Closed brewery
8D Rainbow Industrial Estate, Trout Road, Yiewsley, West Drayton UB7 7XT (Hillingdon)
First sold beer: 8 May 1996
Ceased brewing: June 1997
Teacher and keen homebrewer Jerry Scanlon was encouraged to brew professionally when his IPA began winning competition prizes. His first commercial beer, Spike (4.5%), was launched in October 1995, cuckoo-brewed at Rebellion in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
He sought the help of Mike Askey, who had just started brewing at the Bitter End pub in Cockermouth, Cumbria (brewing 1995-2011). Mike built a small bespoke 4 hl kit in a unit on an industrial estate beside the Grand Union Canal in Yiewsley, on the western edge of London. The first beer brewed here was a cask golden ale, Middlesex Gold (3.8%), soon joined by Colne Valley Best Bitter (4.1%), Brunel Premier Ale (4.8%) and various specials and seasonals.
The brewery was officially launched on 28 November 1996 by TV astrologer Russell Grant, but had been active for some months before that.
Unfortunately it subsequently struggled to stay afloat and ceased brewing little more than a year after starting. Some brands were subsequently cuckoo brewed at Rebellion and at Vale at Brill near Aylesbury.
The industrial estate, on the northeast corner of the Trout Lane bridge over the canal, has since been demolished to make way for a cement yard.
Updated 10 June 2024.
More London breweries
Closed London breweries
Leave a Reply