Have you heard that everyone’s fave local brewery has this week released a quaffable new beverage called India Hells Lager? Its simple USP is that it combines the hoppy intensity of an IPA with the crisp, cleanness of lager. And it’s a blurry-eyed 6.2% ABV too. Yikes.
To celebrate, Camden Brewery is in the middle of a week-long pop-up at the underrated Cob Gallery on Royal College Street – or the Temple of IHL as they’ve taken to calling it.
If you haven’t been down yet, fear not as the big two events take place at the weekend: tomorrow (Friday) sees the The Feast of IHL, a “rejoicing” (nice word) in food and beer. For forty quid, IHL will be matched with four courses of food crafted by the self-styled “John the Baptist of Brisket”, Texas Joe himself. Expect beer cocktails and a menu that looks considerably posher than what the local lad’s been serving up all summer at the Grafton.
Then on Saturday 8th, the gallery becomes an off-license for one day only, when it plays host to Camden Brewery’s favourite breweries in their self-styled “Festival of Cans” (runs 12-6pm). There’ll be tastings of around 19 canned beers from six different breweries including Beavertown, Brewdog, Fourpure and, of course, Camden’s own range.
Even better, they’ll be showing off a brand new shiny “Crowler” – or “can growler“. It fills a thirsty 32oz (nearly a litre!) with fresh draft beer for a zippy take-away. And we hear that it’s the first of it’s kind in the UK – so you can even participate in a teeny-tiny bit of boozing history while you’re at it.