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 Closed brewery This brewing supplies stall run by Canadian-born Adam Khedheri at Netil Market near London Fields also sold own-brewed beers created on a 1.2 hl homebrewing kit in a tiny unit constructed of recycled containers, mainly for sale on draught for visitors to the market. The stall had closed by July 2016 and brewing ceased. Last updated 4 January 2020  Brewery, no longer in London Former chef, White Horse Parsons Green cellarman and Redemption brewer Andy Smith had the opportunity to create his own brewery when the Kernel upgraded and offered him its old 6.5 hl kit. Although Andy was initially concerned about seeming too much in the Kernel’s shadow, Partizan eventually settled on a railway arch in an area known locally as the Blue close by, becoming the second of the Bermondsey breweries. Early in 2015, it took over the next-door arch, number 7, in preparation for a new brewhouse with a 25 hl AB-UK mash tun and a copper which the brewers converted themselves from a former power station water tank spotted rusting in a Yorkshire field. The old kit was gifted once again to Cyclic Beer Farm in Barcelona, co-founded by former head brewer Josh Wheeler. The brewery moved to a much bigger arch around the corner in November 2017, taking the brewhouse but adding a six new Malrex cylindroconical fermenters and a small bottling line. Further, larger fermenters were added in 2021. The taproom had unique bar fonts designed by Alec Doherty, an old friend of Andy’s who has long been responsible for the distinctive branding and labels. Four other breweries have since occupied its former arches: Affinity and then Three Hills in arch 7 and Spartan then Battersea in arch 8. With rents on the arch increasing, Partizan had long considered a move out of London and with footfall in the taproom failing to return to pre-lockdown levels, matters came to a head in early 2023. The taproom closed at short notice in March, with the assets sold to Langton Brewing in Market Harborough where Andy will continue to brew the brands, so at least Partizan beers will continue to be available. Perhaps the most significant post-Covid loss to London brewing, the departure of Partizan was also a notable development in Bermondsey following Anspach & Hobday and BBNo relocating production elsewhere, significantly reducing the brewery total in what has long been regarded as the capital’s craft brewing crucible. The changes undoubtedly reflect the more aggressive approach of new landlords the Arch Co. Partizan brewed beers for keg, can and bottle in a wide range of styles. Reflecting Andy’s background, restaurants made up a significant proportion of customers. Updated 29 September 2023.  Brewery Originally, the Park Brewery was a very small 1.5 hl operation in Kingston started by husband and wife team Josh and Frankie Kearns to brew bottled beers for the Jam Tree pubs in Clapham and Chelsea. Its activities soon expanded and diversified, initially growing to a 6 hl kit. Problems with the premises led to the suspension of brewing in March 2018 and for a while beer was cuckoo-brewed at Reunion Ales and Hop Back in Wiltshire. A crowdfunding campaign allowed a move to the current, larger, site on a small industrial estate. Production restarted in February 2019 on a 25 hl brewhouse custom-made by Johnson Brewing Design, with space to expand further and a taproom upstairs. The move was overseen by head brewer Adam Hardy, formerly at Reunion, who has since moved on, replaced by Phil Banks, ex-Battersea. Beers and branding reflect the proximity of nearby Richmond Park and most of the names have a connection to the park. Beer is packaged in keg, cask and can.  Updated 15 December 2021.  Brewery Robert Middleton worked in occupational pensions until deciding to take a career break travelling round his native Scotland visiting breweries, resulting in a book, The Tea Leaf Paradox: Discovering Beer in the Land of Whisky, and a keen interest in brewing. With the help of Stuart Medcalf of Twickenham Fine Ales, he set up this 16 hl plant in a railway arch under the Thameslink Sutton branch, with branding that reflected his love of music and vinyl records. Fermentation capacity was subsequently increased several times and the brewery expanded to occupy four arches. In July 2021 it took on two further arches on the other side of Fielding Street as a dedicated taproom. An enlarged brewhouse is planned for 2022. The current head brewer is Paul Straget, formerly at now-defunct Mad Hatter in Liverpool.  Beers are in keg or bottled on the brewery’s own line. An initial focus on beers inspired by German and other European traditional styles has since broadened out, though the musical influence remains, with graphics based on amplifier controls used in the descriptions on the labels. Updated 15 December 2021. Formerly One Mile End, Mulligans.  