Includes information for Kew Brewery.
Closed brewery
477 Upper Richmond Road West SW14 7PU (Richmond upon Thames)
ctznbrew.com
First sold beer: 7 June 2015 (as Kew Brewery)
Brewing ceased: December 2021
Ex-Weird Beard brewer Dave Scott struck out on own under the name Kew Brewery, originally jointly managed with his wife Rachel. A 10 hl kit from Oban Ales was installed in a garage at the back of a former shop unit in East Sheen, a little southeast of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, with fermenters and storage in the shop itself, and eventually a cold store on a separate site a short distance away. Beers went on sale for the first time at the Kew Village Market in 2015, and soon established a local reputation.
In December 2018, the Scotts sold the brewery to Jana Gray, formerly at the Amsterdam Brewery in Toronto, and her partner Jonathan, though Dave retained a minority shareholding, and the business continued the environmentally-friendly policies he established. During 2019 the front of the unit was sometimes open as a shop and occasional taproom, though this remained challenging due to lack of space.
During the 2020 lockdowns, the owners rethought the business and in May 2021 relaunched under a new brand, CTZN (or Citizen) Brew. The new approach placed still more emphasis on social and environmental concerns, with an ambition to include sustainable ingredients from Africa in the recipes.
An offsite taproom was opened in Twickenham (29 York Street TW1 3NR) and it was originally intended to shift brewing here. Sadly the business struggled to recover and ceased trading in December 2021. Originally the owners hoped to resume elsewhere, but by summer 2022 the company had been placed into liquidation.
Beers were mainly bottle-conditioned and keg.
Updated 4 August 2022.
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