It took a global pandemic, but The Southampton Arms has finally acquired a telephone number. New to this takeout lark, the eminent Highgate Road pub is pulling cask and keg beers into growlers and flagons in lieu of pints; it doesn’t or won’t do bottles and tinnies. See Twitter for what’s tapped at least until the pub’s pickled eggs and periodic wood-panelled interior can be next enjoyed.

A small but mighty shop in range of Hither Green train station, Park Fever’s commuter clientele is a bit scarce these days. Still, the shelves are no less stacked out with Belgian classics, the newest juice bombs, and a few things in between. A solid rapport with hop-forward British breweries Deya and Verdant means it gets new releases fresh off the line than most shops. 

The duo behind Art & Craft on Streatham High Street are brewery owners themselves, having founded Inkspot Brewery in 2018. As such, they know what should go into — and come out of — a good one. Their shop stocks 400 bottles and cans, from breweries near (Gypsy Hill, Brew By Numbers, The Kernel, etcetera), and far (Garage, Polly’s Brew Co, Vault City).

Run by the industrious and friendly couple Phill and Steph. These two have an intimate knowledge of most of the 400 or so beers lining their shelves. A row of fridges (containing but not limited to new releases from Cascade, KCBC, Jester King, and others from USA) means much of it’s ready to drink out of the shop. There’s also the odd five-litre keg to see through, what is now common, a quiet weekend in. 

Twelve Ounce’s owners had only just changed the locks, sanded down the shop, and painted it before lockdown 2.0 happened. Undeterred by an entrance at the most volatile time ever, the shop is keeping Crouch End’s fridges replete with of-the-moment British beers. In particular, Twelve Ounce are fiercely North London, sharing their turf — and shelf space — with Ora, Exale, and Pressure Drop. 

Despite the name, the lockdown iteration of this Brockley neighbourhood bottleshop extends further than just beer, supplying the community with local honey, fresh pasta, and all sorts of other bits that would confound the nearby Sainsbury’s. Similarly, Salthouse represents its wonderful catchment of local breweries, including Villages, Brick, Anspach & Hobday, and — just round the corner — Brockley Brewery. 

Clapton Craft established itself as a honeypot for East London drinkers when it was set up in 2013 (the logo, after all, depicts a bear). Though the clue isn’t exactly in the name for this branch in Forest Hill — the first site south of the river — it certainly leans into the geography here, with a regular line-up of Orbit, Old Kent Road, Partizan, and Gypsy Hill. The team’s invested in both sides of production as well: the latest endeavour involves brewing a Helles with Leicestershire lager specialists Braybrooke. 

Bromley’s best pub also happens to be one of the best within the M25 circular. A close relation to Camberwell’s treasured 20-line pub Stormbird, in fact it’s here, that the pubs’ ardent manager Maura spends most her time. Pivoting to takeout, draught is under a much more modest selection than the pub’s used to — should that not suffice, 240 bottles and cans are enough to pick from.