Good for the...Constitution, Camden Town

Attending a training course found me back in Camden Town earlier in the week: a return to what was a bit of a local haunt back in the days when I lived in London.
Over the year's I've seen many a band, who turned out not to be the next big thing,  playing in sticky floored venues across Camden.
And on the most foolhardy of nights we'd end up with cans of Red Stripe in the dodgy back room of the Marathon Bar.
Those were the days. 
Sort of.

The all-seeing Camden Eye.

I'm quite pathetically un-rock'n'roll these days, with a remit to get home at a sensible hour.
Just enough time, then, to check out a handful of bars after being released form my course. 

The Camden Eye (2 Kentish Town Road, NW1 9NX)
This pub stands majestically on the junction of Kentish Town Road and Camden Road, looking across the road at both the Underground station and rock institution The Underworld.
It used to be the Halfway House until being taken over by Laine's and re-named in 2017.  In a recent face-lift the mock Tudor frontage of the upper floors has been replaced by a moody blue paint-job and a white all-seeing eye on the gable.
I just hopped in for a very swift half here, so didn't really get to take in the full pub experience, but it's in a handy location and serves up a decent ale brewed by Laine's, plus a good craft keg selection.

Brewdog (113 Bayham Street, NW1 0AG)

I can remember visiting this when it first opened back in 2011, excited by this new-fangled craft beer stuff (It'll never catch on).
This was a time when Brewdog hadn't begun worldwide domination and you couldn't pick up a Punk IPA in your local Tesco.  The Camden branch was just the fourth bar in their chain to open and their first outside of Scotland.

It's a relatively small street-corner location, hence can get very busy very quickly.  Midweek at 5pm though there's just a handful of customers and it's comfortable and relaxed.
Brewdog rarely disappoint with the opportunity to pick something stupidly strong, and so it was on this occasion  as I chose 'Heir Apparent', an 11.5% imperial stout from Lickinghole Creek Brewery over in the US of A.  And very nice it was too.
My one gripe is the barman filling the glass below the ⅓ pint line and telling me to wait a few minutes and it would settle to the line.  Hmmm - I'd rather see it filled to the line straight away and pleasantly settle just above a few minutes later. 
Especially as these strong imported ales sure don't come cheap.

Just over five minutes walk eastwards from Brewdog takes me to an area once known as Agar Town.  This is a lost neighbourhood of London, which may not be a bad thing as it was, by all accounts, a bit of a shit-hole.  Built in the 1840's it was cheaply constructed with no street lights or sewerage and quickly gained a terrible reputation.
Charles Dickens is quoted as saying that "the stench on a rainy day is enough to knock down a bullock".
In 1866 the Midland Railway enquired about buying the land as they constructed the new St Pancras station. The estate landlords couldn't have been more eager to sell up and the whole area was demolished within 2 months. 
All of which brings me to...

The Constitution (42 St Pancras Way, Camden Town, NW1 2QT)

Better than a fruit machine.
Retro table-top Donkey Kong  at the Constitution.

Built in 1858, this pub is the last remaining building of the Agar Estate.  With a host of dull modern buildings in the vicinity now, the pub stands proudly next to the canal.

It has a sizeable open plan room although there's a bit of a shortage of tables partly because a darts board and pool table take up a chunk of the space.  There's a small raised area occupied this evening by a few old boys and a sleepy dog, whilst a bunch of youngsters utilise the pool table.

With four ales on cask, I picked an autumnal ale from Windsor & Eton Brewery, served in good condition and coming in at £4 a pint.  Which I figured was pretty reasonable for London.  
The Constitution is listed in the 2019 Good Beer Guide and is well worth venturing beyond the main drag of Camden Town to visit.

Next up, a long walk along Agar Grove took me to...

Two Tribes (Tileyard Studios, Tileyard Road, N7 9AH).
This brewery and tap room only opened in April 2018, although Two Tribes began brewing on the south coast in Sussex in 2015.  They brew a Jamaica Porter and Session IPA for Island Records, reportedly taking up much of the capacity at the brewery, so this new location in central London can be used to conjure up more experimental creations.
Tileyard studio's houses a vast number of recording studios including one's belonging to Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy and Mark Ronson.  
So I guess you could search out the brewery tap room in the hope of rubbing shoulders with someone famous.  Personally I could've been sat next to Mark Ronson and been none the wiser.

Two Tribes.  Nope, can't think of any way to incorporate Frankie Goes to Hollywood into the caption.

I really liked the Two Tribes tap room.  It's small in size, meaning that when you grab a seat inside it feels as though you're really in among'st the workings of the brewery.  

Unlike many of the weekend-only tap rooms they've got good opening hours (Mon 12-6, Tue,Wed and Thur 12-9, Fri and Sat 12-12, closed on a Sunday).
Great beers.  Card-only (the hip kids don't do cash anymore).  And DJs and live music lined up on many nights.

So, a short evening.  All very sensible and just scratching the surface of what Camden and surrounding areas have to offer to the beer hunter. 
Every once in a while I have to concede that I can't visit every pub.