Five Points About Hackney....

A first visit to London for a while included an evening wandering around the central areas of Hackney, where there are several excellent and varied pubs and other establishments with plenty of decent beer to be found....

My old friend Richard had kindly invited me to stay with him in London last weekend which coincided with Halifax Town's first-ever visit to Dorking Wanderers, and so on Friday I caught the mid-morning Grand Central from Brighouse and save for the constant chatter of a hen party from Pontefract who had hit the prosecco before we had arrived in Doncaster, it was a pretty uneventful journey, which ended when the train pulled into Kings Cross around a quarter to two.

Following a late lunch and quick turnaround at Richard's place in Worcester Park, we got the train back into central London, and after alighting at Waterloo Station, we took the tube to Bank on the shortest of the lines, the Waterloo and City, which simply ferries passengers between the two stations, and is known colloquially as The Drain. We then took the Central Line up to Bethnal Green with the plan of visiting the Five Points Brewery Taproom in Hackney, but when my Good Beer Guide app showed there was a nearer pub, we decided to seek it out before we reverted to our original plan. It was a few minutes' walk away, at the end of a walkway beside an industrial unit in what was predominantly a quiet residential area.

We approached the attractive tiled exterior of the Camel, and as I was about to take a photo of the building, the door opened and the landlady came out to collect a couple of glasses. She greeted us cheerily, and photo duly taken, we followed her indoors. The pub was busy with a Friday teatime crowd relaxing after the working week and most of the tables were taken. Some were tucking into pie and mash alongside their drinks. There were three hand pumps on the bar, offering beers from Sambrooks, Five Points, and Adnams. When Richard opted for the Five Points, the landlady said they were brewed just up the road, and we told her we were heading there next. I opted for a half of Wandle from Sambrooks, who brew traditional style beers and are based in part of the former Youngs Brewery in Wandsworth. My beer was amber in colour, quite hoppy, with an underlying bitterness, which rated a 3 on the National Beer Scoring System. A friendly pub, the Camel was a great place to start the evening.

The Camel, Bethnal Green

We set off walking through a pleasant residential area of mainly Victorian apartments and terraced housing and worked our way back to Cambridge Heath Road which eventually became Mare Street, and after about a quarter of an hour we arrived at the Five Points Brewery Taproom. The brewery started out at a different site in Hackney in 2013 and moved into the existing warehouse site in 2020, with the taproom opening in 2021. From the outside, it was a fairly functional building, with the warehouse beyond. Inside though was attractively decorated with a number of high, canteen-style tables, with smaller tables down the sides. There was a good atmosphere and it was already quite busy, with many enjoying pizza with their beer. There were a couple of beers on hand pump, but on this occasion we both opted for beers off the tap, ordering halves of the 4% XPA, hopped with Citra and Galaxy and quite refreshing it was, with wheat and oats joining the Maris Otter barley on the malt bill. We followed up with a pint of another craft beer, the 5.4% Jupa, which features Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic, and Bru-1 hops, with a touch of wheat and oats added to the malt. Very juicy and bursting with tropical fruit freshness, it was delicious. I went for a wander round; there was additional seating if needed to be found overlooking the gleaming brewing vessels, and on a mezzanine floor near the toilets upstairs. 

Five Points Brewery and Taproom

We moved on into Hackney, passing on our way the famous 1,275 capacity Hackney Empire theatre, where tonight it seemed that the large crowds outside were queueing for an evening of opera. A Grade ll listed building, it was built as a music hall in 1901, and attracted the likes of Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Stanley Holloway, Marie Lloyd, and Stan Laurel back in those days, before it was used for filming 1960's TV shows like Take Your Pick and Opportunity Knocks. It then became a bingo hall and hosted wrestling before becoming a home for stand-up comedy featuring the likes of Ben Elton, Frankie Boyle, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Paul Merton. These days following Arts Council funding it still features comedy as a mainstay, but alongside it hosts plenty of varied events as well including dance, theatre, opera, pantomime, and music.

