Monday 13th May 2012

Bob Thompson

I had intended to walk the one and a half miles from the Il Vicino Canteen to this pub but it had become such a hot and sultry day that I arranged for a taxi. It proved to be a good move as on arrival at Nexus the sun had broken through the cloud and it was blisteringly hot.

I was a little surprised when I entered the main room as I was expecting it to be somewhat larger, yet this is no criticism, in fact the opposite, as it gave it more of a pub feel and there was plenty of room at the bar.

There is a full food service but I was here for the beer, but heard good comments. They do a lot of fish.

Regarding the beer, there is a small problem here and it is in the description. I like to mention the abv of the beers on offer but here there were three separate values for each beer.

There was the blackboard in the pub and there was the printed menu on the bar. As these conflicted, I referred to their website before writing this and, you've guessed, different again! So, please find the list of the regular beers with abv given by each source in the order that I mentioned them above.

ESB (4.8%/4.8%/5.2%); White Ale (Wheat) (5.5%/6.2%/5.0%); Cream Ale (5.1%/5.3%/ 6.0%); Stout (5.2%/5.4%/5.8%); Red Ale (5.5%/6.2%/7.0%); IPA (6.4%/6.5%/6.8%) and Scottish Ale (7.1%/7.8%/8.0%). There was also a special: Zaragoza EPA (5.0%).

I tried four of this selection. Cream Ale was like a lager, not very bitter at all, Scottish Ale was a powerful taste of sweet malt, just a little bitterness, basically what I expected. I liked the Stout a lot, very rich with good roast flavours. I ended up with Zaragoza Pale Ale and liked it a lot being quite dry.

The Brewmaster here is English and the main brewer has worked for St Austell brewery but wouldn't say that this has rubbed off in the styles of the beers.

Whilst in this pub I met two fellow imbibers, father and son-in-law. I made a note of their names and have subsequently lost the details. So, if you read this please give me your details so I can correct this piece with your names.

They were very kind and gave me lift to the next pub which resolved the problem of how I crossed the Pan American Freeway.

Chama River Brewing is not far away and I think it can be accessed by using the cycle path that runs along the banks of the Chama River which flows under the highway. More information required.

Important Information:

Nexus Brewery, 4730 Pan American Freeway NE, Suite D

 Open: Monday to Thursday 11.00 to 22.00; Friday to Sunday 11.00 to 24.00

This location is not well served by buses.
Chama River Brewing is served by the 251 bus, rush hours only.

Otherwise it is about a 20 minute walk eastwards to San Mateo Boulevard
for the 140 and 141 buses.