George and Dragon
Brewpub, no longer brewing
151 Cleveland Street W1T 6QN (Westminster)
First sold beer: December 2016
Ceased brewing: November 2017
Still and Star
Closed brewpub
1 Little Somerset Street E1 8AH (City of London)
First sold beer: December 2014
Ceased brewing: June 2015
W1 (Burlington Arms)
Brewpub, no longer brewing
21 Old Burlington Street W1S 2JL (Westminster)
First sold beer: December 2014
Ceased brewing: by 2016
During 2014, a company called BrewIT began marketing a device called the Truebrew, an automated 100 l ‘technobrewery’ with pre-programmed recipes, intended as hassle-free way to create an instant brewpub. Broadly the same size as a dishwasher, the machine could supposedly be used by anyone with no brewing knowledge or skills required, and enabled pubs to make cask beer in batches of two firkins more cheaply than they could buy it in. Unlike the DIY brewpub kits of an earlier generation, it used a full mash system, starting like a ‘proper’ brewery from dry grains and hops rather than extracts. Those of us who follow London brewing considered with trepidation the prospect of a new rash of tiny brewpubs to keep track of. It turns out we needn’t have worried.
The prototype Truebrew was installed on a test basis at the Still and Star pub near Aldgate in 2014, which briefly became the only commercial brewery in the City of London (a distinction currently held by BrewDog Outpost Tower Hill). Landlord Michael Cox began with the default recipes but soon began adapting them to his own specifications and buying in raw materials from third parties. But quality proved variable and brewing became increasingly intermittent. These were the only Truebrew beers I managed to taste, with Michael in 2015, and to be frank they weren’t good. Within a year the kit had been removed and though there was talk of an upgraded replacement, the pub now had other problems as its site was earmarked for redevelopment. Despite opposition, the pub closed early in 2018 and is currently the subject of a planning application for demolition.
The same month as the Still and Star, beers from a second Truebrew system began appearing at the Burlington Arms, a smart free house tucked away near West End Central police station . Licensee Taran Cheema used it to make beers under the W1 brand on what must have been a very occasional basis, as I never met anyone who tried them, and only other people’s beers (generally very good ones too) were on sale whenever I called. Activity had petered out by the time the pub was sold to new owners in 2017 and current staff have no knowledge that it once brewed its own beer.
Meanwhile, the Still and Star kit resurfaced at the George and Dragon in Fitzrovia in 2016. Production here was also erratic, and was officially suspended just under a year later, with the promise of an upgrade and relaunch. This still hadn’t happened when the pub closed for a major refurbishment in June 2018 and didn’t reopen for another 15 months. BrewIT, the company behind the kit, was wound up in June 2019, so we can conclude the experiment failed. It seems these devices were unable to substitute for the skills of an experienced brewer after all.
Updated 4 January 2020
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