An iconic venue ( image: hackneyempire.co.uk)

A few doors along was our 3rd venue of the evening. This was the Cock Tavern, a street corner pub built by Trumans Brewery in the 1930's. It was very busy with some of the customers no doubt likely to be heading up to the Empire. And trying to get served was not easy, not because the staff were inattentive but because it was very difficult to choose what to have. There was no board on the wall displaying the wares on offer, whilst a sea of large bodies plonked with their drinks at the bar were not for parting. Added to that, there were a myriad of pump clips in a variety of sizes, fonts, and colours offering unfamiliar beers, along with somewhat subdued lighting, and it became a chore to find something to drink. When selling a large variety of beers you can't just get away with ordering 'bitter' or 'lager', the pub should make it easier for the customer to pick what they want. And that's what let the Cock down; the beer (when I managed to find one to try), a half of Howling Hops 5.5% ESB, was actually pretty good (NBSS 3.5). 

The Cock Tavern; busy

Next up we strayed into nearby Homerton. We left behind the busy streets and walked passed an old church tower and cut through the well-maintained former churchyard into quiet suburban streets, shortly later arriving at the Chesham Arms, which was situated in the middle of a terrace. We walked in, passing a bouncer (a bit odd for a quiet suburban street, I thought). Inside the pub was really busy, with a young-ish crowd. There was a queue for the bar but it was being dealt with efficiently by the smiley crew behind the bar and we soon got served. I went for the 3.8% Session IPA from Brew By Numbers which was excellent (NBSS 4), and though it was busy we managed to get seated when a couple left. The Chesham Arms is an attractively decorated and friendly local, with real fires and a garden out back and understandably popular; when we left, the reason for the bouncer became apparent. People were queuing to get in, so as we made our exit, two were ushered in. It was well worth making a detour to Homerton.

A cracker: The Chesham Arms

We retraced our steps and returned to the bright lights and fleshpots of downtown Hackney, where we made a beeline for the Hackney Tap. This imposing white-stoned building was once the local town hall, whilst its cv also includes time spent as a bank. It felt less busy than the last two places we had called, but there was more room and plenty of people were sat at the tables, and it felt more like a town pub than elsewhere we had been in. Unlike the Cock, there was also a large beer and cider menu behind the wall so it was easy to make a choice. There was a mix of cask and craft beers available, and this being London, I went for a porter, which as a style of beer can trace its origins back to the days of the early 18th century in the capital. However it was a modern take on the style as I went for a half of the 4.4% London Black Nitro Porter on keg from Croydon brewers Anspach and Hobday, which I have to say was cool and delicious. Incidentally, a nitro beer  typically uses a mix of around 70% nitrogen with carbon dioxide making up the rest, the nitrogen giving the beer a creamy texture. 

Imposing: The Hackney Tap

It was a short walk to our final destination. We walked past Hackney Central overground station (the marshy terrain originally found in these parts had made the expansion of the underground here problematical) and along Ambury Road, eventually arriving and a impressive looking pub on a street corner. This was the Pembury Tavern (opening image) which is run by Five Points Brewery. It is a pretty roomy place with wooden floors and a bar billiards table, which you don't see very often these days. It was fairly busy with a cool crowd without being uncomfortable, and we managed to get a table overlooking the street outside. On the bar it was predominantly Five Points beers, and I went for a pint of the Pale on cask, a refreshing, citrussy 4.1% beer. It was probably marginally the best of what had been a very good night for beer quality (NBSS 4), but as Richard had similarly been enthusing about his Railway Porter, I decided I would have a quick half before we left. It was dark, rich, and smoky, and utterly delicious, another NBSS 4, and a great way on which to finish the evening's business.

The Pembury Tavern, Hackney

We walked back down Ambury Road to Hackney Central, and from there we caught the overground into central London, followed by a tube across town to Waterloo Station, and then the train back to Worcester Park. Hackney and its neighbouring areas had been a great location in which to spend my first night out in London for several years.

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