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Last Friday, on one of the hottest days of the year so far – and 2025 hasbeen quite a year when it comes to record breaking temperatures, I took astroll down into Tonbridge, ostensibly to run a couple of errands. My realobjective though was to call in at Fuggles, one of the town’s best beer outlets andsample the cask porter they had on tap. Now you wouldn’t normally associate arich, dark, and full-bodied beer like porter with a drink to be enjoyed duringa heatwave, but you’d be wrong – a fact I soon discovered for myself despitesome quite serious, doubts initially.
The beer in question was Running Porter 5.4% abv from The Kernel Brewery. The definite article is important here, which is why it’s shownwith an upper case “T”, but it’s an integral part of the beer’s title, and thesame thing applies to all beers produced by the brewery. The Kernel wasestablished in 2009 by Evin O'Riordain in the Bermondsey area of London and wasone of the capital’s earliest craft brewers. Today it is regarded as one ofLondon's premier craft beer breweries, and whilst much of The Kernel’s output is bottles, plus some keg beer,the company does brew some beers for cask as well. Since its founding, The Kernel’s success has inspired thegrowth of numerous micro-breweries in the capital. London remains the company’smain trading area, with around 90percent of the beer produced, being distributed within the Greater London area.The brewery offers a variety of beer styles, including American-inspired paleales, IPAs, sours, plus classic London porters and stouts. "TableBeer," a 3% abv pale ale, first introduced in 2012, and now brewed weekly,is now one of the company’s most popular offerings. The beer draws its inspirationfrom the British cask-conditioned tradition. The Kernel focuses on refiningeach brew rather than experimenting unnecessarily, evolving each batchintentionally, although the hop varieties used do change regularly, based oncrop availability and annual differences.

I’ve known Fuggles since 2013, when it first opened its doors in aformer shop, a short hop away from Tunbridge Wells’s main shopping centre. Describingitself as a Beer Café, Fuggles showcases beers from all over the world, andwhilst the number of “craft” beer lines it boasts is around three times that ofthe “cask” the outlet is always a reliable bet for a decent pint of cask. Caskdrinkers can also take advantage of the loyalty card that Fuggles offer, whichworks on the basis of a stamp on your card for every pint of cask purchased, witha free pint for a full house of ten stamps. The Tonbridge outlet commenced serving thirsty punters back in2017, in an oldfurniture makers shop at the top end of the High Street, and as well asbeing the nearest of the two Fuggles pubs, is also my favourite.
Tonbridge Fuggles is air-conditioned, and its cool interiorwas a welcome contrast to the fierce heat outside. The pub wasn’t particularlybusy, although I noticed a large section of the area facing the bar, wascordoned off, with several tables grouped together. “Reserved for a PrivateFunction,” said the sign, for an event that was due to commence in a couple ofhours’ time. Founder and owner, Alex Grieg was behind the bar, at the far end,not serving, but catching up on paperwork, by the look of things. We shouted a quick“hello” to one another, but as he was obviously engrossed with the task inhand, I let him be, rather than stroll over and interrupt what he was doing. There was a nice, and really chilled out atmosphere in thepub, last Friday, and I don’t just mean from the air con. The barman pulled my pint of Running Porter,and as the jet-black beer, settled in the glass, it took on a really attractiveappearance as the tight, creamy head started to form. Well-conditioned, and servedchilled, it was the ideal beer for a baking hot day, strange though it seems.
Ididn’t rush my beer, but neither did I gulp it straight down, I was justcontent to sit there, chilling out, quite literally, whilst remaining in themoment. The spell was broken, and the heat really hit me, when I had to leavethe pub and call in at Waitrose, to pick up a few groceries for Mrs PBT’s. Ithen caught the bus home, as no way was, I going to walk back up the hill, to Bailey Towers.
So, a nice midday interlude, made all the better by anexcellent pint of beer, in a place that continues to increase in stature, andwhich seldom disappoints in terms of beer variety, quality, service and general,all-round good time vibes.


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