An old fashioned street corner pub, now a brewpub, with a great range of beers.
The inside of the Cock has been knocked through and it’s quite spacious but plain inside, with a white tiled back to the bar. It has a similar atmosphere to the Southampton Arms (its sister pub), the same sort of basic food (pork pies, roast pork or cheese baps and scotch eggs) and a similarly good range of beers, all of which were in good condition when we visited. (Visited 5 August 2012).

Went to this pub on a Sunday afternoon in November, it sits at a busy junction in a slightly run down area. There is a great deal of effort in making a go of this, it is slightly shabby inside but comfortable enough and friendly. I like the feel of it and there is certainly a lot of cider available if that is your bag. It will never be The Southampton but it is certainly worth a visit.

Yet Another Update: The house beers have improved quite a bit since the initial batches. I now actually look forward to trying the house beers when I visit. I still wish they served less cider.

UPDATE: I’ve been to this place a few times since its opened, and have now been able to try some of their house beers. The house beers range from decent (chocolate stout) to amateurish (gold). Taste before you buy. On my last visit, 8 of the 16 casks were serving cider. The place still retains a slightly rundown but friendly vibe.

Original review: The Cock Tavern is an excellent new brewpub located near Hackney Central station. It’s located on the site of an old Truman’s pub, and the exterior has been wonderfulyl restored to show off the original tiled advertisements. Inside, the pub has kept an old-school aesthetic. The ceiling is patterned, the polished wood long bar is grand, the wood panelling seems aincent. This lends to a relaxed vibe not dissimilar to The Southampton Arms. There’s no music or TVs, only beer and conversation. The beer selection is excellent. The pub is home to Howling Hops brewery. Unfortunately no house beers were available on my visit, but they’re to feature prominently in the future. There’s 16 casks. Seasonals from Marble (rare for London) and Thronbridge featured alongside stuff such as East London Brewery and Red Squirrel. 3 ciders and perries were on offer too. There’s 8 keg selections on offer. Keg beers included Redchurch Hoxton Stout, beers from the Tempest, Kernel, and Camden. This was a very well curated tap line up. The bottle selection is small, but there was stuff from Brodie’s, The Kernel, and Redchurch available. It seems this pub’s looking to embrace local London beer, something I fully support. The service was very good. This pub’s only a few days old, and they’re obviously still working to improve the place. For instance, the seating looks temporary, and the bathrooms need a bit of fixing. With that said, this place is already high on my list of best pubs in London. Strongly recommended.

An excellent traditional pub with the context on the beer with the emphasis based on talking about the beer and talking to people rather than any gimmics or games. Very exciting range of beers from Magic Rock to Gadds’ to Brewdog to Harbour. Both keg and cask are prominent. Keg isn’t too expensive and both were cellared well. The brewery had one beer on during mine and Chris O’s visit. It was a good, quaffable English-style golden ale, hoppy and dry and drinkable, perfect for the weather. What I really enjoyed about this pub was the layout and the focus on the open environment and a great range of beers. They had specials and regulars and were very accommodating for beer geeks and the staff were very intune with their customers, taking time to talk and ensuring your questions were met. This pub has only been going for a short time and I will definitely be back. It’s run by the same people as the Southampton Arms but without the crampt conditions. This is a proper drinking pub and one which I will frequent. The emphasis is all beer here.

Visited this pub 5/8-2012, on a nice pubcrawl with some friends. Very classic cornerpub from the outside, buth coming into the pub, it´s clear that this one is a bit speciel - 24 taps, not every pub has that many :-) Cosy atmosphere, friendly staff, that knows their stuff. Many of the beers are from the local brewerys around London. Didn´t do food, but a few bar snacks. Being close to the Overground it´s very easy to get this nice place..

Visited on 20th July 2012 a couple of days after pub opened. Traditional interior with tiling and plenty of woodpanelling, and tungsten lighting. Friendly staff serve you at this sister pub to the Southampton Arms. Of the 24 taps 10 are real ales on handpump, 6 are ciders on handpump and the remaining eight are keg taps. Of those sampled on my visit were Thornbridge, Marble, East London Brewing and Magic Rock. The pub is making an effort to serve local beers, and in the fridge were Kernel and Brodies to name but a few. The pub’s own brews hadn’t yet come onstream at this time, but were promised in a week or so. They are doing a superb job and, if the Southampton is anything to go by, are onto a winner here.