Editorial
London drinks two traditions at once, the centuries-old British cask-ale culture and the modern keg-driven craft wave that arrived from America. The seven below cover both, from beer-focused pubs with the deepest tap lists in the country to brewery taprooms pouring straight from the tank. They run from Borough Market to the Bermondsey Beer Mile and up to Kentish Town and Stoke Newington.
Craft Beer Co. runs a small chain of beer-focused pubs across London, from the Clerkenwell original to the Covent Garden flagship with 15 cask pumps and 30 keg lines. The range is huge and tap takeovers frequent, drawing serious drinkers over a casual crowd. Order whatever cask is freshest and let the staff steer you. Best on a weekday before the after-work rush peaks.
Beavertown's taproom sits inside its Tottenham Hale brewery near the tube, all psychedelic artwork and fresh-from-the-tank Neck Oil and Gamma Ray. It opens weekends, with covered outdoor seating and an upstairs room for the overflow. The beer is as fresh as London gets. Order a Gamma Ray IPA at the source. Best on a Saturday afternoon, with a North London match nearby.
The Rake is London's original specialist beer bar, a tiny room on Winchester Walk run by the Utobeer team at Borough Market. It keeps at least five drafts, three real ales and a fridge stacked with bottles from around the world, leaning toward American craft. The terrace doubles the space. Order something rare from the fridge. Best on a weekday before the market crowds spill in.
The Kernel moved its taproom to a bright Spa Road space in 2024, anchoring the Bermondsey Beer Mile with one of London's most respected breweries. The board changes constantly across pale ales, table beers and stouts, with Yagi Izakaya serving gyoza and karaage alongside. It opens Wednesday through Sunday. Order a Table Beer and whatever export stout is on. Best on a Saturday Beer Mile crawl.
The Southampton Arms on Highgate Road bills itself as London's dedicated ale and cider house, every tap a UK microbrew or artisanal cider. The room is old-school, with wooden benches, a fireplace, no TVs and no loud music, just a piano. Cash-friendly and cozy. Order a cask ale and a pork roll from the bar. Best on a cold afternoon by the fire.
The Jolly Butchers is Stoke Newington's craft beer free house, pairing a rotating wall of cask and keg with proper Indian food Monday through Saturday. The high-street room is relaxed and local, with featured breweries changing often. It opens from the afternoon most days, later on weekends. Order a guest keg and a plate of curry. Best for a low-key North London night with food and beer together.
Cask Pub and Kitchen opened in Pimlico in 2009 as London's first craft-focused pub, and it still keeps about 20 keg lines, ten handpumps and a 300-plus bottle list. It took the local Pub of the Year again in 2025. The estate setting is unglamorous, but the beer range is among the city's deepest. Order a hard-to-find keg and a burger. Best midweek when you can get a seat.
Mikkeller Bar London runs twenty taps and around a hundred bottles from a wedge-shaped room on Hackney Road, the Danish brewer's first UK bar with Rick Astley as partner. Hot Dinners covered the Shoreditch opening. No reservations, so come early.
Victoria Taps sits two minutes from Victoria Station at 27 Gillingham Street, an 1828 pub pouring craft beer and cask ale with live football and rugby on the screens. Tripadvisor rates the smash burgers. Good for a pre-train pint.
London rewards picking a patch and walking it. Borough Market and the Bermondsey Beer Mile string together The Rake and The Kernel in an afternoon, while the cask houses of Kentish Town and Pimlico suit a slower pint. The pubs run from noon to late; the brewery taprooms mostly open weekends, so plan the fresh-from-the-tank stops around them.
Priya Nair covers craft beer bars and rooftops from Bangkok to Buenos Aires for barsforKings, with a travel writer's eye for cultural context over cocktail tourism.
For range and rarity, Craft Beer Co. and Cask Pub and Kitchen lead the city, both keeping deep keg and cask lists. The Rake at Borough Market is the original specialist beer bar and the most atmospheric small room.
The Bermondsey Beer Mile is a stretch of railway-arch breweries in south London. The Kernel's Spa Road taproom, open Wednesday through Sunday since 2024, is one of its anchors and a good place to start a crawl.
The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town is a dedicated ale and cider house with every tap a UK microbrew, and Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico keeps ten handpumps. Both put traditional cask front and center.
Yes. Beavertown's Tottenham Hale taproom pours fresh Neck Oil and Gamma Ray at the source on weekends, and The Kernel's Spa Road taproom does the same in Bermondsey. Both serve beer straight from the brewery.