Sambrook’s Brewery

I have noticed Wandle appearing more and more in London pubs over the course of the year and I am always happy to see it. It is not my favourite kind of ale, but it has a unique taste that does appeal to me and I haven’t had a bad pint of it yet, which means I often order it. I hear the brewery delivers their product personally to ensure quality.
I am therefore eagerly anticipating their follow up. This weekend they are launching their 2^nd ale, a Winter ale called Junction Ale and I am very looking forward to getting a taste!

The brewery’s on an anonymous industrial estate — aside from the sign at the front proclaiming Sambrook’s Brewery, there’s nothing to indicate the presence of a brewery.
But inside the entire space is dedicated to the arcane art of brewing — an art the brewers take great delight and knowledge in explaining, from the very beginning of the raw ingredients to the final tasting of a fresh barrel of ale.
The sooner they open this live examination of what we all drink to the public, the better!

We went for a thoroughly enjoyable brewing tour last week — definitely a good one if you’re looking for a work teambuilding or social occasion.
The tasting was the best bit obviously.

Walking into a pretty anonymous industrial estate building in Battersea, we were welcomed by the rather splendid words Welcome to our brewery.
Sambrook’s Brewery hasn’t been brewing for long: in fact, it only started in November last year. The brewery has three rooms — a small tasting room (coupling as reception), the hot room (where they brew the beer), and the cold room (where they let it settle, and then stick it into bottles).
First, the tour. We learned how beer was made — in rather more detail than a standard tour. For example, we discussed the additives put in the water to soften it, and the isinglass used to make it clear. Mmm, sturgeon swimbladders.
We were given floor malt to eat (it’s really yummy, and reminded me of Shreddies). We were given hops to sniff — proper leaves of the hop flowers, not unpleasant pellets. These people are brewing beer properly. We went to see how they ship it out — in their own barrels, it turns out, all carefully branded. And then we got to taste some.
Wandle Ale — named after a nearby river — is delicious. Clear, light, not too strong (3.8%), but beautifully hoppy. And so splendidly fresh-​tasting. A great session ale, and one that I’d have been quite happy to drink all evening.
At a time when breweries are abandoning London (Young’s closed their Ram Brewery in 2006; Pitfield Brewery leaving the East End for Essex), it’s great to see a brand new one. And when their beer tastes as good as this, it’s even better.

Stirring stuff here. Someone with a vision to bring back real ale brewing to London, a brave enterprise at the best of times but even more so now when every day the economy seems to become more stagnant and you read that a stupid number of pubs are closing every day. Having been to the London Real Ale festival as well as some smaller more local ale festivalettes I consider myself no stranger to the delights of ale and type brewed here (called Wandle) which I was lucky enough to sample on the premises certainly doesn’t disappoint; very clean tasting and refreshing without being too sweet but also with a nice, subtle hoppy character and a dry finish (thanks Oz). For all you hop fans out there they use Fuggles, Boadicea and Goldings. They also shy away from using pellet hops but instead use whole-​leaf which makes extraction a little more tricky but results in a better flavour.
Pretty fascinating to hear first-​hand about the brewing process from someone who co-​owns the business. The only ingredients are water, hops, malt and yeast (and possibly sugar) and the waste products are sold to farmers as cattle feed and fertiliser which I never knew. But anyway the important thing is the ale is lovely and well worth seeking out.

I’ve been on a couple of brewery tours and normally they’re all hyper-​marketing-​slick, but run by university students on summer holiday.
Visiting Sambrook was fantastic because it’s just three guys, they do it all themselves, and they’re one of the few (if only?) London breweries in town. This was a highly personal tour and you could definitely see and feel the sweat (and probably tears) that Duncan had poured into the place.
I’m not a beer expert, but I definitely liked their Wandle Ale and look forward to trying it in some of the pubs they distribute to.

Last night’s tour was the first time I had ever been inside a brewery. I don’t have anything to compare it to but I felt Duncan’s passion for the place and the brewing process made for a fun tour.
My favourite part was grazing on the malt (tasty!) and tasting — against recommendation — the hops. Listen to your elders, don’t do it
I’m not normally a big fan of ale but I did enjoy Wandle; the ale from Sambrook’s we tried on the night. And the ale lovers were raving about it so if you’re into your ale, you’d probably really like it!
So if you have a chance to attend a tour, I highly recommend you do so — don’t eat the hops — and if you don’t, give Wandle a go next time you’re in a pub which has it.

This was actually my first tour of a brewery in London. Having had tours of the Guinness plant in Dublin and tour of a whisky distillery in the Highlands of Scotland, I didn’t know what to expect arriving at down a road just off a busy street round the back of Wandsworth.
However, it was a fascinating lesson in the art and mainly science of brewing. Duncan Sambrook left accountancy to start up Sambrook’s Brewery which has been running since August 2008.
We had a taste of some of the malt that went into the beer and a good sniff at the hops — which someone described as bloke’s pot pourri.
The tanks holding all of the beer, water and mash were fairly large although not as massive as some sky high things you’d see from the larger brewers. But it was clear that a lot of care & love went into the beer and that certainly came across in the taste of it at the end.
Wandle cask ale was light, refreshing and for a beer that’s brewed in the heart of London could certainly compete with some Northern ales I’ve tasted.

It’s all about the product as far as I’m concerned and the pint I had at the end of our tour was excellent. I understand that the Wandle cask ale is a session ale in that it is light enough to drink many pints in a session. It certainly tasted good enough for me to want another — although I didn’t have the cheek to ask for a second.
Not being an experienced brewer it is difficult for me to comment on the brewery compared to others, as I guess that the small number of other London brewers are equally passionate about their product. Having said that, Duncan Sambrook certainly came across as passionate and committed to the future of Sambrook’s Brewery and I can only wish them every success.
I’ll certainly be tasting more if I visit a London pub where it is stocked.

Until last night my ale exploits have taken the more traditional form of drinking sessions at pubs and beer festivals so I was quite excited at the prospect of an all-​access tour and Sambrook’s Brewery delivered on all counts.
First off Duncan (accountant turned ale brewer extraodinaire) introduced himself and told us how the brewery came to be and it really is quite a poignant story, whilst masses of former london brewers have jumped ship and moved to more cost-​effective locations these guys stemmed the tide with their inner ‘London Pride’.
The tour itself was both informative an entertaining and it instilled a deep appreciation in me for the under appreciated art-​form that is ale-​brewing (although there is a lot of science involved of course). A personal highlight was seeing the raw ingredients they use in the beer (fyi, the malt is really moreish and the hops are a masculine alternative to pot-​purri). Once the tour was over we retired to the in-​house bar to try the brew itself which I will try to describe in typical beer festival booklet style.
‘Sambrook’s Wandle is golden in colour, has a fruity aroma and light yet flavoursome in taste, suitable for any time of the year.‘
Best served with a bone-​crunching 6-​nations game.