Would you Adam & Eve it?

Back in Hackney for the Pigs Ear Beer Festival, followed by an excursion into Homerton.

I've become a bit of Pigs Ear beer festival regular.  The first couple I attended were at the Stratford Town Hall, pre-Westgate shopping centre; then at the Hackney Ocean; before the Round Chapel became a regular venue for me to make an annual visit to.
I even turned up at the door of York Hall in 2004, to find the 'beer festival cancelled' notice.  It shows how things have changed that we stood in Bethnal Green like lost souls with nowhere to go back then - now we'd have a veritable choice of brewery taps, hip pubs and craft bars to pick from.

So, this was the 2019 plan: hit the beer festival, avoid any stupidly strong ales, get to a couple of Beer Guide pubs in the vicinity, call in at one of the brewery taps, then get back to Oxford (without falling asleep on the train and waking up at Kingham).
Phew!

Tropical Hackney.

The Round Chapel is a great setting for the beer festival, with it's sweeping balcony of pew seating, looking down on the two bars at either side of the room.  The downfall of this is the length of time it takes to navigate the staircase, excuse yourself past other folks on the benches, then settle yourself... by which time you're ready to head back down for a re-fill.

My first beer was possibly the best of the whole day - 'Meet a Mega Bear', an ESB by Boutilliers Brewery.  Great stuff.
A challenger on the beer ratings came from the Foreign beer bar, where I couldn't resist the 9.2% ABV 'Christmas Morning' by Hardywood Park from the USA.  That's blown the plan to avoid any stupidly strong beers then...

Beer Fest Here.

Out of the beer festival and down to Homerton High Street, it was around a 15-minute walk to get to the Adam and Eve pub.

Adam & Eve (155 Homerton High Street, E9 6AS - web)
The exterior kinda gives a clue, but this was a pretty stunning, cavernous pub within.  Now open plan, but with three distinct areas, it has raised bits of seating, two pool tables (one of them of the lesser spotted L-shaped variety) and an enormous central wooden bar.

The magnificent Adam and Eve.

The chap before me at the bar ordered food. 
"Do I need a ticket? So you know where to bring the food", he asked. 
"Nah, I'll find ya, mate".
Cue 10-minutes later, staff member wandering around aimlessly, burger in hand, shrugged his shoulders. 
"It's for the old geezer", the barman told him.
I so hoped that I've not quite reached that descriptive age, and they didn't try to deliver the food to me...

There were a wide range of characters lurking in the Adam and Eve, including a chap in full tennis whites carrying his racket around and chatting to all and sundry whilst showing off his forehand swing.

I instantly warmed to the Adam and Eve - a cracking pub.

L-shaped pool table disappointingly out of order.

Chesham Arms (16 Mehetable Road, E9 6DU - web)
This pub, in the middle of a terrace on a quiet and pleasant side street closed in 2012 with developers looking to turn it into flats.  Local campaigns and the support of Hackney Council saw it reopen in 2015.  And this evening it had the feel of a pub that the local community are proud of - families, dog-walkers and folks on their way back from work had popped in, creating a convivial atmosphere. 
I picked the Five Points 'Railway Porter' from a reasonable selection on the bar. 

Chesham Arms, Homerton.

I could just about manage one more, before tackling the journey home.
For this I headed to the run of railway arches which house all sorts of businesses, including Pressure Drop, Verdant and Hackney Church breweries.

Hackney Church Brew Co. (16 and 17 Bohemia Place, Hackney, E8 1DU - web)

For the second year running, I ended up in the Hackney Church.  
This is a large and welcoming tap room, with rows of big chunky wooden tables and benches and a modern bar unit at the one end.  You catch a glimpse of the brewing kit when heading through to the WC in the next arch.

That's actually a 2019 picture from the same location, prior to a name change to Hackney Brew Co.
This time I veered to the dark side...
"Something dark", was my answer at the bar when queried about what type of beer I was looking for.  Which is how I ended up with the un-sensible 9% ABV '1792 Imperial Stout'.

That really was my limit today, so I shelved any wild ideas I may have had to keep going at the other great venues in this area.
But even though I missed it this time, here's a picture of the Cock Tavern...

A Hackney Classic.

The Pigs Ear beer festival does make for a great trip and I suspect I'll be making the journey into East London again in a year's time.
Now I just have to write up the second successive day-trip to London - London Bridge next.