On Tuesday it was my big Fullers visit. I headed into London with Stu , had coffee in Borough Market before meeting with the NZ Beer Collective crew. We popped across to The George of Pete Brown fame. Had a pint of rebadged Greene King IPA as the guest Landlord was out. Then we moved down the road to the The Kings Arms which did have Landlord on and it was my pint of the trip so far.
Then I set off for my first real time alone since getting here. I took the train to Brentford Bridge walked across the bridge over the Thames and then down the Thames Path past very lovely and I am sure very expensive homes to Fullers. I was taken around by Henry the head of wort production. As many of you will know Fullers are my ‘desert island brewery’ so this visit was special. Due to the recent news of the brewery and brands being sold this was also a fairly dramatic time to be visiting. I saw the wisteria that is older than Colonial New Zealand, behind it the empty office formerly inhabited by Managing Director Michael Turner who had already shipped out.
The brewhouse was a nice mix of old and less old , we discussed parti gyle brewing, the challenges of selling traditional beer, we popped onto the roof to look out over west London , and finished with some beers in the hock cellar. One tit bit of info I picked up was that Chiswich Bitter is still brewed but released under sessonal alias’ now. Its currently Swing Low.
I headed to the Mawson’s Arms for a ‘Swing Low’ , then walked down the Thames to The Dove and had a beer in the cosy wee front bar before heading into Hammersmith in search of the Andover Arms , the local of the late Michael Jackson. The Andover Arms was a great local. I sat at the bar drinking a pint of Pride while listening to the locals banter with the bar person. After that it was a tube ride back to Charing Cross to meet up with Jake at the Harp and then a visit to The Rake. After a couple of beers there my bed was calling so it was back to Sevenoaks. As I walked from the station 3 foxes ran up the road ahead of me.

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