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Williams Ale & Cider House (Metropolitan Pub Co. (Greene King))

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Beer (sort)Average Score (sort)No. Samples (sort)
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Small Batch Cherry Chilli StoutExcellent1
Bedlam - RedroasterExcellent1
Southwark - Bermondsey BestExcellent1
New River - Blind PoetGood1
By The Horns - HopadelicGood1
Plain Ales - India Plain AleGood1
London Fields - Broadway BelleGood1
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - BlindsideAcceptable1
Essex Street / East London Collaboration - OlicanaAcceptable1
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Two HalvesAcceptable1
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - SwiftAcceptable1
Tigertops - Star ManAcceptable1
Plain Ales - InncognitoNot Tried0
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Grandstand BitterNot Tried0
East London (ELB) - JamboreeNot Tried0
Sambrook's - Lavender Hill (originally exclusively for Nicholson's)Not Tried0
Hackney - New Zealand Pale AleNot Tried0
Goffs - Jouster AleNot Tried0
Hop Stuff - FusilierNot Tried0
Triple fff - Ramble Tamble (previously 4.6%)Not Tried0
Sambrook's - Powerhouse PorterNot Tried0
Lytham - BlondeNot Tried0
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - RedheadNot Tried0
East London (ELB) - Orchid MildNot Tried0
Southwark - GoldNot Tried0
Dorking - Washington GoldNot Tried0
Itchen Valley - Pure GoldNot Tried0
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Naked LadiesNot Tried0
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Pucker Up Mistletoe MildNot Tried0
Dorking - Red India AleNot Tried0
Hogs Back - Mistletoe & SwineNot Tried0
Hogs Back - HBBNot Tried0
Saltaire - Triple Choc (was Triple Chocoholic)Not Tried0
St Austell - Proper JobNot Tried0
By The Horns - Diamond GeezerNot Tried0
Greene King - Spitalfields BrewNot Tried0
Itchen Valley - BelgarumNot Tried0
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)Not Tried0
Wadworth - HorizonNot Tried0
Crouch Vale - Brewers GoldNot Tried0
Hogs Back - UtopiaNot Tried0
Titanic - Plum PorterNot Tried0
Five Points - XPANot Tried0
Picture 1. Williams Ale & Cider House, Spitalfields, Central London
Stephen Harris