Closed brewery, former brewpub The brewery commenced operations in 2013 on a small 4 hl kit in the cellar of the White Hart in Whitechapel. At first it was known as Mulligans but was very soon rebranded to One Mile End after the address of the pub. Under the skilled guidance of head brewer Simon McCabe, a former musician recruited from Redemption, demand soon grew beyond the pub. When Redemption expanded to a bigger site in March 2016, One Mile End took over its former Tottenham premises and 20 hl brewhouse. Simon moved on early in 2018 and is now making both wine and beer at the Nota Winery in Finland. His replacement as head brewer was former geologist Pierre Warburton. The brewhouse at the White Hart remained unused on site for some time, but was removed in September 2022 when the pub was sold to McMullen brewery of Hertford. Soon afterwards, the Tottenham brewery rebranded to OMEBEER as it no longer maintained a link with the pub. Business under the new brand lasted only a few months before closure early in 2023.  Beers were in contemporary style in cask, keg and can, using a mobile canning line, with occasional bottle-conditioned specials. Updated 5 March 2023.  Closed brewpub The landmark Montague Arms, a big roadside pub between New Cross and Peckham which was once renowned as a music venue, was rescued from potential closure in 2014. Brewing equipment was delivered in May 2015 and the first beers were sold shortly afterwards, under the name Monkey Chews after a bar previously run by owner Noel Gale. The experiment proved short-lived, with no house beer appearing beyond the end of that year. The pub closed in January 2018, and the brewhouse had been removed when it reopened under new ownership a few months later. It closed again in July 2019, though may reopen under yet another new owner in 2020. Updated 6 January 2020  Brewery In a distinctive industrial building on a quiet street between Battersea Power Station and Clapham, Mondo was created by two US expat homebrewers, Tom Palmer and Todd Matteson. After some early pilot beers at UBREW, it began commercial production in March 2015 with a 10 hl kit from Zip Technologies in Hungary. A replacement 20 hl brewhouse was installed in 2017, followed by additional fermentation capacity and a new canning line in 2019. The site has long boasted a dedicated taproom, and in March 2023 a second venue opened at Borough Yards SE1, in partnership with a pizza maker, though this had closed by early 2024. The company went into a prepack administration in April 2024, becoming a sister business of Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey when the latter’s owner, Rupert Thompson, invested in setting up a new company to buy it out. But there are apparently no plans to move production out of London: the deal is promised to ‘secure the future’ of the Battersea site, where further investment is planned in the taproom. Beers are in keg, can and bottle.  Updated 29 April 2024.  London’s Best Beer, the book that chronicled the seemingly unstoppable expansion of beer and brewing in the UK’s capital, will soon be back for a third edition. I’m just starting work on completely revising and updating this award-winning guide from CAMRA Books for publication in February 2020, almost five years after the last edition in July 2015. The first edition in 2011 appeared at a time when there was much excitement among London beer lovers but still only 13 breweries – nonetheless a welcome increase on 2006 when the closure of Young’s had left the city with only nine. I doubt anyone could then have guessed that when the next edition appeared in 2015, I’d have to rejig the format to accommodate details of 70 breweries.  The number has continued to grow since, though at a reduced rate. The ever-reliable Jezza of the Beer Guide London website puts the current total at 120, and I expect a modest increase on this figure by the time the book goes to the printers. They include some really good small and independent producers, like Affinity, pictured left. Encouragingly, only a few have closed, most of them either very small or brewpubs who decided it wasn’t worth the bother. More significant have been the many expansions. With the threat of a no-deal Brexit in a month’s time, there’s always the possibility that economic catastrophe will torpedo further growth – but brewing has already demonstrated its capacity to expand in difficult circumstances, and the preference for the affordable luxury of good local beer now seems embedded in London’s culture. For proof of this, look no further than the way the multinational brewing groups have voted with their chequebooks over the past few years. When I finished work on the copy for the last edition, every London brewery was independently-owned except for the Stag in Mortlake, which AB InBev was in the process of closing. Then, just as the guide went to press in May 2015, came the news that SAB-Miller had bought Meantime. Today, following the dramatic announcement last month that Fuller’s was selling its brewing interests to Asahi and concentrating on pubs, the five biggest London breweries are owned or part-owned by multinationals. Asahi also ended up with Meantime following the breakup of SAB-Miller while fellow Japanese giant Kirin owns Fourpure through its Lion subsidiary. Beavertown is near-50% owned by Heineken, enabling a major expansion to what will potentially be London’s biggest