Part of our Best Pubs in London microsite. See if we've included your local.
That Trump fella has given walls a bad name lately. But you know what, we're fans of walls. So long as they're built out of incandescent cans of craft stouts, sours and saisons. Walls of beer.
You'll find such walls at The Sympathetic Ear — a bookish little brew shop/taproom on the Brixton/Tulse Hill border, lined with shelves and fridges of liquid loveliness. The amiable staff will also dish out samples fresh from the tap; at the time of writing, they're all about the New England pale ales — a hoppy, yet creamy kind of beer.
Of course, all this choice is dangerous. We'd initially planned to pop in for a brew or two then head onward in search of other drinking holes. But when you've got Brick Brewery's Manhattan cocktail sour beer, and Evil Twin's Even More Coco Jesus — a 12% imperial stout swirled with coconut and maple syrup — then really, what's the point?
Or try the selection of cider, natural wines and small batch spirits. Booze swervers are catered for, with a generous range of non-alcoholic craft beers.
What's great about the way most of this stuff is displayed, is that you can pick up bottles and cans, study them, check online ratings, etc, before making your choice, and buying it at the bar.
As if they knew we were coming, the pub also has a copy of Nairn's London — the best guide to the city ever written. Another day, we'd be contented to curl up with a couple of cans and leaf through the mini-library for hours.
