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By the end of 2010, there were 14 commercial breweries operating in London, including five brewpubs. One was part of a multinational group (M). These breweries were:
AB InBev UK (Stag, AB InBev M) SW14, Richmond upon Thames
By the end of 2011, there were 22 commercial breweries operating in London, including eight brewpubs. One was part of a multinational group (M). These breweries were:
AB InBev UK (Stag, AB InBev M) SW14, Richmond upon Thames
Closed brewery 10 Abenglen, Betam Road, Hayes UB3 1SS (Hillingdon) First sold beer: March 2002 Ceased brewing: by end 2007
On an industrial estate near the Grand Union Canal, this brewery was created by the owners of the Old Kent Brewery in Borough Green, Kent, which itself had been founded in August 2000. It used 16 hl kit formerly at pioneering Manchester brewpub Mash & Air. The two companies operated separately, and the parent closed in 2003.
Despite achieving some success in getting bottled beer into supermarkets under US-born head brewer Tom Madeiros, Grand Union also ceased in 2007, just before the recent reinvigoration of London brewing. Tom had already moved on to Twickenham Fine Ales in 2005. The kit went to Betwixt Brewing in Birkenhead, now Peerless.
Closed brewery 43 Glycena Road SW11 5TP (Wandsworth) First sold beer: 2001 Ceased brewing: 2007
An unrelated company to the present Battersea Brewery or to previous bearers of the name, this was founded by Stephen Nockolds and achieved some success in the early part of the 21st century, with its beers available in some major supermarkets.
I’ve been unable to confirm exactly when it stopped brewing. Stephen left in 2007 to become a management consultant and there was little activity after this. Duncan Sambrook tried to make contact when setting up his own brewery nearby in 2008, with no success.
Beer firm yeastieboys.co.nz Active since: September 2015 in UK, 2008 in New Zealand.
A pioneer of the now-flourishing New Zealand craft scene, this punningly named outfit was founded in Wellington by Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie. It has always cuckoo brewed even in its home territory, and in 2015 Stu relocated to London to extend the brand. The beers have been brewed at several locations including BrewDog at Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; West Berkshire near Reading; and most recently at Utopian in Devon.
Stu has become a familiar and influential figure on the London scene, and now claims to lead “the world’s smallest multinational” with a similar operation in Australia. A popup Bermondsey taproom began late in 2019 and there are plans for a more substantial dedicated outlet.
Brewery, no visitors please Richmond TW9 (Richmond upon Thames) workshybrewing.co.uk First sold beer: September 2021
Originally active at UBREW from August 2018, this Australasian duo subsequently cuckoo-brewed at Kew (now CTZN), Portobello and outside London at Glen Affric, though developed the recipes on a pilot kit at home in Richmond.
In summer 2021, they upgraded to a 2 hl home kit and began producing small commercial runs as well as cuckoo-brewing. A larger space with taproo is planned, possibly in 2022.
Beers are in keg, can and bottle, mainly sold through local outlets.
Founded by retired Saracens rugby players Alistair Hargreaves and Chris Wyles in a quest for better but still accessible lager, Wolfpack initially brewed its lager at Greene King in Bury St Edmunds.
The company has since added other brands such as a pale ale, with some beers brewed at another Greene King subsidiary, Belhaven, at Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. Though it has a partnership with Greene King, it remains independently owned and uses other, undisclosed, brewing partners too.
The beer is widely available in keg and can, including from the duo’s three London bars and from a double decker bus parked outside the ground at Saracens games.
Generations of drinkers must have thought they’d seen the back of this once-notorious London brand: see Stag Brewery. But in 2016 it was back, licensed by Nick Whitehurst of Brands Reunited from Heineken.
There have never been any plans for a separate brewery. Originally the beer, in keg and can, was cuckoo-brewed at Sambrook’s, using newly developed recipes, but this ceased following the brewery’s move to Wandsworth. A minikeg version of the once ubiquitous Party Seven giant can made an appearance early in 2021 but since then activity seems to have ceased.
Beer firm, planned brewery outside London Good Company, 17 Triton Street, London NW1 3BF toastale.com Active since: January 2016
Based in Southwark, Toast was launched by Tristram Stuart, founder of food waste charity Feedback, with the aim of recycling waste bread into beer, a process Tristram first saw in action at Brussels Beer Project. The company had early links with E5 Bakehouse. Income from sales helps support the charity.
Most of the bread used is in the form of crusts and other offcuts donated by the sandwich industry and surplus loaves from large bakeries, typically replacing a third of the grist. The first brew was at Hackney brewery but the core beers then moved to SEB in Broadstairs, Kent.
There are numerous one-off collaborations with brewers around the country and the world. The project has since expanded to New York City, working with local brewers. The recipes are ‘open source’ so anyone can brew them.
Toast launched a London taproom at the above address in collaboration with likeminded social enterprise Change Please coffee in March 2023. Check opening hours as, due to the location, it’s currently closed weekends and only open into the evening one day a week.
In July 2023, Toast announced it would be launching its own microbrewery in 2024, not in London but at Unity Place, a newly developed multi-purpose space in Milton Keynes. I’m therefore no longer regarding it as a London-based beer firm.
By the end of 2012, there were 37 commercial breweries operating in London, including 12 brewpubs. One was part of a national group (N) and one part of a multinational (M). These breweries were:
AB InBev UK (Stag, AB InBev M) SW14, Richmond upon Thames
Florence Brewery SE24, Lambeth, brewpub, relaunches under new management as Head in a Hat. The pub is then acquired by Greene King N, but brewing continues.
For definitions of a London brewery, see the current London breweries page.
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