HB&B Blog — The Kernel

The Beer Lover's Table: Sausage Casserole with Wild Garlic Butter and Lager Sauce and The Kernel Dark Mild

Beer Lover's Table Claire Bullen Mild SE London The Kernel

The Beer Lover's Table: Sausage Casserole with Wild Garlic Butter and Lager Sauce and The Kernel Dark Mild

Every spring, my cooking is governed by a single objective: find as many ways to use wild garlic as possible. There are the staples I make every year – wild garlic pesto in vast quantities, irresistible cheddar and wild garlic American-style biscuits – and the yearly experiments and novelties (quesadillas and pierogi, soup and fried artichokes). Now added to the pantheon is this year’s latest entry: a humble sausage casserole, made memorable with a generous quantity of wild garlic butter. In search of a low-effort and high-reward Easter main a few weeks back, I landed on this dish: Here, delightfully herbal...

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Fundamentals #133 — The Kernel Bitter Simonds 1880

Bitter Fundamentals Matthew Curtis SE London The Kernel

Fundamentals #133 — The Kernel Bitter Simonds 1880

It’s been 13 years since The Kernel arrived in Bermondsey and changed the face of the London (nay, the UK) beer scene forever. In that time, there are few styles the brewery has not turned its hand to. Initially making its mark with a trailblazing range of vibrantly hopped pale ales and IPAs, these progenitors to the haze craze, while wearing their American influences on their sleeve, still tasted resolutely, well, Kernel. It’s a character you can taste in every beer it makes, from historic recreations of export stouts to the fruity, acidic joy contained within every bottle of its Biere de...

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Fundamentals #49 — The Kernel Foeder Beer Centennial Hallertau Tradition

Foeder Fundamentals London Matthew Curtis The Kernel

Fundamentals #49 — The Kernel Foeder Beer Centennial Hallertau Tradition

There are few things more mesmerising within a brewery than a room full of foeders (or ‘foudres’, if the brewery decides to use the French spelling instead of the Dutch). There’s real magic inside these oaken vessels, often standing several metres tall. And that’s because there is real magic inside them: millions of wild yeasts and bacteria that nurture and mature a beer over several months or years, before it is eventually blended and packaged into something delicious for us to enjoy. Beers such as the impressive Rodenbach Grand Cru, or the equally majestic New Belgium La Folie. In fact,...

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The Beer Lover’s Table: A Mixed Cheese Plate and The Kernel India Brown Ale

Beer Lover's Table Cheese Claire Bullen London The Kernel

The Beer Lover’s Table: A Mixed Cheese Plate and The Kernel India Brown Ale

January is a remarkably bad time for self-punishment, though we always convince ourselves that this darkest and dreariest of months is when we’ll finally get leaner, stronger, better. Spoiler: we won’t. We’re weary. We’re half-hibernating on the sofa, aware of the void in our wallets where money should be. The last thing we need, at this point, is to cut out carbs. Or cheese. A cheese plate is, in fact, an extremely good January meal, because it requires little-to-no effort (beyond vague curatorial sensibilities), and is also absolutely comforting - perhaps best enjoyed while wrapped in a fleece blanket. The...

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Fundamentals #40: A Cautionary Christmas Tale (Ft. The Kernel Barrel Aged London 1840 Export Stout)

Fundamentals Matthew Curtis SE London The Kernel

Fundamentals #40: A Cautionary Christmas Tale (Ft. The Kernel Barrel Aged London 1840 Export Stout)

If you’ve ever trapped your finger in a car door. you’ll perhaps empathise with this tale of struggle and woe. It begins in East London, at Signature Brew’s new taproom, at the start of December. Was that a hint of Christmas in the air I detected? No. It was the smell of heat and spice emanating from the victims of HB&B’s latest round of Chilli Karaoke. The premise of Chilli Karaoke is simple, yet effective. You choose a song, you sing the first few lines before being rudely interrupted by the host, at which point a Scotch Bonnet pepper is...

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