William IV, 816 Leyton High Road

We at the Randompubfinder sometimes go to extraordinary lengths in the name of beer and this pub review is no exception. We had recently learnt of a pub in East London that brewed small quantities of beer on the premises and quickly made up our minds that we had to go and review it. In the US an enlightened younger generation are turning their backs on the mass-produced lagers and microbrew pubs are now all the rage. The concept of microbrew pubs is not new. In the olden days all pubs would brew on the premises and were required to advertise the fact they had beer available by hanging a bunch of hops over the front door. Later, pubs were ordered by law to display a sign over the front door and this custom developed in to the pub signs we all recognize today. This particular pub is a good fifteen minute walk south from Walthamstow Central into the fringes of Leyton. The pub’s leafy exterior reveals itself on the left hand side of the road just south of the Baker’s Arms crossroads and a sign confirmed our suspicion that this was indeed the right pub. Inside, the cavernous space was heated by a roaring fire to the left of which was a well-used dart board. A mixed bunch of locals, mostly men, sat drinking pints, while in the background Heart FM floated on waves of beer fumes. As we alluded to earlier, the pub is the home of the Sweet William Brewery and unsurprisingly the bar offered all three of their beers: Brodie’s IPA, Brodie’s Mild and Brodie’s Red. We opted for the IPA first and were pleasantly surprised to hear that our pints would cost less than £2 since it was “Happy Hour” until 7pm. As we stood at the bar we noticed that a second and equally colossal part of the pub extended back beyond the bar and lead towards a beer garden. There was a friendly chat with one of the locals at the bar about “Get Carter” followed by a pint of Mild. A big floppy screen lowered itself from the ceiling and a Carling Cup match featuring a crap team from North London ensued. Apart from big screen sports, the pub has occasional jazz nights, but the big attraction is the beer and the friendly banter, both were well worth the trek from the tube. A truly great pub.

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