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The River Ale House (Free House)
| Beer (sort) | Average Score (sort) | No. Samples (sort) |
|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Kentish Best |  | 2 |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - The Miller's Ale (originally 4.5%) |  | 2 |
| Five Points - Railway Porter |  | 1 |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | | 4 |
| Kent - Green Ernest |  | 1 |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | | 1 |
| Mighty Oak - Wonkey Donkey | | 2 |
| Stancill - Godiva | | 1 |
| Titanic - Plum Porter | | 4 |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Autumn Pale | Not Tried | 0 |
| Castle Rock - Our House | Not Tried | 0 |
| Goacher's - Gold Star | Not Tried | 0 |
| Kent - Session Pale | Not Tried | 0 |
| Mad Squirrel (formerly Red Squirrel) - The Shire | Not Tried | 0 |
| Oakham - 3 Witches | Not Tried | 0 |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | Not Tried | 0 |
| Two by Two - Nectaron Pale | Not Tried | 0 |
Stephen Harris
Visits Details
29 Oct 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy footfall and with a good sprinkling of regulars among the odd lesser spotteds for the last half an hour of serving.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Kentish Best | 3.70 | | Second day on as came on belatedly the previous evening by all accounts and displaying a very good head and lasting lacing on this amber-hued best bitter from just outside Canterbury in Chartham, Kent, where the copper was first fired up in September 2010 at the Stour Valley Business Park. A very fresh hoppy first hit. A hoppy fruitiness rising from its East Kent Goldings exuding honeyed floral spice and Fuggles lending a woody, moss-coated forest floor flavouring. Hints of spicy orchard blossoms and a dark, marmalade sweetness. A gentle maltiness emerging aided by its Maris Otter lending freshly-baked bread and biscuit flavours, and its Crystal malts giving rise to hints of toasted sugar and dark raisin. A fruited bitterness prevailing with a crisp, earthy snap in the finish. A dry hoppiness on its sliding down my hatch. Served in very top nick condition. |
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | Not Tried | Ran out. |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Nectaron Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried | |
| Stancill - Godiva | 4.00 | Not Tried |
29 Oct 2026 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Kentish Best | 3.70 | | Good solid bitter |
| Stancill - Godiva | 4.00 | | Pale with little bitterness. Newly on tap |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Nectaron Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried |
28 Oct 2026 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close. So few bums on seats tonight with regulars a-missing.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | | Holding up well after a few days on |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Nectaron Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried |
27 Oct 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy on arrival for the last half an hour of serving with a local club after its meeting packing out the front and the fiddlers still playing out the back. I managed to squeeze to one side of the assembled fiddlers to hear two of them playing, one their mandolin and the other their squeeze box. None of the usual regulars on parade and which must be a first in a very long time. Good banter with the fiddlers after their playing and with two who came out from the front, a pony-tailed chap and a Cockney woman.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | | 3rd beer of this visit: Fourth day on and still exhibiting a good foamy head and lacing on this ruby-mahogany hued porter from the Titanic Brewery which first fired up its boilers and got its gear in motion in October 1985 with a modest brewing apparatus erected behind the Travellers Rest pub in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, and with the brewery named Titanic as a tip of the hat to Captain Edward John Smith, a local Stoke lad who famously captained the ill-fated ocean liner. The captain's wheel of this brewing outfit was moved on 1988 to expand the voyage to the main brewhouse’s docking at its current home in Burslem, Staffordshire. Not my favourite porter as over plumy for me with the taste of plums prevailing throughout from natural ones no less very generously added to its mix and with the first mashing of the tubs for Plum Porter going back to 2011 as a brief winter novelty but grew into an all-year rounder due to popular demand. This dark soup’s malts on a sturdy quartet of Maris Otter, Pearl, Wheat, and Dark Crystal malts. Its Maris Otter and Pearl grains laying down a golden-sweet, oven-baked biscuit deck. Its Wheat malt adding an extra layer of density, and its heavily kilned Dark Crystal exuding burnt sugar, cocoa and espresso flavours. A touch of toasted chocolate-fudge in on the mix for me. The odd distant hoppy note from its Goldings hops doing its best to rise above the plums but not quite managing it. The copper kettle actually played host to a four-way green harvest of Pilgrim and Herkules behind the bitterness to take some of the shine off the malts and sugary fruit-infusions, Goldings lending hints of a forest floor and wildflower spice, and Celeia sprinkling a sharp breath of citrus oil. Hints of wood resins, peppery wood-smoke and a dark berry compote. A dry bitter finish and I’m forever blowing plums played in my head on its way out! Served well but not my favourite by a long way. |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | | 2nd beer of this visit: Still wrongly priced as in £5.00 on the display blackboard on its fourth day on when it should be £5.10 for the CAMRA discount of 30p to be applied equalling £4.80. Its head and lacing now only lasting shortly after being poured. Otherwise still got a good amount of flavouring but showing its age with less conditioning than when it was last sampled on Sunday. A slight sharpness and sourness emerging suggesting not far off being at its end. For my full tasting notes, see my entry for it on Saturday 24th October 2026 and when it was fresh on. |
