I have to say I like the Euston Tap. I like the fact that it is where it is and it does what it does. On the minus side, it is a bit too pokey and on the neutral side, it is a bar, not a pub. Back to location. Pubs are usually good for people watching, but here you are best to do this outside, as the hustle and bustle parades before you, conveyor belt like, in and out of Euston Station. Inside it sells good quality beer in a very polite way. It offers tasters, it has both keg and cask beers and enough bottled ones to keep most enthusiasts happy. It is immensely handy for the weary passenger tottering off a train, dragging their thirst behind and you know what? They actually know their stuff cask wise. The beer is invariably good, fresh, clean and lively. It is also for London, for cask beer at least, very reasonably priced. So for me, a cask man through and through, it ticks a lot of boxes. I recommend it 100%.
I have to say I like the Dean Swift. It is handy for our flat, it has the most amazing customer service, (amazing to the point of disconcerting almost.) The food is fantastic, the pub is bustling and cheerful. It sells a wide variety of cask, keg and bottled beers, so there is something for everyone? Well not quite. I am sorry to say it, but after four or five visits, each widely enough apart, I have to say they don't do cask beer at all well. Warm, oxidised, over vented, flabby beer. Shame. Now I know many don't like negative comments about pubs and actually I don't like to have to make them, but you know, this just isn't good enough. They really should get the cellar and dispense temperature down to around 12C and check how the beer actually tastes and is presented to the customer. It is pricey enough after all. The pub claims "Here at the Dean Swift we are passionate about amazing beer." All I ask is that they live up to that. I still recommend it highly though. Just not for cask beer.
So there you have it. My opinion. I am not just a beer blogger, I'm a customer. In both cases, I'd urge you to check for yourself and let me know what you think.
At the Euston Tap recently I had my only pint (so far) of Camden's Inner City Green. Very good indeed. I want more of it.
Agree 100%. Cask slighty too warm, every time I've been in.
ReplyDeleteYes, we do agree. Although most go by the opinion that beer taste varies from person to person there is still a difference between serving inferior quality beer and a decent beer. Unfortunately Dean Swift Beer House is not meant for cask beer!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, "Claudia Becks", vile troll. Your beer was good once upon a time. Now you have to resort to trolling blogs to plug it? Desperate...
ReplyDeleteSid - well I never.
ReplyDeleteClaudia - you are a cheeky monkey, but right.
I know a song about a cheeky monkey.
ReplyDeletewell sing it then Cookie!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Tandleman,been twice in last few weeks,will not be going again.
ReplyDeleteOK Anonymous. Here's the deal. Give yourself a name or you won't be published here.
ReplyDelete"Here at the Dean Swift we are passionate about amazing beer."
ReplyDeleteI'm actually getting rather sick of the misuse of the word "passionate", which means "capable of, revealing or characterised by intense emotion". It doesn't mean "quite keen on".
Oh Lord, ANOTHER word we're using that someone doesn't like. Passionate is a good word RedNev, What next? Beer? I can tell you the first time I tasted a beer I helped brew, I got passionate(no not amorous) but it was a deeply satisfying almost spiritual moment, then watching other people enjoy it was even better. I think passionate is a great word!
ReplyDeleteOh dear RBF - you haven't read my comment properly. I didn't say I didn't like the word. I said I disliked its misuse. Not the same thing at all.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I like the word beer.
ReplyDelete