Craft beer in Camden: taprooms, beer bars and bottle shops
Hells from the arches where it started, a brewery under the railway at Hawley Wharf, 29 taps on Prince of Wales Road and two bottle shops you can drink in. Camden’s craft beer, stop by stop.
By Only Camden Editorial
Start where Camden’s beer started: the Camden Town Brewery Beer Hall under the railway arches at Kentish Town West, open seven days, with £5 pints on Fridays from 17:00 to 20:00 and tours of the brewhouse. Then walk back down to the Lock for 3 Locks, a brewery making its beer under the arches at Hawley Wharf, and finish in Kentish Town, where the Grafton pours from 29 taps. Here is the full crawl, with the bottle shops for the train home.
Camden Town Brewery Beer Hall, Wilkin Street Mews, NW5
The brewery calls these arches the original home of Hells, its lager, and the Beer Hall now fills a huge two-part space in Arch 61, a few arches along from the first brewery bar. Long tables, a heated outdoor area, seasonal food with pizza, and dogs welcome. The taproom’s own listing gives noon to 22:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, with Hoppy Hour pints at £5 on Friday evenings and a monthly quiz with a £100 bar tab for the winners. Brewery tours run on booking, and you taste beer straight from the tanks. Do not come for cask: CAMRA confirmed this year that there is none. It is 50 metres from Kentish Town West station, and children are welcome until 21:00.
3 Locks Brewing Company, Hawley Wharf, NW1
A small-batch brewery inside Camden Market, doing the whole job on site under the railway arches with a terrace and taproom over the Regent’s Canal. The range runs from a 4.7% Czech-style lager and a 5% Hefeweizen to a 6% West Coast IPA, a 4% porter and a gluten free pale ale. All eight taps pour their own beer and you can bring food over from the market stalls. Tours with a tasting are £25 and last 90 minutes, on Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Opening hours differ between Camden Market’s listing and CAMRA’s, so check before a late visit. Order the Hefeweizen and take it to the canal side.
The Grafton, 20 Prince of Wales Road, NW5
The biggest choice in the borough. The Grafton has 29 taps that rotate weekly, a tiled horseshoe bar and a covered roof garden, run by the team behind the Gipsy Queen and the Victoria Stakes. It is a short walk from the Beer Hall, which makes it the obvious second stop.
The Southampton Arms, 139 Highgate Road, NW5
If your idea of craft is cask, this is it. Seven handpumps from small independent breweries, six real ciders and eight keg lines, all from a long thin bar with a fire. The Southampton Arms lists its casks palest on the left to darkest on the right, which saves a lot of questions.
Tapping the Admiral, 77 Castle Road, NW1
Eight cask ales from London breweries through CAMRA’s LocAle scheme, plus kegs and bottles, and a tap takeover every couple of months. Up to four ciders sit on handpump too, the food is home-made with pies the speciality, and the heated, covered garden means the session does not end when it rains. Follow the pub’s social channels for the next takeover.
The Duke of St Albans, 15 Highgate Road, NW5
Owned by the group that runs the Saint Monday brewery, so four of the keg lines are Saint Monday beers, alongside five casks and real cider. It sits opposite the Parliament Hill gate of Hampstead Heath. The group also brought back a run of lost London pubs, and this one promises Saturday brunches and Sunday roasts. Card only, and CAMRA members get 10% off cask.
Bottle shops you can drink in
- Clapton Craft NW5, 326 Kentish Town Road: a shop with a small tasting room, four beers on tap, wine by the glass and a growler refill station. Open to 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Caps & Taps, 141 Fortess Road, NW5: more than 300 beers in the fridges and five taps to drink in, by Tufnell Park station. Closed on Mondays and shuts at 17:00 on Sundays.
Cask or keg?
Both taprooms pour keg only: CAMRA lists no real ale at the Beer Hall or at 3 Locks. If you want beer from a handpump, the Southampton Arms, Tapping the Admiral and the Duke of St Albans are the three to aim for, and all three carry real cider as well. If you want the widest choice of styles under one roof, it is the Grafton.
The crawl
- Afternoon: 3 Locks at Hawley Wharf for a tour or a pint by the canal.
- Early evening: walk up to the Beer Hall at Kentish Town West, ideally on a Friday for Hoppy Hour.
- Night: the Grafton, then the Southampton Arms if you want cask to finish.
- Home: a bag of cans from Clapton Craft on Kentish Town Road.
Taps change weekly in most of these places, so ask what is fresh rather than what is famous.
