The Jolly Butchers

As you walk into the Jolly Butchers on Stoke Newington High Street you are greeted with the sight of a Brewdog bar tower standing proudly on the left of the bar. It is surrounded by a host of other awesome craft beers from the UK, US, Belgium and wherever else head cellar man Joe has decided to look for inspiration.

There are 12 craft keg lines and 10 hand pulls that focus on quality, interesting beers. Punk IPA & 5AM Saint are staples of the Jolly Butchers but they’re also not afraid to pull out the big guns meaning you can often find a keg of Hardcore or Dogma adorning the Brewdog font. You might even still be able to pick up a bottle of the excellent Avery Brown Dredge, our imperial pilsner we brewed with Pete Brown and fellow bloggers Zak Avery & Mark Dredge. Given that it’s Pete’s local, you’d hope the selection on offer would be pretty impressive.

Much has been written about The Jolly Butchers since it was converted a couple of years ago into a mecca for craft beer lovers. It used to be a crap old boozer, one of Stoke Newington’s dodgiest. It’s recognisably still a boozer, but it’s had a makeover and now sells good beer and food, and suddenly it’s doing well enough for the owners to be opening up a second venue, the Crown & Anchor in Brixton. The design is simple, understated but stylish all the same. No gaudy ornaments everywhere, just a nice comfortable environment in which to meet friends and drink good beer. The Jolly Butchers is a testament to how pubs that focus on a good craft beer offering and comfortable surroundings can thrive and expand.

We’re planning to send down a couple of special beers to The Jolly Butchers in 2012 and beyond and we hope you’ll manage to get in there to try them. Either way, if you want a great pub and great beer, check them out – we offer a 100% guarantee that you won’t be disappointed!