| Mighty Oak - Wonkey Donkey | 4.30 | | 1st beer of this visit: Only its third day on for this pale ale but head and lacing only lasting for its pour and not beyond. It transpired that I must have had nearly the very last one out as it took a very long time to pour it and was then taken off when I went back to the bar for the finale. Tasted rather flat but still lightly tropically fruited from its US hops without a doubt. For my full tasting notes, see my entry for it on Sunday 25th October 2026 and when it was fresh on. |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried |
26 Oct 2026 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close. Many tables taken by home match for the cribbage team.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | | As good as yesterday's |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | | Haze job, only a half, OK. Certainly not my choice to repeat |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | Not Tried | |
| Mighty Oak - Wonkey Donkey | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried |
25 Oct 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
A quiet Sunday turnout with only regulars on parade for the last half an hour of serving.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | | 1st beer of the visit: Still wrongly priced as in £5.00 on the display blackboard when it should be £5.10 for the CAMRA discount of 30p to be applied. The guvnor who happened to be on serving confirmed the blackboard pricing was wrong and so the correct discount from £5.10 was £4.80. Second day on and this special house ale had now settled from the day before and no longer murky as it was then, thankfully. Good head and lacing on the pour. A very fruited hoppy first hit. A sweetened maltiness rising with biscuity notes abounding. A floral hoppiness prevailing and a floral dance on my palate playing out. For my full tasting notes, see my entry for it on Saturday 24th October 2026 and when it was fresh on. |
| Mighty Oak - Wonkey Donkey | 4.30 | | 2nd beer of the visit: Fresh on and exhibiting very good head and lacing on this seasonal gold-coloured pale shining like a newly minted sovereign and perhaps the first Christmas-themed named beer of the coming season that I have seen never mind tasted. Mighty Oak Brewing Company got its nimble legs moving back in 1996 when they first lit the fires over in Brentwood, Essex. In January 2001 it carted the whole kit and caboodle to the historic maritime town of Maldon, still in Essex, setting up their permanent copper kettles inside the West Station Yard. A mildly fruited first hit. A hoppy and not tropical fruitiness rising despite the guvnor’s tasting notes warning of tropical fruit, citrus and pine. A tossing of a New World greenery into the boiling copper, namely its Willamette and Centennial, the former lending a hint of herbs and a whisper of damp wood, while the Centennial bursting with citrus notes and a sharp bitterness for me. A tossing up of meadows and wild hedgerows came to my mind. A pairing of classic Maris Otter Barley, behind its crisp biscuit sweetness and a hearty dose of Rye lending a sharp graininess with a hint of peppery spice. It really was not seriously bad in being reminiscent of the tropics in its outflow of fruitiness in leaving a remarkably crisp, pine-tinged bitterness that lingered pleasantly in wetting my whistle. Served in good nick with plentiful conditioning. |
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | Not Tried | |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Castle Rock - Our House | 3.40 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried |
25 Oct 2026 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | | Low on condition |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | | Basic light bittering. OK |
| Mighty Oak - Wonkey Donkey | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Liquid Light - Day Tripper | 4.30 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Citra Simcoe Ekuanot | 6.00 | Not Tried | |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Autumn Pale | 4.40 | Not Tried |
24 Oct 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
Quiet footfall with a small turnout of Saturday regulars and the very occasional in for the last three-quarters of an hour of serving. Quite a turnover of beers and no doubt helped by a few Charton Athletic fans in after the home game by all accounts from fellow regulars in.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent - Green Ernest | 4.60 | | 2nd beer of the visit: Fresh on as reported by a regular but possibly also on Friday if they had missed seeing it. Extremely good head and lacing and the like of which is very rare here. It emanates from a brewing caper set up in 2011, brewing at Birling Place Farm on Stangate Road near West Malling in Kent. A floral hoppiness rising on this pale-gold green hop pale. A sharp crisp fresh hoppiness prevailing and here in this brew, the natural oils running riot over my tongue. The Ernest hop, a Kentish heritage variety bred way back in 1923 by Professor Ernest Salmon at Wye College, emitting a punchy, "New World" personality with sparks of stone fruit, zippy citrus peel and herbs assaulting my taste buddies. Its British Extra Pale malted barley imparting a bready, biscuity sweetness that refuses to muck with the virgin hops. None too fruited in the least. A very pleasant fresh hoppiness descending down my plughole. Gone the following evening and so others also liked it! Served in perfect top dick condition and firing for me on all cylinders. |
