Brewery: Sambrook's
Location: London, England
ABV: 3.8%
Version: Draught
Source: The Bree Louise, London

I was in London on Tuesday for one of my regular visits to my employers' mother-ship and on the way back via Euston station I got the opportunity to follow up on a couple of recent blog-leads that I'd made note of. A couple of weeks ago Boak and Bailey talked about the Bree Louise, by the sounds of things a half-decent real ale pub in the immediate vicinity of Euston, so I thought I'd swing by for a swift one. And when I got there, they had Sambrook's Wandle on at the bar, a beer from a new London-based brewery championed by Jeff Evans and The Beer Justice, among others.

I ordered a pint (taking advantage of the 50p CAMRA discount it was only £2.50, which is almost Up-North prices) and wandered off to find somewhere to stand (even at 6.00 p.m. on a Tuesday the place was very busy indeed) and sup. Sambrook's Wandle is a very pale golden ale with a light, hoppy aroma. There's an initial malt-burst carried along on a creamy mouth-feel, with a lingering hoppy freshness and a dry finish that creeps up on you after a couple of seconds. All in all, a very nice drop indeed, an excellent palate-refresher before a two-hour train ride and one I wouldn't hesitate to try again.

Sambrook's describe it as "a well balanced thirst quenching session ale" and I think they've pretty much hit the nail on the head there; this really is one of those beers you could happily drink all night; there's definitely enough flavour there to keep it interesting, but with none of the astringent harshness that some beers of a similar strength think will make up for a lack of character. (If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's been a bit of a discussion about session beers and 'ordinary', smoothflow bitters, over at Tandleman's blog in the last day or so).

As for the Bree Louise itself, I thought it was a cracking little boozer. Great selection of ales (although I didn't spot anything I would have been desperate to try, aside from being keen to give the Wandle a go, and perhaps it's bigger sibling Junction as well) and I'll definitely be swinging by again as and when I have time to kill on the way back to the train. Only slightly spoiled by the faint whiff of disinfectant from the loos, which are right off the main room, but I'm sure that's something I'll get used to after a few visits, eh?

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Sambrook’s Junction
2. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s London Porter
3. Tasting Notes: a few session beers (Acorn, Titanic, Redemption & more)
4. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s London Pride, Fuller’s ESB