Date: February 2019 Location: 21 Great Tower St, London EC3R 5AR, UK Brewdog is a well-established Scottish craft beer brewer with a chain of pubs across the UK and a rapidly-expanding number of locations across the globe, taking in cities such as Sao Paulo, Reykjavik, Budapest, Barcelona, along with a brewery in Columbus, Ohio. We reported before on their tendency to include bar games in their locations and how that often includes pinball. One of their more recent openings in in Tower Hill, London, close to the famous Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, so we paid them a visit to check out the facilities. Brewdog Tower Hill is in the shadow of the skyscraper known locally as the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ Brewdog Tower Hill The bar at Brewdog Tower Hill The bar was busy when we got there around 6:30pm on a Wednesday. Being in the heart of London means there are plenty of office workers in the surrounding buildings looking for a post-work drink and a bite to eat. Despite the number of customers, it didn’t take long to get served at the bar. They serve 33 beers on tap – mostly their own brands but also a decent mix of other craft brewers’ products. The beer list is also available online They also brew a couple of small batch beers on the premises, so we sampled their Tower Hill London Pale – purely for research purposes, of course. They also brew their own beer here If you particularly enjoy any of the beers you can usually find them in cans in the three fridges next to the bar, or you can bring or buy a growler to fill straight from the tap. Along with these fridges they also have beer vending machines The far end of the bar is the games area and although there is some pinball, the majority of the space is taken up by three puck shuffleboard tables. Three shuffleboard tables dominate the far end of the bar When we first arrived the shuffleboard tables were not getting much action, but before long all three were occupied with groups and couples enjoying the game. The shuffleboard tables were soon being enjoyed Beyond the shuffleboards are two video games and one pinball – hooray! The videos and pinball The sole pinball is a Stern The Rolling Stones, complete with a working, dancing Mick Jagger. The machine is located on the far left side next to the window, providing enough space to play without non-players getting in the way. The Rolling Stones pinball at Brewdog Tower Hill The game is priced at £1 ($1.31/€1.15) per play, with no breaks for buying multiple credits. Replay scores were reasonably low initially at around 9M, but immediately doubled if you won a free game. The playfield was bright and clean with everything working, although the ball had a tendency to get stuck behind Mick when he was on the far left side of his travel. The playfield of The Rolling Stones The two video games to the right of the pinball are an original House of the Dead shooter and a Play Scene multi-game upright. Both also cost £1 per play. House of the Dead and the Play Scene multi-game cabinet We enjoyed our trip the Brewdog Tower Hill. There are better pinball locations in London with more and better games, but there’s nothing much in the immediate area and the addition of the shuffleboard games and good beer selection ensures we will pop in for a game and a pint whenever we’re in the neighbourhood.
