the old brewery, greenwich

I do like a brew, even better if it's made locally, so it's natural that I should like the Meantime Brewery based, naturlich, in Greenwich.

They already have a pub, called the Greenwich Union, but when I heard that they had opened a kind of bar/cafe/restaurant in the old naval college I was pretty much beyond excited, but it took until a hot weekend in July to tempt me over there.

Unlike a lot of English breweries Meantime is about more than real ale, in fact ale, with the exception of their London IPA, in practically off the menu in exchange for lovely hoppy malty, European style beers and lagers. They also serve a selection of bottled trappist beers, American lager on tap such as Brooklyn lager and various other German beers like Schneider Weisse. Carlsberg, is, fortunately totally off the menu.

We both tried their Kellerbier, although this is the first time I've opted for it, their Pilsner is becoming almost commonplace in pubs and bars around the UK and I've drunk it a number of times. It was pleasant, though I think I thought I would find it a bit less bitter and a bit more refreshing, in line with the Pilsner.

I am ordinarily a massive fan of wheat beer, but the brief tagline on the pump which mentioned it tasted of clove put me off, so anyone who has tasted it please let me know I this is the case.

Mr LROC sampled a Kolner, when quizzed about it he said it was 'like a lager, but nice' so you can see what I have to put up with! My second drink was a Brooklyn lager, described as a 'smooth full bodied lager' it was dark, cool and hoppy.

They also have a restaurant and cafe, although the restaurant menu is served only from 6pm and errs on the pricey side it is all designed to complement the beer and what we did see coming out from the kitchen to the shaded al fresco garden looked delicious.

Personally, as a beer lover, it's great to see somewhere take a stand from to dominance of wine with food and a great place to visit on a sunny weekend.