It’s the Great British Beer Festival next week! If any brewers are going to be in town, then how about breakfast?

From 10am to midday on Tuesday through to Saturday we’re going to be cooking bacon sandwiches, serving tea and coffee and pouring beer for anyone going to the festival. Come over, say hi, hang out and get ready up for the festival.

We’re a short journey from the main stations into London from the north and the train from above the brewery (Kentish Town West) goes direct to Kensington Olympia, which is where the festival is being held.

The Brewery Bar will be open 10am-10pm every day during GBBF (except for Tuesday 7 August when we close at midday because we’re all going to GBBF) for anyone who wants to come in for a beer. Pre-festival breakfast is 10am-12pm and then we flip over to beer.

The Brewer’s Breakfast is free for brewers, anyone else can come along and grab a sandwich and drink for £2.

If you plan on coming then let us know so we can plan how much bacon to buy! Email: mark@camdentownbrewery.com

The wonderful image at the top is from here.

While golf might not be hitting the Olympics until 2016, we’re bringing in some action of our own to the brewhouse with the Brewmaster’s Open.

On Saturday 4 August, we’re having a mini golf tournament in the brewery and we’ve got five holes running through the brewhouse. Forget putting by the seaside, it’s way more awesome playing golf underneath and around huge tanks filled with beer.

Tee-off is from 12pm and we’ll be running until around 8pm. It’ll be £5 per person for a round and that includes a pint of beer at the end. Whoever gets the best score of the day will win a lot of beer!

We’re going to have a few food stands on the street outside and the TV inside will be showing the action from around the city. Plus there will of course be a bar lined with beer.

Come and play golf in the brewery!

Camden Brewery in 1901

From 1859 until 1926, Camden Brewery made beer a short distance from where we brew today – the building is still there, on the corner of Hawley Crescent and Kentish Town Road, where you can see an elephant head hanging over the door.

The brewery was started by four men: Richard Garrett and George Grimwood, who provided the money, and Abram Garrett and Thomas Whitaker who joined with a group of 30 pubs.

The brewery grew into a successful business, making a range of beers including stout, strong ale, mild and, later, a pale ale. The brewery also increased their early pub holding, going from 30 to over 70. Looking back at the existing records, we can see a few of the pubs which were owned by Camden Brewery are pubs which we now sell to – the Southampton Arms and Exmouth Arms.

Things started to gradually deteriorate as the 20^th century clocked in. The pub market was tough, finance acts made it tougher and the brewery started to struggle. The archives which were saved when the brewery closed show the development of those struggles through minuted board meetings.

The Camden Brewery building now

During this time, London was the brewing capital of the world, with some enormous breweries positioned around the capital. Two of those were Courage and Barclay Perkins (at one time the world’s largest brewery), both based in south London.

Courage and Barclay Perkins also owned many pubs and they were looking to increase their property at the time when they could see that Camden Brewery was struggling. Camden were making 42,000 barrels a year at this point (about 12 million pints a year!), but Courage and Barclay Perkins weren’t interested in the beer, they wanted the pub estate to broaden their reach across London, particularly in the north. When it came to be acquired, instead of bidding for the brewery, the chairmen of Courage and Barclay Perkins came together and tossed a coin to see who would get Camden Brewery. Courage won (and you can still see their name on the Exmouth Arms today).

That was 1923. Courage took over and kept things going until Camden Brewery went into voluntary liquidation in 1926. Brewing stopped in Camden until 2010. That’s when Camden Town Brewery started.

An old Camden Brewery recipe

Now you can try a resurrected beer from Camden Brewery. When looking into the history we found their brewing records and we’ve developed one of them which is being released on Friday 27 July. It’s called Camden 1908 and it’s the beer which would’ve been drunk during the 1908 London Olympics. Taste history with Camden Town Brewery in 2012.

(New photo from here)

For the next two weeks, the Brewery Bar has extended opening hours. Every day that we’re open we’ll have at least one street food trader cooking outside, with four here every Friday. We will also have a TV on showing all the action from around the city.

