November 2026. Notting Hill Gate. London.
An afternoon in West London, always a joy, and a reminder that you can never really get to grips with the capital.
I take the tube a couple of stops from Edgware Road to Notting Hill Gate, and magically from £2.72 a pint in the Paddington Spoons to £6.80 in Kensington’s Blue Stoops (yards from the legendary Churchill Arms).
Worth a couple of quid just to admire the ceramic Allsops bar counter in this outstanding pub conversion.
But is the beer any good ?
It should be, it’s come all the way from Burton Leeds.
You’ll know I care not about provenance, or heritage, or back stories about hedge fund managers and rediscovered yeast strains and great great (x17) grandsons stumbling across brewing journals.
It’s a VERY GOOD pint of pale, crisp and foamy, though if you’d told me it was Three Swords I’d have believed you.
It’s absolutely packed on Sunday afternoon, far too busy to enjoy the fine detail,
and nearly everyone is eating.
I attempt to perch my pint on the table below for a minute to nip to the loo,
and am briskly advised “Sorry sir, reserved for diners“.
You won’t find me complaining that pubs are too busy, mind.
I really must try that Double Diamond. I read it works wonders.
A Double Diamond works wonders, works wonders go drink one today :-).
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If I was an AB InBev exec responsible for Bass I’d find the Allsopps model an inspirational starting idea. Highlight the Burton heritage and add brewing it, in part, on a Burton Union system.
Then we’ll get away with brewing it somewhere else.
And wouldn’t 2027, the 250th anniversary of William Bass setting up his brewery be a great time to relaunch the brand and add other brand extension beers. Anyone for Bass blond?
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