As a city London was internationally famed for brewing but over the 25 years or so that I’ve been living down here, the great brewers have slowly disappeared, leaving just Fullers out of a long line of famous names still commercially brewing in the capital.
There then was was a period when brewpubs became the in-thing – the Firkin chain were the most successful for a while before owner David Bruce sold them and they were rebadged and gradually faded away.
There was even a French brewpub called Brasserie Les Sans Culottes in Covent Garden - with some continental-style beers and sparkling Normandy ciders - but as with many other such outlets it didn't stand the test of time.
In recent years however there has been a resurgence in the opening of new breweries and what has been heartening is that in the cut-throat industry they’re joining, they’ve come together in a spirit of enterprise and formed the London Brewers Alliance with the intention of self-help and putting London back on the brewing map.
As a keen drinker I’ve kept a close eye on these developments and so was happy to attend their first event – the London Brewers Alliance Showcase – which took place last week at Brew Wharf in London Bridge.
(left) Lizzie Brodie pours me a half of their porter
This event would essentially be a small festival where we could taste the wares and meet the brewers. The cost was £15 but for that you got seven halves of beer and one half of their collaboratively brewed London Porter. Not bad at London prices.
I was attending with London Miller Chris and his colleague/fellow drinker Roger – having first popped into the nearby Wheatsheaf for a couple of openers first – and the place was quite busy with a number of familiar faces from the London CAMRA scene.
In all there were almost a dozen breweries assembled – Camden Town, Brew Wharf, Kernel, Brodies, Zero Degrees, Fullers, Redemption, Meantime, Ha’Penny, Sambrooks and Windsor & Eton (the latter stretching the definition of London somewhat).
I managed to get round about half of the brewery stalls with Brodies and Kernel proving to have most of the better beers that I’d tried.
Brodies brew not far from Leyton Orient having taken over the old Sweet William brewery and pub and consist of a brother and sister team, James and Lizzie Brodie.
They had a marvellous 7% London porter on draught – which surpassed the collaborative porter that Chris kindly gave me a sip of – as well as a number of their bottled products, one of which was a very enjoyable dunkel. Given the number of beers they've produced, I don’t know where they find the time to brew such a diverse range.
Kernel Brewery is run by a fellow hairy chap called Evin who I’ve met a few times on my visits to the brewery and he produces a variety of wonderful beers, both dark and light. Recent highlights for me have been the Baltic Porter and the White Ale.
I recently suggested that he should call his new son Simcoe in reference to the hops he uses a lot but he and his partner have played safe and called the little chap Kai.
The draught IPA was on top form – very hoppy but not aggressively so - just a shame we don’t see it on cask more often.
Some Brew Wharf beers were also available and I was pleased to finally try their 6.8% black IPA, Military Intelligence.
This has received lots of praise amongst the beer cognoscenti in recent weeks and much deserved too – being dark, hoppy and drinkable is something that is difficult to pull off but this was excellent.
(right) My ticket to drink
With a early-ish trip to our game at Bath the next day I finally managed to drag myself away from the beer – I still had plenty of vouchers left as some of the brewers didn’t tick them off – but for once discretion was the better part of valour.
There then was was a period when brewpubs became the in-thing – the Firkin chain were the most successful for a while before owner David Bruce sold them and they were rebadged and gradually faded away.
There was even a French brewpub called Brasserie Les Sans Culottes in Covent Garden - with some continental-style beers and sparkling Normandy ciders - but as with many other such outlets it didn't stand the test of time.
In recent years however there has been a resurgence in the opening of new breweries and what has been heartening is that in the cut-throat industry they’re joining, they’ve come together in a spirit of enterprise and formed the London Brewers Alliance with the intention of self-help and putting London back on the brewing map.
As a keen drinker I’ve kept a close eye on these developments and so was happy to attend their first event – the London Brewers Alliance Showcase – which took place last week at Brew Wharf in London Bridge.(left) Lizzie Brodie pours me a half of their porter
This event would essentially be a small festival where we could taste the wares and meet the brewers. The cost was £15 but for that you got seven halves of beer and one half of their collaboratively brewed London Porter. Not bad at London prices.
I was attending with London Miller Chris and his colleague/fellow drinker Roger – having first popped into the nearby Wheatsheaf for a couple of openers first – and the place was quite busy with a number of familiar faces from the London CAMRA scene.
In all there were almost a dozen breweries assembled – Camden Town, Brew Wharf, Kernel, Brodies, Zero Degrees, Fullers, Redemption, Meantime, Ha’Penny, Sambrooks and Windsor & Eton (the latter stretching the definition of London somewhat).
I managed to get round about half of the brewery stalls with Brodies and Kernel proving to have most of the better beers that I’d tried.
Brodies brew not far from Leyton Orient having taken over the old Sweet William brewery and pub and consist of a brother and sister team, James and Lizzie Brodie.
They had a marvellous 7% London porter on draught – which surpassed the collaborative porter that Chris kindly gave me a sip of – as well as a number of their bottled products, one of which was a very enjoyable dunkel. Given the number of beers they've produced, I don’t know where they find the time to brew such a diverse range.
Kernel Brewery is run by a fellow hairy chap called Evin who I’ve met a few times on my visits to the brewery and he produces a variety of wonderful beers, both dark and light. Recent highlights for me have been the Baltic Porter and the White Ale.
I recently suggested that he should call his new son Simcoe in reference to the hops he uses a lot but he and his partner have played safe and called the little chap Kai.
The draught IPA was on top form – very hoppy but not aggressively so - just a shame we don’t see it on cask more often.
Some Brew Wharf beers were also available and I was pleased to finally try their 6.8% black IPA, Military Intelligence.This has received lots of praise amongst the beer cognoscenti in recent weeks and much deserved too – being dark, hoppy and drinkable is something that is difficult to pull off but this was excellent.
(right) My ticket to drink
With a early-ish trip to our game at Bath the next day I finally managed to drag myself away from the beer – I still had plenty of vouchers left as some of the brewers didn’t tick them off – but for once discretion was the better part of valour.
But it’s clear to see that London is entering a new bright age of brewing and catching up with other areas of the country - long may it continue.
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