brewery in Ponders End – just up the River Lee Navigation from AB InBev-owned Camden Town. The Dutch brewer has also financed a major expansion for Brixton brewery while Carlsberg now owns London Fields in a joint venture with Brooklyn. So far, all these new subsidiaries have kept their distinctive identities and management teams: unlike in the post-war decades when big breweries swallowed smaller ones primarily for their pub estates, the multinationals are after credible brands and businesses that can respond more flexibly to the demands of a new generation of drinkers. But the megabrewers still have the power to restrict access to market for the independents and, ultimately, are more interested in shareholder dividends than the quality of their beer. And there’s reason to be particularly concerned about Fuller’s, now London’s only remaining heritage brewery with roots stretching back to the 17th century – every other one of those 120 is a 21st century creation. Asahi says it will continue to brew at the historic Griffin brewery on Chiswick Mall, but as this is squeezed between the river Thames and the A4 right next to one of London’s prettiest ‘villages’, someone must have worked out quite how much it would be worth as a prestige redevelopment site. The positive side of this for beer drinkers is the normalisation of ‘craft’ beer in London. We can now expect to see at least a few decent, and usually locally-brewed, beers at any new bar or informal restaurant, which means I’ll have the raise the standards for non-brewing outlets higher still to keep the book within reasonable proportions. Interestingly, the traditional pub sector, once seen as the natural home of good beer, is increasingly lagging behind thanks to the dominance of tied houses and chains. So I’m now looking forward once again to several hard-working but rewarding months visiting as many pubs, bars, shops and breweries as I can: my ‘long list’ rather dauntingly exceeds 700. If you think you can add to that, you’ll find a suggestion form and guidance on the London’s Best Beer page. My mission remains to provide the complete and indispensable guide to great beer in London, and to celebrate the city’s contemporary brewing scene and its brewing heritage. Previous editions have been described by reviewers as “probably the best book about beer in London” and a “detailed and accessible treasure chest of information”. I hope you’ll agree that I’ve kept to those standards when the book appears a year from now.  Brewery, taproom Former chef Julio Moncada, originally from Argentina, was planning to open a specialist delicatessen. Then he realised that, while a deli requires supplies to be shipped from around the world, all the ingredients for brewing are available close to hand in Britain, so decided to create a brewery instead. Julio first sold his beer at the inaugural London Brewers Alliance festival near Borough Market in October 2011, produced on a 10 hl PBC brewhouse at the brewery’s original site in North Kensington not far from the Grand Union Canal.  Rising demand rapidly led to expansion, and in January 2013 the brewery moved to bigger premises around the corner in Buspace Studios, with increased fermentation and storage capacity. Moncada expanded again during 2017, moving north into the borough of Brent, with a new brewhouse and taproom at Dollis Hill not far from Staples Corner road junction. For most of 2017, operations were split between the sites but by December everything was based at the new site, now one of London’s more substantial independent operations. The Dollis Hill site boasted a 30 hl brewhouse custom-designed in Israel by AN Technologies and fabricated in China, plus a bottling line, with a mobile line for canning. There was also an on-site taproom. Sadly, trade never recovered from the 2020-21 Covid-19 lockdowns. By September 2021, all activity had ceased and the brewery was for sale. Cask, keg, bottled and canned beers were produced in a range of styles, mostly under the brand name Notting Hill. All the beer was unpasteurised, unfiltered, unfined and vegan-friendly.  Updated 14 December 2021.  Closed brewery Old Brewery Greenwich Founded by one of British brewing’s most influential figures, Greenwich-born Alastair Hook, Meantime was a trailblazer of contemporary brewing both in the capital and in the rest of the UK. For a time the second-oldest brewery in the capital, it became the first of the 21st century London brewers bought by a multinational, leading eventually but somewhat inevitably to its demise. Alastair trained at Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh, but regularly spent summers as a brewing assistant in California and completed his postgraduate studies at Weihenstephan brewing school near Munich, learning to brew quality lager, then a type of beer largely unknown at home. In 1991, he brewed at a pioneering brewpub, the Packhorse, in Ashford, Kent, specialising in German-style beers. Four years later he helped create Freedom in Parsons Green, London, the first successful and long-lived UK craft lager brewery: it’s still in operation today, although in Staffordshire under different