Includes information for Brewheadz
Closed brewery
16A Rosebery Industrial Park N17 9SR (Haringey)
First sold beer: May 2017 (as Brewheadz); May 2019 (as ORA)
Ceased brewing: November 2024
An alluring fusion of northern Italian and London craft beer culture, ORA was founded in October 2016 in Modena, Emilio-Romagna, where two of its owners continued to live, though it mainly operated in London under the auspices of director Daniele Zaccarelli. It began as a cuckoo, one of the highest-achieving teams working at Bermondsey’s UBREW.
Meanwhile in April 2017, four other expatriate Italian homebrewing friends went professional under the name Brewheadz on a Tottenham industrial estate using a 14 hl Dave Porter kit. This project ran into difficulties when one of its key partners had to return to Italy for family reasons, so ORA took over in May 2019, gaining a much-needed brewing kit.
The original head brewer here was Simone Cristiano, previously at Barnet Brewery and Brewhouse and Kitchen, though he returned to Italy in 2020. His replacement was Julia Huber, who was born and trained in Germany and once ran a brewery in Greenland.
The brewery boasted a taproom with a location right by the Lea Valley Park and conveniently midway between a cluster of breweries including Redemption to the north and Beavertown and Pressure Drop to the south.
Sadly, one of London’s most distinctive breweries became another victim of the hostile post-Covid and Brexit economic climate and brewed for the last time in November 2024.
Beers were kegged and occasionally sold in cask, as well as hand-bottled with live yeast, and often contain added flavourings. There were numerous specials and collaborations with both UK and Italian brewers.
Updated 27 January 2025.
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