| Goacher's - Special House Ale | 3.80 | | 1st beer of the visit: Wrongly priced as in £5.00 on the display blackboard when it should be £5.10 for the CAMRA discount of 30p to be applied. So was correctly charged £4.80 instead of the expected £4.70. The ale was a tad fresh as in being slightly murky. Brewed by the Goacher outfit launched in 1983, it started boiling the copper in an old, creaking paper mill known as Hayle Mill, in the Loose Valley on the outskirts of Maidstone, Kent, before in 1990 hoisting the whole kit to a purpose-built gaff at Tovil Green Business Park, also in Maidstone. A fruited bitterness on its first bite from this marry-up of their Fine Light and Best Dark. It was first brewed as an exclusive treat for a local public house which sent the locals by all accounts absolutely barmy for it and so this brew continues. A sour fruitiness rising from a tossing of 100% traditional Kentish hops as in regional Fuggles and East Kent Goldings from local farms. Its Fuggles dropping a woody, earthy and herbal flavouring on my taste buds, while its East Kent Goldings lending a spicy floral hint and a touch of sweet honey fruitiness. For me in passing my pearly whites, a peppery spice rearing alongside the fresh-turned earth. A malty note joining in from its Maris Otter barley malt behind its bready biscuit base and Crystal malt throwing in a dollop of sugary caramel and toasted nuts. My taste buddies getting a full-on biscuit-and-toffee infusion and this flavouring staying as robust as a brick outhouse. A dry, fruity and bitter finish seeking its exit down my neck pipe. Served just slightly too fresh as in being a tad not ready for another and which all comes down to good cellarmanship. |
| Titanic - Plum Porter | 4.90 | Not Tried | |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Autumn Pale | 4.40 | Not Tried | |
| Mad Squirrel (formerly Red Squirrel) - The Shire | 3.70 | Not Tried | |
| Two by Two - Nectaron Pale | 4.50 | Not Tried |
22 Oct 2026 (Philip Pirrip)
Late evening visit until close. Rainy with start of first storm of the winter season brewing outside.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - The Miller's Ale (originally 4.5%) | 4.20 | | Lost the haze from its first night on on Tuesday. Little condition |
| Goacher's - Gold Star | 5.10 | Not Tried | |
| Oakham - 3 Witches | 4.40 | Not Tried | |
| Kent - Session Pale | 3.70 | Not Tried | |
| Five Points - Railway Porter | 4.80 | Not Tried | |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Autumn Pale | 4.40 | Not Tried |
22 Oct 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy footfall with a good few regulars seated over a couple of tables at the front along with the lesser spotted dotted about for the last half an hour of serving.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - The Miller's Ale (originally 4.5%) | 4.20 | | 1st beer of this visit: Now its third day on for this Canterbury ruby bitter and not presenting anything like the murkiness when first served on Tuesday evening. Still exhibiting good head and lacing and lasting all the way. A fruited hoppy first hit. A dry bitterness surfacing and a touch of maltiness prevailing. Served in an entirely more acceptable condition. For my full tasting notes, see my entry for it on Tuesday 20th October 2026 and when it was fresh on. |
| Five Points - Railway Porter | 4.80 | | 2nd beer of this visit: Fifth day on and now a head and lacing only on its initial pour but not keeping it. Still that dry bitter first hit. A coffee-infused maltiness and a chocolatey mouthfeel pervading. Served somewhat tired without its conditioning in the mouthfeel. For my full tasting notes, see my entry for it on Sunday 18th October 2026 and when it was fresh on. |
| Goacher's - Gold Star | 5.10 | Not Tried | |
| Oakham - 3 Witches | 4.40 | Not Tried | |
| Kent - Session Pale | 3.70 | Not Tried | |
| Canterbury Ales (sometimes badged as Canterbrew) - Autumn Pale | 4.40 | Not Tried |
About The River Ale House
Summary of Beer Scores
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 18 |
| 841 |
| 2265 |
| 786 |
 | 66 |
The pub is found in East Greenwich, Greater London, SE10 0RJ.
Micropub in Woolwich Road in a former street corner lingerie and hosiery business premises and which opened on 13th September 2017. Comprises a front room with bar counter and with real ales and ciders served on gravity dispense from a temperature controlled cellar room behind the bar, and a rear room down one step. Each day a pre-prepared paper ale menu sheet, with tasting notes, is provided to every table. Bare-board flooring throughout and all seating at wall mounted high settles and hand made wooden high tables. CAMRA card holders' discount on pints and halves of real ale and cider. Card payments accepted. SPBW London Pub of the Year 2019. Local CAMRA branch 2019, 2022 and 2024 Pub of the Year and its Cider Pub of the Year too in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. CAMRA Greenwich District Pub of the Year 2024.
We have visited this pub 1854 times, seen 2070 different beers and tried 1236 of them.
Postcode: SE10 0RJ