Ten steel tanks, ten fresh beers, one ten meter bar in a Queens Yard warehouse. The first dedicated tank bar in the UK still pours its best argument.
Howling Hops Tank Bar sits in Unit 9A Queens Yard, off White Post Lane in Hackney Wick, three minutes from Hackney Wick Overground. The brewery opened the first dedicated tank bar in Britain here in June 2015, pouring ten beers straight from serving tanks above the bar.
Founder Pete Holt built the operation out of the Cock Tavern basement on Mare Street in 2011, with the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town part of the same family. Time Out's review put it plainly: the beer is the star here.
No kegs, no casks, no bottles on the main list. The beer never meets a package, which is the whole point.
Long tables, sharing benches, and a row of gleaming steel vats behind the ten meter bar. Time Out called the comforts minimal and meant it as praise; DesignMyNight files it as a huge beer hall with tables spilling into the yard.
The outdoor benches in Queens Yard carry the sunny weekends, with the canal towpath a minute away.
The ten taps rotate weekly across pales, lagers, and stouts, served in third, half, two thirds, and pint measures, plus four pint pitchers. Pints run near 5.90 pounds, with happy hour pours around 4.30 per DesignMyNight.
Start with Tropical Deluxe, the 3.8 percent Citra and Mosaic pale that anchors the list. A takeaway glass flagon holds about three and a half pints for five pounds.