Our location is a winner: we’re a straight train journey from Stratford to Kentish Town West in 22 thirst-inducing minutes; we’re a couple of stops north of the main London stations, meaning 20 minutes from leaving St Pancras to sitting at the bar; we’re also far enough from any sporting venues that there’s no bad traffic around (we’re also next to a sports centre if you’re feeling inspired). Plus we’re in a brewery and that means there’s lots of cold, refreshing, delicious, fresh beer, all made in Camden Town.

Here are the opening times:

Thu 26 July: 4pm-8pm
Fri 27 July: 4pm-Late
Sat 28 July: 12pm-8pm
Sun 29 July: CLOSED
Mon 30 July: CLOSED
Tue 31 July: 12pm-10pm
Wed 1 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Thu 2 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Fri 3 Aug: 12pm-11pm
Sat 4 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Sun 5 Aug: CLOSED
Mon 6 Aug: CLOSED
Tue 7 Aug: CLOSED
Wed 8 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Thu 9 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Fri 10 Aug: 12pm-11pm
Sat 11 Aug: 12pm-10pm
Sun 12 Aug: CLOSED

(After the 12 August we go back to Thursday, Friday and Saturday opening times.)

On Saturday 4 August, we’ve got mini golf in the brewery. There’ll be five holes through the brewhouse plus a few extras food trucks outside.

We’re also open during the Great British Beer Festival (but closed on the 7 August as we’re all going along to drink!) so come along before or after – there’s a direct train from above the brewery to/from Kensington Olympia.

And don’t forget: Camden 1908 is released on Friday 27 July. Get it here first!

Name…
James Garstang

Job title…
Brewer

For breakfast today I had…
Shreddies and a damson jam sandwich

Bio…
Born in Manchester, bred in the depths of the dark Fens, London resident since 2000

Brewing/work CV…
Played music and operated as a factotum until I decided to become a brewer. Been at Camden since April 2010

Today at work I have to…
Catch up and then brew like a motherfucker

If I wasn’t at work, I’d be…
Watching skate videos and indulging in every form of gluttony there is

Favourite CTB beer…
Hells Lager. I’m a deep drinker and it slakes my thirst nicely

Favourite non-CTB beer…
Duvel. It’s beautifully quaffable, deep as the ocean and most importantly, never, EVER crap

My favourite hop is…
Styrian Goldings as they exemplify poise, taste and class and feature in so many of my favourite beers

When I’m not drinking beer, I’m drinking…
Tea, coffee, water or rubicon. Lucazade sometimes gets a look in on hangover days

The last beer I drank was…
Hells Lager straight off the bottling line

If we could brew any beer at CTB it’d be…
An adjunct abomination designed to irritate and titillate. That or another permutation of Wit. I love Wit

If I could brew a beer with anyone in the world, it’d be…
R Kelly because R Kelly’s mind created ‘Trapped in the Closet’. IMAGINE THE INSANE IDEAS HE WOULD HAVE WHEN BREWING

Favourite song/album to brew to…
I currently cannot stop rinsing Visions by Grimes

Favourite place to have a beer…
Walking with a bottle or can is about as real as it gets

Favourite food to go with a beer…
Pork or pizza

If you’ve got any questions about brewing (or just life, etc) then his email is: James@camdentownbrewery.com

And this is the photo James sent over of himself… When things aren’t going right, this is surprisingly life-like…

Get ready to taste history! Camden 1908 is coming on Friday 27 July, launched at the Brewery Bar from 4pm.

This is our resurrection of the sort of beer that would’ve been drunk in London in 1908, the year of the first Olympics in the city. We looked through brewing archives, we researched brewing documents and beer history and we developed a recipe for the beer: it’s a pale ale, 5% ABV, amber in colour, loaded with English Goldings and American Cluster hops.

We’ll have the beer on keg and in 660ml bottles. It’ll be available at the Brewery Bar from Friday 27 July until it runs out (some is also available for pubs). For the launch, we’ll also have a few one-off casks of the beer available, each will be dry-hopped differently and you’ll only be able to get them here at the brewery – these will go very quickly.

For Friday’s launch event there’ll be a great selection of food outside from a range of our favourite traders. And we’ll also have the TV on inside showing the main event from across town.

Don’t miss Camden 1908 – it’s a one-off special, only around for the next two weeks (unless we drink it all before then!). Get it from 4pm on Friday 27 July at the Brewery Bar.

