All pictures taken: The Kernel, Bermondsey.
Date: January 7, 2012.
Camera: BlackBerry Curve.
Behind this roller door in the back streets of Bermondsey is an Aladdin's cave filled with delicious brews — pale ales, India pale ales, London porters and stouts.
This is the home of The Kernel, a brewery that has recently been named "Brewer of the Year" by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
At the risk of revealing London's best-kept secret, the brewery opens its doors to the public every Saturday between 9am to 3pm. You can buy beer to take away or you can ask to have it decanted in a glass to enjoy on the premises — there are tables and benches outside, but you need to be quick to nab a seat!
To begin with we tried the Centennial 2010, a gorgeous big-tasting fruity beer (see left) that went straight to the head. It's only now I realise that this probably wasn't surprising given the alcoholic content was 9% and I was drinking on an empty stomach!
We then tried the Nelson Sauvin (7.2%), which was slightly cloudy and tasted of grapefruit and malt. Really delicious.
The premises also sells cured meats — there were people next to us devouring paper-thin sheets of parma ham — so you can arrange your own spread of charcuterie, if you're that way inclined. (I'm not, because I don't eat red meat.)
And nearby properties — part of the Maltby Street market — sell everything from cheeses to coffees, bread to organic vegetables, seafood to pastries so you can really make a day of it and do lots of drunken fresh-food deli-inspired shopping.
Without really planning to, we went home with half-a-dozen fresh duck eggs, a selection of cheeses from Mons Cheesemongers and double-chocolate cupcakes and giant meringues from Bea's of Bloomsbury. It was definitely worth a visit, although the heavy dent in the bank account may suggest otherwise!