Visits Details

30 Mar 2019 (Wittenden)
Late afternoon on a mild spring Saturday.Good to see a dartboard being made use of.We sat at the back and admired an old Fremlins poster.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Bedlam - Redroaster5.00ExcellentA smoked coffee porter.Bitter,not over heavy with the bean:more on the aroma front.
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)3.40Not Tried
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Naked Ladies4.40Not Tried
Dorking - Red India Ale5.00Not Tried
22 Sep 2018 (Magnus Greel)
Early evening and an oasis of a calm relaxed atmosphere here compared to the bustle of nearby pubs. We had a choice of two free tables by the entrance so decided to spread out here.
BeerABVScoreNotes
By The Horns - Hopadelic4.30GoodEarthy and fruity tropical hints
Goffs - Jouster Ale4.00Not Tried
Triple fff - Ramble Tamble (previously 4.6%)5.00Not Tried
Lytham - Blonde3.80Not Tried
East London (ELB) - Orchid Mild3.60Not Tried
Dorking - Washington Gold3.80Not Tried
07 Jul 2018 (Stephen Harris)
Not my ideal choice as a venue to watch the England v Sweden World Cup game, but I’m the victim of a delayed train into Liverpool Street. It is packed and boisterous in here. Not very conducive to calm observance of the game. I’ve little idea of what beers were available as I could not get very near the bar.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Two Halves4.20AcceptableIt did a job over a couple of pints.
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Grandstand Bitter3.80Not Tried
Sambrook's - Lavender Hill (originally exclusively for Nicholson's)4.50Not Tried
19 Dec 2017 (Stephen Harris)
Early evening and very busy. The weather is milder than in recent days, allowing a lot of people to stand on the pavement outside. Two or three more cask beers were available, but it was difficult to approach the bar near enough to see what they were.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Small Batch Cherry Chilli Stout4.70ExcellentBlack, cherry, chilli – it’s all there. High prices and short measures do not lead to deducted points on this website – so, excellent.
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)3.40Not Tried
Greene King - Spitalfields Brew3.90Not Tried
Five Points - XPA4.00Not Tried
29 Sep 2017 (ChrisE)
Late morning visit and fairly quiet. A group of us met here for a friend's birthday pub crawl. All cask ales were half price today.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Southwark - Bermondsey Best4.40Excellent
Wadworth - Horizon4.00Not Tried
Hogs Back - Utopia4.90Not Tried
14 Feb 2017 (Stephen Harris)
Early-evening visit.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Plain Ales - India Plain Ale5.20GoodA golden IPA with a good English hop bite.
Tigertops - Star Man4.00AcceptableA slightly weedy Golden Ale. A mysterious, home-made pumpclip give no clue of brewery origin.
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)3.40Not Tried
Saltaire - Triple Choc (was Triple Chocoholic)4.80Not Tried
By The Horns - Diamond Geezer4.90Not Tried
Itchen Valley - Belgarum3.90Not Tried
Greene King - Spitalfields Brew3.90Not Tried
28 Dec 2016 (Stephen Harris)
Post curry pint and a chat with an old friend who happened to be at the bar.
BeerABVScoreNotes
New River - Blind Poet4.50GoodA tasty Smoked Porter, although it fell flat rather quickly in the glass.
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)3.40Not Tried
Itchen Valley - Pure Gold4.80Not Tried
Greene King - Spitalfields Brew3.90Not Tried
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Pucker Up Mistletoe Mild4.20Not Tried
Hogs Back - Mistletoe & Swine5.20Not Tried
16 Sep 2015 (Stephen Harris)
Not over-crowded in the mid-evening and there is less obviously a ‘City’ clientele here than other pubs round about.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Essex Street / East London Collaboration - Olicana6.00AcceptableThis beer was brewed collaboratively at the Temple Brew House with ELB in a ‘live brewing’ day as part of London Beer City week. It is described as a Belgian Blonde, single-hopped with Olicana, a new British hop. My pint was a very murky amber colour and really rather odd. I was getting spicy, rather than fruity flavours. Drinkable, but not what I was expecting and quite possibly not right.
Sambrook's - Powerhouse Porter4.90Not Tried
Greene King - Spitalfields Brew3.90Not Tried
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Redhead4.10Not Tried
Southwark - Gold5.20Not Tried
09 Feb 2015 (Stephen Harris)
Early Monday evening and this pub is a lot less crowded than it can be.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Blindside4.40AcceptableAn easy-drinking, unchallenging, pale beer.
Greene King - IPA (was 3.6%)3.40Not Tried
Crouch Vale - Brewers Gold4.00Not Tried
Titanic - Plum Porter4.90Not Tried
Plain Ales - Inncognito4.80Not Tried
East London (ELB) - Jamboree4.80Not Tried
Hackney - New Zealand Pale Ale4.50Not Tried
Hop Stuff - Fusilier4.30Not Tried
16 Aug 2014 (Wittenden)
Late afternoon on a windy August Saturday. Fairly quiet.I'd hoped to spot some hipsters with ironic beards, but everyone was cleanshaven.
BeerABVScoreNotes
London Fields - Broadway Belle5.00GoodA 'Californian Pale'.Tropical fruit.
Big Penny (formerly Truman's) as of late 2022 contract brewed - Swift3.90AcceptableI was intrigued to see a beer from the revived Trumans. Unfortunately it was rather nondescript.
Hogs Back - HBB3.70Not Tried
St Austell - Proper Job4.50Not Tried
Greene King - Spitalfields Brew3.90Not Tried

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About the Williams Ale & Cider House

The pub sign. Williams Ale & Cider House, Spitalfields, Central London

Summary of Beer Scores

 Total
Exceptional-
Excellent5
Good6
Acceptable8
Poor-

Website.

The pub is found in Spitalfields, Central London, E1 7LS.

This long-standing pub was formerly called the Ship and was probably established in 1682. By the 1930s it had become more commonly known as ‘Williams’ in deference to the Williams family which had run the pub for many years – although formal renaming did not come until, I think, the 1970s. The pub was known in the early part of the twentieth century for its house rules, designed to avoid drunkenness on the premises. These included ‘No Smoking’ and ‘Only One Pint per Customer per Visit’. The former is now thankfully the law of the land, the latter has equally thankfully been relaxed. Whilst long attracting a City crowd, it remained a little more pool table than pinstripe into the mid-2000s, before moving more upmarket when acquired by Greene King from Whitbread’s. A further revamp in 2013 has seen an increase in the number of handpumps to 14, with a focus on London-brewed beers and real cider. Metropolitan Pub Co. is a Greene King pub brand.

We have visited this pub 15 times, seen 73 different beers and tried 19 of them.

Map location

Postcode: E1 7LS