ownership. In 1998 he was involved in setting up two of Britain’s earliest US-style upmarket brewpub-restaurants: Mash and Air in Manchester (closed in 2000) and Mash in Great Portland Street, London (closed in 2007). Two years later, Alastair opened his own brewery in Charlton, named Meantime for its location near Greenwich and its commitment to properly matured beers. At a time when the ambition of most microbreweries stretched not much further than the local free trade and CAMRA festivals, Meantime pursued the unusual course of concentrating on keg and bottled craft lagers and wheat beer, targeting restaurants and bars more than traditional pubs, making beers for the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain as part of its premium Taste the Difference range, and contract-brewing for Mash and Freedom among others. A range of beers under its own name didn’t appear until 2005.  In September 2010, Alastair achieved his long-held ambition to move the main brewery to Greenwich, with an expansion to a site near the Blackwall Tunnel portal, equipped with a new German-built Rolec 100 hl brewhouse. The first modern UK-brewed unpasteurised and unfiltered beer for dispense from 1,000 l tanks, inspired by the Czech model, launched from here in 2013. A new tasting room opened at the front of the site in 2015, next to a 10 hl pilot kit visible from the road and a shop with the first walk-in beer fridge in London, with a cluster of nine outdoor 100 hl tanks further back. There was also a third brewhouse, a 20 l homebrew kit used internally for tests and experiments. A seminar room next to the main brewhouse, used for tutored tastings and brewery tours, displayed bottles and glasses from the collection of legendary beer writer Michael Jackson. In 2019 Meantime finally occupied two units formerly used as an archive by the National Maritime Museum which had previously separated the tasting room from the main brewery, bringing annual output to around 102,000 hl. Besides the tasting room at the brewery, Meantime long operated a pub, the Greenwich Union, opened in 2001 just outside the town centre (56 Royal Hill SE10 8RT). This remained closed following the 2020-21 Covid-19 lockdowns and in April 2021 was sold to Young’s, who used it as an extension of their existing pub the Richard I (Tolly’s) next door. The Old Brewery pub at the Old Royal Naval College in the heart of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site was founded as a brewpub by Meantime in 2010 but was sold to Young’s in 2016: it no longer brews, though the kit is still in place and there has been occasional talk of reviving its use. Meantime was bought by SABMiller in May 2015, a deal negotiated by then-Chief Executive Nick Miller, who formerly worked for the US-South African group. SABMiller was bought out in turn in October 2016 by the world’s biggest brewing group, Anheuser-Busch InBev. To comply with monopoly regulation, ABI sold on the Greenwich business along with Grolsch and Peroni to Asahi, marking the first direct involvement of one of the big Japanese-based groups in the UK industry. Meantime retained its own identity and management for some time, but in 2019 Asahi bought a second London brewery, Fuller’s, and subsequently began integrating the management of both facilities. Alastair went into semi-retirement and eventually relinquished his involvement. Through Fuller’s, Asahi also acquired the Dark Star brewery in Partridge Green, West Sussex, which had long links back to the emergence of London microbrewing in the 1980s (see Pitfield’s). Asahi closed Dark Star in December 2022, shifting production to Meantime. As the Sussex brewery produced numerous cask beers, this required adding cask facilities at Greenwich for the first time (the cask version of Meantime London Pale Ale available around 2009-10 and subsequently withdrawn was contract brewed by Adnams in Southwold, Suffolk). The exception was flagship brand Dark Star Hophead, which had already been transferred to Fuller’s and remained there. Then in March 2024, Asahi announced it was closing Meantime completely, and consolidating all its UK brands at the Fuller’s site in Chiswick. The site was rapidly decomissioned and ceased brewing in early May. There’s a chance that small-scale brewing might revive in a small way in Greenwich through what Asahi describes as a ‘new standalone consumer retail experience’ which will maintain its presence in the area. Based on previous experience of brewpubs managed by giant brewing concerns, I’m not optimistic about the long-term prospects of this. Aside from the cask Dark Star brands, beers were in tank, keg, bottle and can: the bottles were filled on site but canning was done at Grolsch in the Netherlands. Some London Lager was also brewed at Groslch in Enschede in 2016 but this ended with the expansion of capacity at Greenwich. A previous version of this post stated that brewing at the Old Brewery Greenwich was erratic, sparking a discussion in the comments section. This revision makes no observations about the frequency of brewing at the site. Updated 6 June 2024. |
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