Promoting an international beer culture that recognises and celebrates beers of quality, distinctiveness and local character, brewed with care and passion.
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
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
Closed beer firm First active: June 2019 Ceased trading: October 2023
Originally based in Borehamwood, just outside London, this firm first cuckoo brewed at Pretty Decent under the name No Heroes. It changed its name in February 2020 and subsequently also brewed outside London at Glen Affric in Birkenhead, Merseyside. It was a socially conscious project, promising to plant a tree for every beer sold, and supporting organisations which protect Indonesian rainforests and collect plastic from beaches.
Longstanding plans for a brewery and taproom were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic but were realised with the opening of an arch-based bar, the Lowline Tap (18 Angel Lane, Manor Place Depot SE17 3FR), not far from Orbit Beers, in March 2022. The original plan was to install a brewery here but no progress was made on this before the bar was forced to close on 26 May 2023 due to economic pressures. The company went into liquidation a few months later.
21 openings, 5 closures and suspensions, net change +16.
By the end of 2014, there were 68 commercial breweries operating in London, including 20 brewpubs. One was part of a multinational group (M). These breweries were:
15 openings, 6 closures and suspensions, net change +9.
By the end of 2015, there were 77 commercial breweries operating in London, including 23 brewpubs. Three were parts of multinational groups (M). These breweries were:
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.
Suspended beer firm littlefaithbeer.com Active since: December 2018 Suspended: July 2024
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. The former site has become a second branch of craft beer bar Feed the Yak.
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.
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London’s Best Beer
The fully updated 3rd edition of my essential award-winning guide to London’s vibrant beer scene is available now from CAMRA Books. Read more here.
