It's Official: We're One of the Best Real Ale Pubs in London!

Great news - the Antwerp has come a distinguished third in CAMRA’s Pub of the Year award for north London. The winner was The Pineapple and in second place was The Southampton Arms. Both of these fine pubs are in Kentish Town. We get our award at the pub on Tuesday 9th January so do come along to the celebration.

We are proud to be a flag bearer for real ale consumption in north London. In the recently published CAMRA guide the Antwerp Arms was the only pub listed as selling real ale in N17, although we think the Beehive might still sell it too.

We held another real ale festival in Spring 2023 when we showcased over 20 real ales from small producers. We plan to host two beer festivals in 2024. One will be during Easter, the second will be later in the year. Do get in touch to say when you think our second beer festival should be by emailing admin@antwerparms.co.uk with your suggestions.

We also need your help in drinking our real ales. Real ale is a unique live product, no other country has it. It needs to be conditioned properly in our cellar and served within 3-4 days before the barrel begins to go off. Every pint is hand pulled and not Co2 gas assisted like keg beers. Our footfall can be limited at the pub so getting through 9 gallons or 72 pints in barrel in a few days doesn’t always happen and unfortunately we do waste some beer.

Although there has been an expansion of interesting craft breweries in north London – Beavertown, Ora, Goodness, Bohem etc – these all produce their beers as kegged or canned product. A keg can last 3 months or so before it goes off so there is much less wastage than with real ale so you can see why it can be an attractive option for pubs when a lot are still struggling.

We do stock a lot of Redemption’s real ales (last week for example all four of our pumps were selling different Redemption brews). Redemption’s brewery is ten minutes from the pub and it remains a great friend and supporter to the pub. We value Andy and Sam’s support with special brews, beer donations and advice on cellar management.