2 'sister' brewpubs I heard about a couple of weeks ago, so I had to visit as I'd been given the opportunity!
The first is The Lamb Brewery at Turnham Green, and please don't get confused like me and think it's near the underground station in the road called Turnham Green, because it isn't, it's actually at Turnham Green itself (I didn't realise the Green wasn't by the station, not one of my usual West London haunts, I confess). This brewpub sells 6 ales from handpump, though has 12 handpumps in all, so potential for beer festivals etc. There was only one of their own ales on handpump Tuesday, Lamb Dark Ale, a 4% bitter with a strong aroma of honey from the malt, but a dry aftertaste, very nice.
They also had guest ales, such as Sambrook's Junction and Powerhouse Porter, and 2 of their own beers on keg, ie a 5% American Pale Ale, which I sampled, and was very tasty, plenty of flavour, and a 4.8% Pilsner. More information can be found at their website.
From the outside, The Lamb didn't look very large, but it goes back a long way, and has a fair sized dining area to the side, near the back, too! Apart from the gleaming brewing equipment which is in front of you as soon as you enter the pub, my image of the pub was very comfortable, clean, with varnished bare floorboards, wood panelling and glass. I liked the feel of this place a lot.
Also, the barstaff were very friendly, and the helpful barmaid gave me plenty of information about the microbrewery, ales, etc, and directions to their sister pub at Kew Green, The Botanist (website), which we walked down to via the Thames towpath.
The Botanist appears to concentrate more on it's own real ale, compared to The Lamb, with all 6 of the ales on handpump being their own brews. We tried 3 of the ales on offer, OK Bitter, a 4.2% what I would call a traditional bitter from London and the South East, Q Gold, a more flavoursome 4.5% bitter that I thought would be paler than it was, and my favourite of the session, Maximus, a 6.2% hoppy, malty, amber ale, delicious!
The overall feel at The Botanist was of an airy, clean modern bar, not really a pub feel to it, and it was enormous, stretching out through about 4 shopfronts! Of the 2, I preferred The Lamb, but The Botanist had my favourite ale, maybe because it concentrated more on its own ales?
The ales were pretty good, nice flavours, and varied styles, but some beer at both pubs was a bit hazy, nothing wrong flavour-wise, but some customers may be put off by the presentation... Whatever, I enjoyed myself, so cheers!
