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Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
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"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
22 opened or revived, 6 closed or suspended, net change +16.
By the end of 2016, there were 93 commercial breweries operating in London, including 29 brewpubs. One was part of a national group (N), two were parts of multinationals (M). These breweries were:
Left Bank Brewery E17, Waltham Forest, continued cuckoo brewing then moved outside London
Old Brewery Greenwich (Meantime, Asahi M) SE10, Greenwich, brewpub, production continued at main Meantime site
Suspended this year
Earth Ale SW12, Wandsworth, continues as a cuckoo brewer
Other changes
Late Knights Brewing SE20, Bromley, company wound up with brewing continuing on the same site under new management as Southey Brewing.
London Brewing Co (Bull) N6, Haringey, brewpub. London Brewing sells pub and concentrates production at its Bohemia site, new owners continue brewing at Bull simply under the pub name.
Meantime Brewing (SABMiller) SE10, Greenwich, becomes part of AB InBev when it buys out SABMiller and is then sold to Asahi as part of a deal to comply with monopolies regulation.
One Mile End Brewery (White Hart) E1, Tower Hamlets, brewpub. Brewery takes over site and kit in Tottenham vacated by Redemption and ends brewing in the pub.
Queens Head WC1, Camden, brewpub. Two pub staff take on the brewing as a separate business under the name Old Street Brewery.
Redemption Brewing N17, Haringey, moves to a larger site on the same industrial estate.
Solvay Society (Hops and Glory) N1, Islington, brewpub. Solvay expands to a standalone site, taking over and reviving the former Ha’penny. Staff at the Hops and Glory, meanwhile continue to brew there.
For definitions of a London brewery, see the current London breweries page.
Brewpub no longer brewing 94 Haverstock Hill NW3 2BD First sold beer: July 2016 Ceased brewing: July 2017
Originally named the Load of Hay, this Victorian pub on Haverstock Hill briefly had its own brewhouse for a year from 2016. The pub reopened as the Belrose in July 2018 with a new brewing kit installed, but due to technical problems, beer brewed on this was never sold, and the house beers were commissioned instead from London Beer Lab. The pub closed again in 2019 and was reopened in November as the Haverstock Tavern under new ownership with a connection to Leeds Brewery, but has not resumed its activities as a brewpub.
Beer firm no longer active mothership.beer Active since: September 2018 Ceased trading: by early 2023
This south London-based all-female beer collective began at UBREW in 2018, later cuckoo-brewing at various locations like By the Horns and Missing Link in West Sussex. The project was led by Jane Barnes, formerly a winemaker, and Zoe.
10p for every litre brewed was donated to women’s charities.
There were plans for a physical brewery and taproom but these never came to fruition and the company had ceased trading by early 2023.
A side project of Kernel and ex-Beavertown brewer Alex Woods, this was originally based at a taproom in Deptford’s vibrant Creekside area, home to various creative and specialist businesses, arts and conservation projects.
The beers were brewed at London Brewing and at Franklin’s in Ringmer, East Sussex, with a long-term plan to open an in-house facility.
Following problems with the lease, the company had to quit its premises at short notice in July 2024, and activities are currently on hold, though cuckoo brewing may recommence elsewhere.
After experimenting at UBREW, North London-based vintage shirt fan Jacob Liddle brewed his first commercial batches at Brum brewery in Birmingham in 2019. Subsequent brews have been at other locations including By the Horns. A standalone brewery remains an aspiration for now.
Based on the edge of the Olympic Park, this is a low alcohol specialist which has won awards for its canned beers. These were previously brewed at Sambrook’s and have since been brewed at SEB in Broadstairs, Kent.
Beer firm Hop Kingdom, 16 Druid Street SE1 2EY (Southwark) hopking.org Active since: September 2017
Ben Hopkinson, formerly at Late Knights (see Southey), and his brother Ludi combine their enthusiasms for both beer and skateboarding by producing their own beer for their indoor skate park Hop Kingdom and Ben’s Beer Rebellion bar. It’s since been distributed elsewhere, brewed at various locations including Hambleton Ales in Yorkshire, UBREW and Fourpure.
Brewery Unit G1 Coldharbour Works, 245A Coldharbour Lane SW9 8RR (Lambeth) brixtonmarketbar.com First sold beer: April 2021 (as Friendship Adventure)
Homebrewer Ed Pragnell and friends Toby Ejsmond-Frey and Neil Wates began working together as Friendship Adventure in 2017, subsequently cuckoo brewing at Reunion, Signal and elsewhere and developing a joyful sideline promoting comedy events.
They added their own 16 hl facility in Brixton in 2021, appropriately enough in an old grain mill right by the railway near Loughborough Junction station and close to Clarkshaws, with a generously proportioned taproom on site.
A percentage of sales was donated to the Baytree Centre, a nearby charity promoting social inclusion for women and girls.
The brewery opened a second, off-site, taproom not far away in Brixton market in September 2023 (5 Market Row SW9 8LB).
Fermenting vessels decorated with beer branding at Friendship Adventure: why don’t more breweries do this?
The brewery almost closed completely in June 2024 due to the usual financial challenges, but instead was bought out and rebranded by one of its customers, Supercute, a Latino-themed Brixton Market bar and club owned by local restaurateurs.
In July, the original facility at Loughborough Junction was relaunched under its new name, with former head brewer Stu Brown rehired to produce both rebranded and new beers.
Supercute also established a partnership with New York City’s Harlem Brewing, founded in 2000 by Celeste Beatty, the first African American woman to launch a craft brewery, and Stu is brewing a couple of its brands under license. The Brixton Market bar has accordingly been rebranded Harlem Brewing Taproom, though both Harlem and Supercute brands are sold across both sites.
Beers are in keg and can, mainly brewed to session strength.
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