LDNGuide
The 14 Best Breweries In London
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Once considered an interest only of the grisly and bearded, craft beer is very much part of the norm now. And whether you’re sticking with a straight lager or want something more sour, the places where they’re made are great places to drink.
Helpfully, a lot of London’s best breweries are grouped together on beer miles and industrial estates. We’ve split this guide up into specific areas to make hitting multiple spots easy.
THE SPOTS
Bermondsey Beer Mile, Bermondsey
Some people collect stamps, others regrets. Bermondsey collects breweries. The almost two-mile route takes drinkers from South Bermondsey towards London Bridge via a string of taprooms nestled into the railway arches.
photo credit: 73 Enid Street
Cloudwater is one for the hop connoisseur. The Manchester-based brewery’s Bermondsey taproom has a 20-strong draught menu, featuring collaborations with other breweries like Siren and Rock Leopard. Their range of beers jump from a punchy 14% liquorice barrel-aged stout to their own very session-able and wonderful pale ale. The roadside seating outside is pretty basic, but it’s definitely lively, with a party atmosphere and plenty of groups. The pretty inside space—with fairy lights strung up and dried flowers—makes this feel like somewhere you could stay for a while.
photo credit: Koray Firat
The outside space at The Kernel isn’t the biggest. But, crucially, it’s at the beginning of the beer mile (if you begin in South Bermondsey) and doesn’t overlook the road. We like easing into things at this spot early doors when it’s quieter. There’s a great selection of pale ales, with a few stouts, natural wines, and ciders too. Not many places on this beer mile do good food, so capitalise on the decent charcuterie board. Plus for hot days, Ice Cream Union is around the corner—make a detour and get the cookies and cream ice cream to take away.
photo credit: Koray Firat
Bianca Road manages to make a curved, corrugated steel space, with the odd hanging bike wheel for decoration, charming. The hoppy, pale ales at this Bermondsey brewery are delicious and brewed in an environmentally conscious way—with cans preferred over bottles (to save pallet space and cut transport emissions) and 100% renewable electricity used to brew their beer. There’s an indoor-outdoor vibe, but the outside is definitely livelier so try to grab one of those tables.
South London
photo credit: Brick Brewery
Peckham’s Brick Brewery is an easy win, day or night. There’s a mix of covered and uncovered outdoor seating and 20 draught lines of their own (and guest beers) to choose from. Stick with the core range and a Peckham Session IPA, or try one of the Tamarind & Lime Leaf sours. The melty birria tacos from Taca Tacos are also worth having on your table. The brewery's laid-back taproom is open from Tuesday until Sunday and you can also book tables online—all of which make it an excellent back pocket drinking spot around SE15.
photo credit: Villages Brewery
There are exciting things going on in the arches along Resolution Way in Deptford and Villages is one of them. The popular south London brewery has a proper selection in its taproom: from their Rafiki session IPA to their coconut chocolate stout, as well as a choice of wines and ciders selected by a local bottle shop. Both inside and outside spaces are stripped back, but that doesn’t stop Villages from being full of life most weekends, with some people even squatting by the pavement when all the benches are taken. Our quads could never.
Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Walthamstow
Hidden behind village-like Orford Road and leafy residential streets, is Ravenswood Industrial Estate—a.k.a. a beer oasis. It’s famous for neon sign store, God’s Own Junkyard, and for having a collection of breweries, taprooms, and barrel stores all conveniently positioned next to each other.
photo credit: Wild Card
A microbrewery, in a warehouse, in a car park… leave some east London for the rest of us, Wild Card. There are some seats inside the Walthamstow taproom but it’s nicer to sit out in the sun, on the large sharing tables. Grab a spot looking towards the brewery unless you want to stare at a fleet of Ford transit vans. Wild Card is particularly good for big group meet-ups, great merch, and fans of New England-style IPA (although they do a bunch of pale ales and sours too).
