Euston Tap, London
Posted on 10. Jan, 2011 by Robert Gale in Pubs
Brief History
The Euston Tap is located inside the Western Lodge outside Euston railway station in London. It was one of four lodges that flanked the impressive Euston Arch. The arch is considered by some as the first great monument of the railway age.
Completed in 1839, the 70 feet 6 inches high Doric propylaeum was the largest ever built and formed the entrance to the station. The station opened on July 20, 1837, as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway and a similar arch still exists in Curzon Street, Birmingham at the other end of the line.
Sadly, the arch along with the original Euston station was demolished in 1961/62 to much criticism. Around 60% of the stone was dumped in the River Lea and today only two lodges remain. The Euston Arch Trust hopes to one day rebuild the arch using stone reclaimed from the River Lea.
Prior to becoming the a pub, the lodge was home to The Glass Bar, a women only lesbian and bisexual bar. The bar relocated to Covent Garden and in November 2010 the Euston Tap opened. It is operated by the same company that runs the successful Sheffield Tap in Sheffield railway station.
Interior
Despite looking rather diminutive from the outside, the Euston Tap consists of two floors, the ground floor a bar area with stools around the edges and the first floor a lounge area with more comfortable seating and tables.
The simple horseshoe-shaped bar is decorated with dark green tiling dominates the ground floor and to the rear of it are the 27 taps dispensing 19 keg and 8 cask beers from around the world. Either side are fridges fully stocked with mainly continental and American bottled beers.
Outside is perhaps the smallest beer garden I’ve encountered with room for just a few tables.
The Beer
The selection of beer available is one of the best in London. You can also find equally good selections at The Rake in Southwark and the Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico. When I visited On January 8th cask and keg beers were from Thornbridge, Bristol Beer Factory, Ossett, Fyne Ales, Marble, Anchor, Odell, Stone, Bernard, Sierra Nevada, Matsuka, Timmermans, Floris and more.
Prices vary wildly and as you’d expect, the imported beers cost considerably more than the British ales. The cask ales were priced at a reasonable £2.70-£3.60 a pint. The foreign lagers and wheat beers ranged between £3.20 and £4.30 a pint and the other foreign beers cost between £3 and £4 a half pint. Whilst some people may be reluctant to fork out the equivalent of £8 a pint, many of these beers are rarely seen in pubs and are costly to import.
The bottles in the fridge can either be drunk in the pub or taken home. Many bottles don’t have prices on them which means you keep asking the barman to check how much each beer costs. There is a beer menu containing some prices but I didn’t notice this on my first visit. I’m not sure what the cheapest bottles are but the Anchor Bock that I tried cost £3.60. Beers such as those from Mikkeller cost considerably more.
A lot of the beers will be out of the price range of many and the markup on some is quite substantial. As an example, a bottle of Alesmith Summer Yulesmith from the USA costs £10 on Beer Merchants, £12.49 at Brewdog and just under £25 at the Euston Tap. A 150% markup on an already marked up price is a lot.
Visiting the Euston Tap
The pub is very easy to get to and is located next to both Euston railway station and a small bus station. It’s also near both Euston and Euston Square underground stations. Another pub nearby is the Bree Louise which always stocks around a dozen British ales and a good selection of cider.
More Photos of the Euston Tap
Venue Location
Euston Tap
190 Euston Road
London
NW1 2EF
Tel: 020 3137 8837
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