Because nobody but Joey Barton likes paralyzing people, the boys behind Euston Tap have cut the ribbon on the Whippet: Holborn's first independent pub, with a "less paralyzingly large" choice of brews -- 20 rotators, served from a bar wrapped around a huge slated pillar.Debut pints stretch from dark stuff like Williams Brothers Profanity Stout (brewed by students, though you'll swear it wasn't) and Goethe favorite Köstritzer black lager, to lightness like good ol' Sierra Nevada, Bitburger, and casks including Adnams' citrus-y Ghost Ship, inspired by a haunted pub, as getting through that movie required something harder than beer.Speaking of which: the spirits in this place are confined to bottle & barrel, with a pair of cask-aged cocktails (a Negroni rested in a port vessel; Manhattans from a red wine drum), plus a "12 bottle bar" which, despite sounding like a goal Gazza might set for himself, is actually a mixology concept that sees 180 classics made using just a dozen top-shelf liquors.As of Monday, they'll be doubling the space by opening up the downstairs, with a charcoal grill putting out "meat & fish", and a foosball table. Keep an eye out, or you'll miss your game... or possibly 12 of them.
