BrewDog, Waterloo… the drinks kept flowing, the service was excellent

By Bill Lacy

The place was so large there was a perimeter fence around it, and it took several minutes to find the entrance, even though the blue lights of “BrewDog” could probably be seen from space.

Welcome to the new outpost of BrewDog, once a small garage craft brewery, the brainchild of two young Scottish mates, and now the Manchester City of pubs.

It occupies the old site of the Eurostar terminal and is the largest BrewDog in the world and largest pub in the country.

I was picturing an echoey, atmosphere-destroying large hall but I was pleasantly surprised by the zonal layout, which allowed for some intimate space.

I took a table underneath a metal staircase, and I could have been in any BrewDog in the country. Instragrammers sat on the sofas opposite, mesmerised by the place.

The usual BrewDog drinks range is offered, although they had a few choices I’d never seen before.

In addition to several bars, there is a large drinks fridge labelled “for the train”.

In the largest pub in the country in the busiest station in the country, you will need a drink once you get to your train.

There’s always a risk that places like BrewDog become victims of their own success.

The first time I went to BrewDog, in Nottingham, I was blown away.

A big company then, for sure, but not the gargantuan monster it is now, with more than 100 pubs worldwide and the world’s first “beer hotel” in Scotland, but also attracting its fair share of bad publicity and Punk IPA becoming as ubiquitous as Fosters.

Where else can you possibly go? The answer is here, at Waterloo. You have to admire the audacity of the ambition.

On my tour (I needed one) I passed a bowling alley, table tennis, an actual ice-cream van, a “secret cocktail bar”, a coffee shop (Grind) and “Zoom pods”.

Perhaps the oddest sight was a giant metal slide that snaked around and took you back downstairs. I’ve seen plenty of slides in post-apocalyptic pub gardens, but nothing like this.

My favourite part was the section that brought you out right next to the railway barriers.

There’s even a new exclusive beer, Trainspotter. I couldn’t quite work out the “microbrewery” (BrewDog is now anything but). I think it means they brew some beers on-site.

People have compared it to an airport or a business park, but I thought it is planned quite well (although the slide was a detail too far for me).

As much as the purist in me wants to resist the future, I couldn’t.

The food – chicken with truffle gravy and fried pickles – was pretty hard to fault, the drinks kept flowing, the service was excellent and I was in a unique place. It must be seen.

Pictured: BrewDog Waterloo, Waterloo Station, SE1 7BH.