Closed brewery
Original site: 358 Laburnum Street E2 8BB (Hackney)
Final site: 10 Lockwood Way E17 5RB (Waltham Forest)
hackneybrewery.co.uk
First sold beer: June 2012 (at original site)
Ceased brewing: April 2025
Former homebrewers Peter Hills and Jon Swain both worked at Islington pub the Charles Lamb when they decided to join the growing ranks of East London brewers in 2011. They began with a small 8 hl kit which they ended up using twice a day to fill the growing number of fermenters squeezed into their railway arch under the Kingsland viaduct.
In 2015 the brewery expanded into a neighbouring arch and in 2016 was reconfigured following advice from consultants, with a new 20 hl brewhouse fabricated to the bespoke designs of Jon and head brewer Darren Walker. Further tanks were added to raise production to 5,000 hl a year.
With no space to increase production further nor for a taproom, the brewery began looking for a new site. In November 2020, the business moved into an industrial unit in the rapidly growing brewing hotspot of Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, immediately opposite Wild Card. A well-appointed taproom, known as the High Hill Taproom, opened here following the end of the lockdowns in May 2021.
Despite landlords Waltham Forest council’s initial encouragement of small food and drink businesses on the estate, the company struggled to agree repayment terms of post-lockdown arrears. It was forced at the end of March 2025 to close its onsite taproom. Initially it hoped to sustain brewing, but in April confirmed that the brewery was closing too.
Nearly all Hackney beers were sold in keg and can. Regular cask beers were discontinued early in 2018 though a small amount was still sold to selected pubs and bars.
Updated 22 April 2025.
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