The bar itself is welcoming and relaxing and on the third visit the distinct and comforting smell of yeast and malt from the brewing permeated the building. It really is a beer geek's paradise with all of the wide range of beers described in detail on the menu and it seems that a lot of these brews were designed by guest brewers from other international breweries. I think this is an excellent model that works in the UK and is already being done by Brewdog and Brewharf.
We tried most of the beers during our three visits to the bar some of which I will describe below.
Check out the head on this!
This Altbayrisch Dunkel is a delicious dark lager. It is claimed by 1516 that most Austrian black lagers are standard lagers with colouring added but theirs is authentically produced with dark malts. I cannot comment on the other Austrian dark lagers but I can tell you that this effort was rich with the coffee and chocolate flavours associated with dark malts. A fine example of this style which is becoming popular in the UK.This terrible picture is of one of the most intriguing beers I had at 1516. This is the Victory Hopped Devil IPA. This is the brewery's first brew with "whole leaf hopping" and brewed by US brewer Bill Covaleski from Victory Brewery in the US. I'm guessing it's an exact replication of Victory's own Hop Devil. The hops in this are powerful and I was instantly transported back to the USA and my first taste of Russian River's blind pig.
This is half a glass of 1516's very nice Bavarian style weissbier. I found this a lot more refreshing than some examples I have had here with good fruity depth.
And lastly is a glass of the M&N Amber. This was dry and hoppy from Amarillo and Cascade hops with five different malts giving it the rich amber colour.