There are not many breweries that operate in a Grade I-listed building but German Kraft is fortunate to have that distinction. St Mark’s is a deconsecrated church in North Audley Street, Mayfair which was completely refurbished by Grosvenor Estates for the princely sum of £5 million. This stunning building, dating from the 1820s, now houses a branch of Mercato which is full of food and drink outlets and even has a flower shop in the entrance porch. German Kraft has two bars here; one on the ground floor and the other in what used to be the crypt, where the brewery is situated. Production struggles to keep up with demand and so they sell beers from other independents alongside their own.
St Mark’s is one of four German Kraft outlets. There are two others which have breweries, at Dalston and at Elephant and Castle, while the one at Brixton is a bar only. The Elephant and Castle outlet was the original site which the four founding friends set up in 2017. For details on the background to German Kraft see here.
Partnerships and joint ventures seem to be part of German Kraft’s DNA. Each venue is unique. Their venture in Dalston for example is situated in a hotel owned by the Locke group. “There is a separate entrance and they give us a free hand. It’s unusual in its décor; sort of Miami Vice and a 1980’s feel,” said Helen Busch, who is German Kraft’s beer sommelier and quality control manager. Helen is a natural fit for the organisation. She comes from Germany and originally trained to be a chef. She came to London when she was 18, fell in love with the City and started to come every year before taking the plunge and moving here permanently. “It was a risk as I knew no one,” she said.
The beers they sell in each outlet reflect their individual audiences. The beers in Brixton and Dalston tend to be stronger, such as pales and IPAs, whereas Mayfair is dominated by lagers. This does not mean that there is no experimentation. They have been trying a range of pales and IPAs with different hops and they have produced some dark lagers. They are also planning to produce a Berliner Weisse style beer in the summer, served with the traditional red or green syrups. German Kraft properly lager their beers for two months before they are put on sale.
German Kraft do not sell in the free trade. Helen said, “We are driving our sales through our own outlets and this enables us to control our beer quality. All of the beer is served fresh with no pasteurisation and is unfiltered.” She added, “The pandemic reinforced our view that we shouldn’t change our concept. We have avoided small packaging and so don’t have to decide on best before dates; all our beer is served fresh. We keg everything on site ourselves although Elephant and Castle use bags in tanks.”
German Kraft’s beers tend to be naturally hazy but that hasn’t always been the case. Helen wryly observed that, during lockdown, the beer in the tanks dropped clear naturally. Once they were allowed to, they did supply growlers but they have more or less stopped that now.
German Kraft are ambitious and the business is evolving all the time. After the success of the beer garden at the Elephant and Castle site, they recently opened a rooftop garden at the Dalston venue. But German Kraft have even bigger goals; they are now planning their first overseas outlet. They have chosen a tram shed in Vienna, which is undergoing a major refit. Helen used to live in Vienna and said, “It’s a very conservative city. Younger people want new things and this will be something different. Like St Mark’s, it will have a food market where people can choose from a range of different cuisines. There are likely to be more projects to come but keeping the same concept.” But where? “Probably the UK,” Helen thought.
Details of the four German Kraft outlets can be found at www.germankraft.com. And if you do nothing else, seek out St Mark’s; it really does take your breath away.
Christine Cryne