London’s brewery count rose from 131 at the end of 2020 to 136 at the end of 2021, with at least three likely to start operations in the early months of 2022. While six breweries closed, suspended production or moved out of London during 2021, another 11 either commenced or resumed selling their own beer.
Those are the headline figures from the just-completed update of my London brewery pages, where I’ve been tracking the numbers in the capital back to 1971.
Following the boom of the 2010s, when London leapt from accommodating 14 commercial breweries in 2010 to over 100 by 2017, the year-on-year figures have been creeping up much more slowly recently: 125 at the end of 2018, 129 by 2019, 131 by 2020 and 136 today. But given the challenges of the past two years, it’s particularly remarkable that they are still increasing.
The resilience of London brewing supports plentiful anecdotal evidence that customers are increasingly favouring local independent producers and suppliers. That trend was already evident before the Covid-19 pandemic and seems to have strengthened further. While researching the latest edition of London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, numerous brewers and retailers told me how important local custom had become to their business during the lockdowns.
But with recent developments showing the pandemic is far from over, continued erratic leadership from government and the failure of the recently announced support package to include direct support for breweries once again, the situation remains precarious. Breweries are now better prepared to adapt to lockdown conditions if necessary, but many are already in a weakened financial state.
Though a few of the newcomers are working at an ambitious scale, a growing number of start-ups in recent years have been much smaller operations. These are often part-time businesses working from home in very small batches – typically 100 litres but in one case only 25 – and selling through a small number of local outlets. These are all fully licensed and accredited commercial breweries and some of them are producing outstanding beer, but their contribution to total beer volumes in London is minimal.
Given these factors, I’m not going to make any predictions about what the figures might look like this time next year. But one thing is certain – the vibrancy of London’s brewing scene depends on the support of drinkers, so please continue to support your local independent breweries, pubs, bars and bottle shops during these difficult times.
An earlier version of this post was circulated to my Patreon supporters on 22 December. To sign up for advanced news of London brewery changes, updates to London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, discounts on tours and events and more, visit patreon.com/ldnbestbeer.
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