Friday Night at the Local Pub

Friday Night at the Local Pub is quite a tradition at London Effects Houses. Each of the different companies have their own territorial Pub too. Double Negative has two that it patronizes: De Hems, a Belgian style pub featuring great Belgian Beers; and The Golden Lion, a tradtional British pub featuring locally brewed Cask Conditioned Ales. Both have great beer.

For the record, I have not had bad beer while in London. Most of the hand-pulled cask conditioned ales are really wonderful, with soft hop and yeast flavors. I hadn't had a German lager or pilsner for a while, and when I had one again after having only traditional british ales, I was surprised at how much sharper the yeast signature really was.

One Friday night at De Hems, I finally tried the elusive Belgian Kriek beer (a traditional mix of beer and cherry juice}. It was a warm evening, and I found the Kriek to be quite refreshing - not too tart and not too sweet, with just a hint of the bitter from the beer. By the way, the rumors about London beer being served warm, are highly exagerated. They don't chill their beers the way we do in America, but mostly they don't need to. The beers are usually stored in a cellar where it is cooler. Personally, I don't like my beer served too cold as it kills the flavor. A good beer should be served cool, not necessarily ICE COLD. However, the occasional cold beer on a HOT day. . .


Friday Pub Night is a great way to get to know fellow coworkers, and to develop new friends. I've been having a great time getting to know my teammates at Dneg. What is particularly nice about it is that it happens organically. I've seen companies sponsor parties or beer events, but this seems to just naturally occur. Around 6pm. People start to migrate down to the Pub. It is tradition that people buy rounds of drinks. It is rare that people simply buy their own beer (American style). In London, you buy yourself a beer and several of your coworkers. In fact, it is bad form to not let someone buy you a beer, or a glass of wine. This is how I've often ended up having 2 beers as opposed to just one. It is understandable however if one decides to stop at two, it's just not British.

Just for my mother, since I'm riding a bike, this limits how much beer I drink. Can't be too tipsy and peddle back up the hill to Angel.