Craft Beer Cabin a small but perfectly formed bar and beer shop
BY BILL LACY
Challenging economic times call for serious changes in behaviour.
But I’ve decided that won’t include stopping supporting our pubs and bars.
Instead, I’ve decided to walk everywhere.
The transition from couch potato has been tough.
Last week, I developed shin splits from a three-hour walk back home from East London.
So, when I found a bar a mere 50 minutes away, it seemed a doddle rather than the formidable obstacle it used to.
The Craft Beer Cabin in South Norwood (or ‘SoNo’ as gentrified locals have taken to calling it) was a welcome sight indeed after I trudged through the hills of south London to seek a new oasis.
A small but perfectly formed bar and beer shop, it served an impressive array of craft beer, particularly in cans, from which there are about 100 to choose from, including from some of the best the country has to offer.
The six leg lines dispense a range of rotating beers across several different styles including pale ales, IPAs, stouts and sours.
So far, so good.
This is clearly the work of a beer fan.
Indeed, the owners used to run a beer-selling black cab.
The heavy preponderance of black T-shirts and beards showed I had reached a specialist place (I then realised I was wearing a black T-shirt and beard myself).
A scatter of ‘new’ locals in an area clearly on an upward turn completed the line-up of customers.
The beer is excellent, as expected, although a few turned up in one of those irritating small glasses.
This is not a place for the traditionalist; it was so hip that I started to involuntarily crave a smokey carpet.
A small and peculiarly angled bar greets you as you walk in.
I particularly liked the upper deck part of the bar, attractively furnished with artwork and plants, and I enjoyed a pint on my own until the next table became occupied by a couple on a date.
I could hear every word of their courting, such was the size of the space, and there are only a handful of seats downstairs, too, but a few outside spots.
It can get busy very quickly.
It is a great addition to an area with a recent sad history of pubs closing.
Long may it continue, I thought, as I finished an excellent Verdant pale ale. Now for the walk back.
Craft Beer Cabin, 210A Selhurst Road, South Norwood SE25 6XH
Pictures: Bill Lacy