Hammerton Brewery & Taproom — Restaurant in London

Terrible customer service. Lee the liar. Placed an order online a few months ago for myself and my boyfriend. We had tried City of Cake before from our Beer52 parcel and absolutely loved it. It was the best stout we've ever had! So we decided to place an order for some cans of it directly from Hammerton brewery. We expected to have a positive experience since we would be ordering directly from the brewery. So what could possibly go wrong? The answer to that is everything. There was clearly an error with production because what was meant to be a 5.5% ABV beer tasted far far far FAAAAAR stronger. I could only manage 1/3 of the can because the alcohol content was so high. It was enough to have me wobbling, tripping and falling all over the place. My boyfriend managed to finish the whole can and was also wobbling all over the place too. My boyfriend can handle his drink - he's not a lightweight. The fact that this beer had him wobbling all over the place tells you everything. My boyfriend and I were both perplexed since we've had the City of Cake before and it did not affect us in this way at all. We came to the conclusion that something went very wrong with production. I contacted Hammerton brewery the following day. The owner Lee replied to my email and said it was strange what we had both experienced. He told me that he hadn't received any reports about the City of Cake. He asked if I still had the cans as he needed the batch numbers to investigate. I replied to him on the same day with the information requested (13/09/2021). I had to chase him up for a response and eventually heard back from him on 17/09/2021. He continued to defend his business and dismissed our concerns. He went on and on about how he's never had any complaints before, and himself and his head brewer have tasted the batch and they're happy with it. We found it very unprofessional that there was a lack of empathy and understanding toward his customer. Instead, his main focus seemed to be defending his business and overlooking the issue I had raised. His attitude was pretty much like 'Myself and my head brewer are happy with the batch so what's your problem? Get lost'. It was evident that he doesn't value his customers and lacks the professionalism that is mandatory when running a business. Such a shame. Due to me stressing our disappointment and concerns, Lee offered to refund me. I accepted the refund. Three days later he responded that he will arrange the refund. However, I did not receive notification of the refund and there wasn't a refund reflected in my bank account, therefore I knew that it hadn't been actioned. Tired of the back and forth and not getting anywhere, I called up Hammerton brewery and spoke with Shila. I explained the situation to her and she assured me that it would be resolved. Fortunately, after speaking with Shila, it didn't take long for my refund to be actioned and processed. Myself and my boyfriend strongly stand by the fact that the cans they sold us were not 5.5% ABV. They were far far far FAAAAAR stronger and a big error had occurred on Hammerton Brewery's part. Lee will never admit the truth but we know the truth. Furthermore, we ended up getting the beer tested and discovered that the ABV was actually 13%. Yes, 13%! This just confirmed what we already knew. We welcome a response from Hammerton brewery on this if they wish to comment. Please only reply if you're going to talk sense. If not, don't bother. So far they haven't taken any accountability and gave us the impression that they thought we were making up stuff for the sake of it to get a refund. Ha! Well, the results didn't lie.

EDIT:

Hi Lee,

I am fully aware that I contacted you about CRUNCH & CITY OF CAKE. Crunch did not have an abv issue, COC did.

I'm surprised that you weren't aware that we still had cans of beer left, when I had clearly stated to you in emails that my boyfriend hadn't opened all of his COC cans.

In regard to your request for the documentation of the tested beer, I reserve the right to retain this evidence should this become a...

First time coming here and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a small unit and the only entrance is via a back road filled with other units. Very private area, however it’s a lovely hidden spot in the north of London. I’m not familiar with the area, but it is close to the station of Caledonian Road & Barnsbury.

We ordered the Bella chicken pizza (x2) and 1 Quattro queso pizza. The Bella chicken came with chicken, jalapeños and caramelised onions? If I’m not mistaken. (Apologies I can’t seem to remember the menu). The Quattro queso pizza is what it seemed, 4 different types of cheese (which, again, I can’t remember) however I do remember the menu saying goats cheese topped with rocket (if I’m not mistaken).

Roughly £15/16 per pizza. Decent sized pizzas, we had to ask for a box to take out leftovers home. Lovely staff, very nice and we went on Sunday so it was fairly empty as we went around 12:30-13 ish. I was told though that during the week and especially at night it’s an extremely popular place. Good for a night out as it’s originally a pub and recently added in the pizzeria about a year ago?

I would recommend, I had a lovely time there and it’s small and private but you can tell it’s just a really nice...

Good beer but poor customer service. I made my first online order recently. On a Sunday, I ordered 18 cans to be delivered to my home in Tottenham (not a millions miles away). I then got an email to say they won't be delivered until Thursday due to a broken down van, and they didn't arrive. I emailed several times and had no response. I then got another email to say they will be delivered on Monday - eight days after I ordered them. They did finally arrive on the Monday but was disappointed to see that no goodwill gesture was made by them. A free can (or two) wouldn't have hurt them and would've made me consider ordering from them again. Also, I don't really see how a 'broken down van' is a good enough excuse. I've ordered beers from Toast before and they delivered to me quickly using PedalMe (a cargo bike delivery service). I can't see why Hammerton aren't doing the same. Much better for the...