On the day of its opening Hornchurch’s Hop Inn micro pub was filled with the sounds of chatter as people came in droves to support the new business.
Socialising and providing an opportunity to meet new people is what the Hop Inn in North Street is all about.
Phil Cooke and Alison Taffs officially opened the micro pub on Saturday, December 21, and were soon overwhelmed with visitors, including several people from the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).
Alison told the Recorder: "We've been really busy from the moment we opened.
"It was great to see people from the Real Ale campaign as it's really important for us to get that endorsement from them.
"We find that people are very supportive and very helpful in the micro pub community. Trevor, from the Gidea Park micro pub, has been a real star."
According to Phil and Alison, micro pubs are defined as small pubs that don't sell lager and they often exist in premises that haven't been a pub before.
The Hop Inn was originally a beauty clinic and was transformed into the pub after Alison and Phil gained planning permission from Havering Council in October.
Speaking about their decision to open a micro pub, Alison said: "We both love beer and we thought it was a chance to bring a variety of cask beers to Hornchurch.
"We've got so many things that we really love that we wanted to share with people.
"We just want to meet our customers, give them some good drinks and hear what they have to say."
Alison also does drinks training for members' clubs in London and at least once a month she plans to host a tasting at the Hop Inn.
I had the pleasure of attending the pub's first gin tasting on Wednesday, December 18.
Despite not being a regular gin drinker, I came away from the evening with a newfound like for Hayman's Gin and a lot of new facts about the liquor that derives from the alcoholic beverage jenever.
For the Hop Inn's next tasting, Alison is planning a Belgian beer themed event in January.
Visit hopinnhornchurch.co.uk to find out more.
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