Walking down Kensington High Street, London, with some time on my hands I decided to check out the Whole Foods Market, which opened earlier this year. This is a culinary temple dedicated to all things nice and organic, so I thought I’d check out if they had any beers on offer.
As proper in such a store in this day and age, there are amazing displays of food everywhere. They boast of a hundred British cheeses, there is wine, fruit and berries, meat, fish and everything seasonal in December. I had just had a Thai curry, otherwise I would have tried their brown rice sushi.
The food on display was very nicely laid out, so I whipped out my camera, first attacking some of their apples. No scruffy old stuff like the organic fruit of yesteryear here! I had no sooner done that than an employee came running and told me that photos were not allowed.
When I reached the beer department I then had to sneak out my camera and hurriedly take a snap – they are to blame for it coming out a bit blurry.
Some fine beers on offer, some of them clearly organic, others from small scale supporters or with labels that would add to the feelgood factor. I bought some bottles form the US Sierra Nevada brewery, presumably shipped and not flown in. I could not resist buying some nuts and a piece of chorizo, too, lots of beery food around.
There is a bar with organic ales as well, including Pitfield beers, but it was not very inviting, it should have had a more sheltered position.
Verdict?
Easily the best beer range on Kensington High Street. Worth popping in for any foodie, whether you intend to buy anything or not. Pricey, as you’d expect. Less crowded than Borough Market, but not very cozy.
Impressive wall o’ beer! I’ve yet to visit a Whole Foods here in the US due to a lack of them in the immediate area, but I’ve heard great things. Enjoy the Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada, and Anchor products.
From what I can tell in the picture, there are six-packs of Anchor Liberty Ale on the shelf. I recommend picking one up next time you’re there. Not sure how long you’re in the UK, but I entreat you to sample some of that solid American stuff (although I’m a bit biased, I guess).
Cheers!
Cheers – good to know it’s worth the trek…
I bought some of the Sierra Nevada ales I hadn’t tried before, Stout, Porter and Anniversary. The Annivarsary ale was only available as sixpacks, but I managed to get them to sell me a single bottle!
Good to see some Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA on the shelves! Look for more varieties to come to Europe in the next few months.
For any Europeans, let me know if you’re interested and I can get you in contact with our distributor.
joshm [at] flyingdogales [dot] com
josh
creative manager
flying dog brewery
[...] Albert is a beer blogger. He took a photo of the beer selection at Whole Foods in Kensington (London). I’m happy to see that Flying Dog’s Snake Dog IPA is there, in [...]
Yes, I bought a Snake Dog IPA as well. But is that organic? (Not that I worry..)
Sierra Nevada is good, but Mirror Pond Pale Ale is *delish*. The only organic beer (microbrew) I’ve ever had was Fat Tire, which is Belgian, I think. Didn’t like it very much though. The Northwest US has so many great microbreweries- Deschutes, Full Sail, Rogue Ales, Steelhead, Terminal Gravity, Widmer… A much better export than Bud light!
Send them over, and we’ll drink them!
Actually Bud isn’t exported to here – all the Budweiser beers in Britain are brewed in London’s largest brewery, in Mortlake.