Temple Brew House (City Pubs/Young’s)

Formerly Essex Street Brewing.

Brewpub
46 Essex Street WC2R 3JF (Westminster)
templebrewhouse.com/brewery
First sold beer: 20 December 2014, as Essex Street Brewing
Brewing suspended: March 2020
Brewing restarted: May 2022

Pub chain the City Pub Co already had brewpubs in Bath and Cambridge when it added a London branch near the Temple late in 2014. An 8 hl kit was squeezed into a stairwell, with some serious ventilation equipment installed after the lawyers upstairs complained about the smell (their loss). Though the pub was known as the Temple Brew House, the brewery originally traded under the Essex Street brand.

Long claiming to be “London’s most central brewery”, it was a lively participant in the local brewing scene under the guidance of longstanding head brewer Vanesa de Blas.

The pub was closed with brewing suspended during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns. After some uncertainty about its future, it was finally reopened in Feburary 2022 with brewing restored in May.

Vanesa is now based at a sister brewpub the Cambridge Brew House but, as this has a smaller kit, she regularly visits London to brew longer runs. In August 2022, the Essex Street brand was dropped with all beers appearing under the Temple Brew House name.

In November 2023, the pub was sold to the Young’s pub company, along with the other 53 sites in the group. So far, though, brewing continues as normal.

Beers are in keg and cask, many of them gluten-free, sold on-site and at other City Pubs sites. There have been numerous collaborations including with Toast Ale.

Updated 23 February 2024.

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