photo credit: Koray Firat
One of the rare spots that has a nice inside and outside space, The Real Al Company & Taproom in Walthamstow specialises in ciders—although there’s a decent selection of beers, gins, and natural wine too. The bright blue and yellow wooden stools make this feel like an adult’s playroom. And hanging plants and dangling light bulbs add a nice homely touch that you don’t see at too many taprooms. You can’t go wrong with their own Craft Apple range and the Shimmy cider from guest brewery, Ascension, is one of our all-time favourites.
photo credit: Koray Firat
Pillars Brewery is painted with a massive black and white eye mural that stares deep into your soul. And it knows you want beer. Grab a crisp and refreshing Pillars Pilsner and sip on it while sitting among the tanks it was brewed in. The outdoor benches are where it’s at, at this Ravenswood Industrial Estate taproom, and you’re just around the corner from Wild Card too. There are much worse ways to spend an afternoon than brewery-hopping on this estate.
Blackhorse Beer Mile And The Uplands, Walthamstow
The Blackhorse Beer Mile is a walking route of breweries within stumbling distance of Blackhorse Road station, and its best bits are on the inconspicuous Uplands Business Park.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Exale works just as well for a casual Skoosh (our preferred IPA here) on the sunny, mural-painted terrace, as it does for evenings inside this airy, open-plan spot that involve DJ sets finishing at 2am. Whichever way you play it at this Walthamstow spot, get involved in The Lacy Nook pop-up. Their menu is inspired by the Balkan Peninsula—whipped feta with confit tomatoes, smoked pulled pork gyro, and beef cevapi—ideal for sharing and soaking up craft beer.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Pretty Decent Beer is self-deprecating in the kind of way that makes us proud to be Londoners. There’s the name of the brewery, plus one of their session IPAs is called ‘I Could Get Better At T*sco For A Quid’—a shoutout to one of their first Google reviews. We’re happy to confirm that person did not know what they were talking about. We’ve brought friends here, a brother who knows his beer, and an in-law who only drinks wine. They all loved this bright, cheerful Walthamstow spot.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Signature Brew is a polished option on Walthamstow’s Blackhorse Beer Mile. It’s big, with a covered bar area that’s almost a proper building. There are drinkable, music-inspired beers—the Roadie IPA is one of their best—and they’ve got a decent selection of drinks that aren’t beer too. This is one for fans of live music—they do a bunch of events throughout the year—and those who like their taprooms a little less warehouse-y.
Tottenham
photo credit: Beavertown Brewery & Taproom
There was a time when knowledge of Beavertown’s psychedelic cans and their fruity pale ales was limited to the bearded and the citra-heads. That time is no more. Beers from the mega-popular Tottenham brewery can be found in more London pubs than not these days—“a pint of Neck Oil, ta” has very much entered popular vocabulary. Their weekend-only taproom is also a very popular hangout spot. There’s a large amount of outdoor seating, pulling all their regulars as well limited-edition hazy pale ales, raspberry sour, and more. Just take note of Spurs home match days when it’ll likely be packed with white shirts most likely drowning their sorrows.
Hackney
photo credit: 40 FT Brewery
There’s no lack of shipping container-filled yards around east London but this one in Dalston is where you’ll find The Dusty Knuckle bakery, BBQ restaurant Acme Fire Cult, and 40FT Brewery. There is some perfectly pleasant indoor seating but really you want to be out on the heated and covered terrace. This is where brilliant beers and alcohol-free pints flow between mates and Acme Fire Cult’s hefty slabs of tender Tamworth pork and fermented squash hummus are fought over. The taproom is open Tuesday to Sunday, and the restaurant is open every day apart from Monday.
photo credit: Hackney Church Brew Co.
With a big industrial indoor and outdoor space that positively screams get-loaded-on-beer-and-order-way-too-many-crispy-potatoes, Hackney Church Brew Co. is a spot for a Friday or Saturday night. Outside of their Mare St. Mosaic pale ale and Lazy Day lager, there are sours and stouts as well as elegant sharing plates. Think octopus keema pao, chilli soft shell crab, and tandoori short rib from chefs doing guest residencies.