We’ve got five (woah, exciting update… make that six!) awesome food stalls at the brewery this Friday…

Have a look at Green Goat’s website and you’ll be hungry for the rest of the day… They might be called Green Goat, but these guys have a wicked fish-focused menu. Hells Lager loves fish.

Mighty Mexican maestros Buen Provecho are bringing their hot stuff. Have a hefe, the cooling creaminess of Wheat is great with Mexican food.

Have you had Bokit’la’s incredible bokits? We need to get here and you need to try it – fantastic French Caribbean food. You got to have an unfiltered Hells with it.

You must know the wonderful Byron by now, right? It’s pale ale all the way with a hamburger – the citrusy hops are awesome with the meat, cheese and sweet-and-sour condiments.

Transylvanian Chimney Cake Co. is another new trader at the brewery and they’re here for those with a sweet tooth – towering treats of pastry, perfect with a pint of roasty Ink, think of it like a coffee break only more delicious.

And we’ve got the outrageously tasty Tongue n Cheek! Grab an Ink or a Pale Ale with that. They might also bring something special along this week…

We’ve also got a bar lined with the freshest beer in town!

Remember the Brewery Bar is now open on Thursdays (4pm-8pm), Fridays (4pm-11pm) and Saturdays (12pm-8pm). We run brewery tours on Thursday evenings – you can book onto them here.

Following the huge success of Street Feast, we’ve now teamed up with the man behind it, Dom, to make sure you’ll have excellent food just outside the brewery and every friday. Starting from this week, Brewer’s Table will be a selection of up to five different traders which will rotate every week to make sure you could always taste different and awesome foods.

Let us introduce you to this friday’s foodmakers:

• BYRON VAN
• KAMCHI
• BHANGRA BURGERS
• SWEET TOOTH FACTORY

As always, inside the brewery we will have fresh Camden town beer plus a few special kegs from our favorite guest breweries.

Mark Fridays on you calendars, Brewer’s Table is here to stay.

Leo is Camden Town Brewery’s new Bar Manager! Born and raised in Milan, Italy, he’s just moved to London and he’ll be the bar room hero pouring all the beers when you come to visit us. He only discovered beer in his twenties and has now made a career out of it. When he’s not working or drinking, you’ll catch him riding a bike, listening to vinyl, making noise on drums or getting tattooed. Here’s a little more about him…

Name…
Alessio Leone

Job title…
Bar Manager

For breakfast today I had…
Cup of coffee, black and no sugar

Brewing/work CV…
Brewpub manager at Birrificio Italiano. Birra Om brewery and bar project designer

Today at work I have to…
Make sure people have pints in their hands and smiles on their faces. Yeah, it’s actually a job!

If I wasn’t at work, I’d be…
In the pub

Favourite CTB beer (and why)…
Hells – different, creative, drinkable at every time of the day

Favourite non-CTB beer (and why)…
Cantillon Gueuze – history and resistance in a glass

My favourite hop is…
Cascade

When I’m not drinking beer, I’m drinking…
Italian wine

The last beer I drank was…
Fuller’s Bengal Lancer

If we could brew any beer at CTB it’d be…
Doppelbock

If I could pour a beer for anyone in the world, it’d be…
Michael Jackson, the beer writer

Favourite place to have a beer…
A German beer garden on a warm, late spring evening

Favourite food to go with a beer…
Cheese

Favourite song/album to brew to…
Vitamin C by Can

Leo is the man! Check out his badass beer pouring skillz and say hi to him when you’re next in the bar having a pint.

You can follow Leo on Twitter. If you’ve got any questions about brewing then his email is leo@camdentownbrewery.com

Making great beer keeps us damn busy but keeping up with all of our awesome customers is another huge priority and they need to be kept as excited about our beer as we are. We need someone with experience and electricity to bring us fresh ideas and head up Sales and Marketing. If you’ve got a nice suit and shiny shoes then this probably isn’t for you. You need to be able to dive right in, get a little dirty, bring some awesome ideas, have some fun and make amazing things happen. If that’s what you can do then we need to hear from you.

Call Jasper at the brewery on 0207 485 1671 or email blastoff@camdentownbrewery.com