they are pretty fucking amazing. I love their beer.
Simon: Yes! I agree they’re very good and I think they’re underrated because of their branding. It’s not aimed at beer nerds. It’s aimed towards growth.
Joey: The new tap room is by Victoria Park, and that is not where the nerds go to hang out. Everyone in there is actually cool. I’m the only one sniffing the hops at that tap room. They have this very specific texture to their beers that must come from their yeast strain.
Simon: It’s very pillowy and soft, to use beer nerd IPA parlance.
Joey: And then yeah, third place, Gravity Well. Last week, I had a Double IPA that was nearly three months old. It was amazing to the point where actually I think fresh would have been too hoppy.
Simon: I can’t think of anyone else in London that’s challenging those three right now. Hammerton is great and I think they go under the radar because of location.
Joey: I think it’s also that they don’t have an iconic beer. Massive diversity in beer but they don’t have like, THE beer. No one’s like, you know what, I fucking love Hammerton.
Simon: Their iconic one would nearly be a Panama Creature, or Tint, or Tuned.
Joey: I still mourn the death of N1 which was an OG west coasty pale ale. Surprised they didn’t bring it back. They told me they replaced it with Tuned, same recipe but they made it hazy. Sellouts! OG N1 was up there with 2015 Camden Pale.
Simon: Camden Pale! Too long ago. I’m cancelling the tangent now. Back to Covid, and remembering the start of the pandemic, just pre-lockdown. It was a bit “Oh…I feel like going to the pub is actually not a good idea” for the first time in my life. I worked for a small company and we were told to go home for two weeks and then it all began.
Joey: Two weeks! Can you believe it? It was never going to be two weeks, it was a global disease. It was so unprecedented. I was working for an American organisation, so it was already remote with all those guidelines and Zoom and stuff, but still. So much uncertainty and then so much stigma about people coming from the two or three countries in Europe that were really suffering first.
Simon: I’m half-Italian and suddenly we were pariahs! It was rough. And then lockdowns, then no lockdowns, and here we are talking about it as a historical event. Now, back to the beer.
Joey: Coming at you with quite a rogue one here – SQUAWK Brewing Company.
Simon: Oh, I remember them. They apparently now brew at Moorhouse brewing, who I have not heard of.
Joey: Look at that branding. Reminds me of the lockdown so much. I remember that can in my living room and I’m feeling very visceral right now. I forget if the beer was good.
Simon: I had them stepping into the Christmas period. It was the third lockdown, the worst one.
Joey: I remember bumping into those beers at Indie Beer in Holloway, Caps and Taps, and also 12oz Bottle Shop in Crouch End, which opened right before Covid or maybe even during, but they didn’t make it. I was a big fan of theirs. Those shops were my heroes during lockdown, a beacon of light. And in every shop, I’d go in and they were always like…”do you want some SQUAWK?”
Simon: And then they’d let out a big SQUAWK at you, out of nowhere, right? Covid was a weird time.
Joey: SQUAWK! I guess giving people an excuse to make aggressive bird noises can’t keep a brewery going all by itself.
Simon: A toast to London’s bottle shops, an essential business if ever there was one.
Joey: Alright, I’ve got a good one for you. A brewery that I had forgotten existed, but I remember getting a lot of it, and this is going to really turn the nostalgia dial up for a lot of people…
Join us next week for our final part!
Read Part 3 here.