There is a new Battersea Brewery. It is located in a railway arch close to the Power Station development in SW11 and opened in early November. It has a tap room next door with two hand pumps on the bar. Although the brewery mainly produces keg beers (including an IPA and a Kolsch), they do intend to have one of their own cask-conditioned ales available most of the time, alongside a guest ale. For more information go to http://batterseabrew.co.uk.
Mark Bravery
Although the Dorking Brewery is based on the ‘wrong’ side of the M25 in the delightful Surrey Hills, readers may well see Dorking beers in local pubs so I thought that this might be of interest. The brewery underwent an expansion last November with the installation of a new 50 hectolitre brewing plant to keep pace with the growth of the business. Kegging and bottling were also brought ‘in house’. The brewery aims to be carbon neutral. Ted Carey, the lead brewer said, “We enjoy dry hopping some our beers and when we mention a hop there is enough in there to taste it. So for some of our styles the keg format is perfect, it really allows the hops to shine. Our cask ale customers demand clear beer but the kegs are unfined and unfiltered, keeping all the flavour in the beer. The added bonus is that these beers are now vegan friendly.” Dorking have decided to keep using metal kegs and bottles. Neel Singh, the owner, explained, “Reusable kegs are more environmentally friendly and we feel they offer greater consistency at present. The choice of bottles over cans was more difficult. Maybe cans are the future but the bottling line gives us much more flexibility for quick, short runs and different sizes. It is a format that sits equally comfortably in a bar or an off-licence or a local farm shop.” Dorking beers can frequently be found at the Pineapple in Kentish Town, Williams Ale and Cider House in Spitalfields and the Market Porter and the Rake at Borough Market.
There were encouraging results for Fuller’s for the half year ended 29 September. Revenue was up 6% to £222.1 million and, although the profit before tax was down by 1%, an increased dividend was payable. Sales in the Managed Pubs and Hotels division rose 4.1% and in the Tenanted Inns division by 4%. Ten new pubs were acquired, including six from the Bel and the Dragon chain but four tenanted pubs were sold as part of the company’s strategic review. Fuller’s now have 182 tenanted pubs and 203 managed pubs and hotels. A new canning line has been installed at the Dark Star brewery. Frontier lager is now their second biggest selling brand, after London Pride.
In December, Fuller’s once again brewed Wise Men, the 4% ABV cask golden ale which is designed specifically to raise money for, and awareness of, prostate cancer. Fuller’s donate 50p for every pint sold in any of its managed pubs and £10 for every firkin sold to its tenants and free trade customers to Prostate Cancer UK.
Fuller’s continue to invest in their pub estate. The Six Bells at Brentford has reopened after refurbishment while the Anglers on the River at Teddington will be closed until April for the same reason. Their new pub at Euston Station, the Signal Box, is up and running. Jonathon Swaine, the managing director of Fuller’s Inns, said, “I’m delighted with the Signal Box. We have seen great success in our other transport hub pubs, such as the Parcel Yard at King’s Cross and the Three Guineas at Reading Station. We believe we’ve reinvented the railway station pub from being tired old bars where people begrudgingly went when their train was delayed to exciting and vibrant pubs that are visited by all.”
There is however some controversy over the famous Coach & Horses in Soho where the tenant claims that his tenancy is not being renewed so that Fuller’s can bring the pub into their managed estate.
There were celebrations in November for the 180th birthday of the Victoria in Paddington. A highlight was the appearance of a special 4.2% ABV beer brewed on the new pilot plant using ‘botanicals’ more usually associated with gin distilling.
I think that I missed this at the time so belated congratulations to Monica Lishman of the Beehive in SW11 who was awarded the Master Cellarman title for 2018.
Founder David Scott has sold the Kew Brewery in Sheen (SW14). The new owners, Jana and Jon, have decided to rearrange the premises at 477 Upper Richmond Road to include a taproom. We wish them well.
The Oddly Brewery has left its riverside home at Hampton and relocated across town to the Triumph Trading Estate in Tariff Road, Tottenham (N17 0EB). The new location is more convenient for owner Brian Watson, who spent the Christmas period moving and reinstalling the brewing plant. The brewery should be back in production by the time that you read this. In due course, Brian hopes to open a tap room, an option not available to him at the previous premises.
Andy Pirson
Park Brewery are now settled into their new premises at Hampden Road, Kingston (KT1 3GH). As well as the usual range they are brewing some occasional ‘specials’ such as Cinnamon Doughnut Stout (5.5% ABV). They are also putting more of their beers into can rather than bottles. They are open for off sales but are still working on getting permission for on sales. See www.theparkbrewery.com for details.
David Morgan
The visitor centre/taproom at Reunion Ales will reopen on 1 February and should be open most Fridays from 5pm to 10pm. It is however best to check the brewery website (www.reunionales.com) or Twitter feed before dropping by. There are six taps in the wall dispensing four keg beers plus two on cask. There are two hand pumps mounted on the bar which may come into use in future. Frost Fair (4.5% ABV) returned for the winter/Christmas period and a chocolate oatmeal stout called Midnight Runner (4.8% ABV) was also brewed as a trial. For ‘#tryanuary’, they brewed Minimalist (3.4% ABV), a dry hopped table beer with Mosaic and Rakau hops.
Doug Scott
For those who missed their first seasonal beer of the year (a beautifully balanced chocolate and orange stout called Jaffa), Sambrook’s are following it with a 5% ABV Chocolate and Mint Porter called After Nine. For those who prefer something lighter, look out for Cheeky Half, a new ‘small beer’ in the pale ale style at just 1% ABV. A range of canned beers will be introduced in March, all of which will be new small batch beers in a multitude of styles. Sambrook’s have acquired some additional warehouse space close to the brewery which will allow for the expansion of brewing capacity throughout 2019 and beyond.
Peter Sutcliffe
Although not a London brewery, Shepherd Neame have a large number of pubs in town. To celebrate this, they have introduced a handy little folding map of a City of London Walk covering seven pubs in the City plus one just outside. It also includes notes on the history of the pubs. The walk starts at the Samuel Pepys in Stew Lane, EC4V 3PT and ends at the Hoop and Grapes in Farringdon Road. Maps can be found at the participating pubs. Look out also for Oast, which is Sheps’ new quarterly house magazine and as it says on the cover, ‘celebrates beer and pubs’. I was very impressed with the copy that I saw.
Up to now the Signal Brewery in Croydon has only produced cans and keg beers but recently some cask beer has been produced which has been available in local Wetherspoon’s pubs.
Compiled by Tony Hedger
except where otherwise credited