{"id":6018,"date":"2026-01-26T16:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=6018"},"modified":"2026-01-26T16:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:11:08","slug":"brewery-news-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/01\/26\/brewery-news-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewery news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allsopp\u2019s to grow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Allsopp\u2019s venture goes from strength to strength, with strong trading over the Christmas period at their pub, the Blue Stoops<\/a><\/strong> in Kensington.\u00a0 A second pub is now a possibility.\u00a0 Meanwhile, their association with the Kirkstall Brewing Co<\/a><\/strong> in Leeds, where the Allsopp\u2019s beers are brewed, has been strengthened with the setting up of a London based joint sales team. \u00a0Sales in the free trade have increased accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Br3wery expand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beckenham based brewers<\/a> have announced that they are to open a third taproom, this time some way from their home territory.\u00a0 It is in Moyser Road, Furzedown and replaces an Italian restaurant called Belgiardino.\u00a0 It is due to open in late February.\u00a0 Pizzas will be available.\u00a0 Their two existing premises are more local in Kelsey Park Road<\/a> and Beckenham Road<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuller\u2019s Original<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation World Origin Site seeks to record \u2018the place, people and moment when something truly ground-breaking was invented, discovered or first used\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Although it is a private body, it is approved by the Government\u2019s Intellectual Property Office.\u00a0 WOS have recognised the Griffin Brewery as one of their sites and a plaque was recently unveiled there to mark the event.\u00a0 It coincides with the brewery\u2019s 180th anniversary. \u00a0There is, incidentally, still a shop<\/a> at the site in Chiswick Lane South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

London Beer Factory in the Hole<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The London Beer Factory has also opened a third outlet.\u00a0 This time however it is a well known existing pub.\u00a0 The Hole in the Wall<\/a><\/strong> just outside Waterloo Station was a pioneering cask beer outlet in the 1970s, selling the likes of Everards and King & Barnes, beers rarely then seen in London.\u00a0 Ed and Sim Cotton, the founders of LBF, said, \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be taking on such a legendary London boozer. \u00a0Our plan is to give it a more modern, premium feel, introduce a kitchen serving some of the best burgers in town, and of course, keep the incredible beer selection the pub is famous for<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 LBF also operates the Barrel Project<\/a><\/strong> in Druid Street, Bermondsey and the Grade II-listed Ten Bells<\/a><\/strong> in Spitalfields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Award for Sambrook\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sambrook\u2019s Heritage Centre, lovingly curated by the legendary John Hatch, has won another award.  This time it was for \u2018The Best Told Story\u2019, presented by tourist body Visit England.  This follows the Heritage Centre winning their \u2018Hidden Gem\u2019 award last year.  John said, \u201cI really enjoy conducting tours of the Heritage Centre and to get these awards for doing something I love is very exciting<\/em>.\u201d  Sambrook\u2019s occupy part of the site in Wandsworth once used by Young\u2019s and it is the longest continuous brewing site in the UK, something to which John made a significant contribution.  As well as tours, John also offers \u2018Brewer for the Day\u2019 events.  For more information, please visit www.sambrooksbrewery.co.uk\/pages\/tours<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Big brewery news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest major national brand to have its ABV reduced is Foster\u2019s, going from 3.7% ABV to 3.4% ABV.  Curiously, the brand is actually owned by the Japanese multi-national Asahi, who also own Fuller\u2019s, but production is mostly licensed out.  In the UK, which is its biggest market, it is licensed to Heineken and produced at the Royal Brewery in Manchester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heineken also own the Murphy\u2019s stout brand, which is still brewed in its home town of Cork, and have recently been promoting it in the wake of the rise in popularity of draught Guinness.  It is said to be lighter and less bitter than the \u2018black stuff\u2019.  There are now over 1,500 pubs in the UK that stock it.  Heineken also own the Beamish and Crawford stout brand, which similarly hails from Cork and is now produced alongside Murphy\u2019s.  However, they choose not to promote it, with most of its sales being local.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Magor, Wales, AB InBev, in the guise of the Budweiser Brewing Group, are concentrating on alcohol free beers.  They have opened a new \u00a33.9 million de-alcoholisation plant that will be used to produce brands such as Corona Cero and Stella Artois 0.0 instead of importing them from Belgium.  The process to be used is called vacuum distillation.  The beer is placed under a low pressure to reduce its boiling point.  This causes the alcohol to evaporate but does not affect the flavour.  AB InBev say that this is the only method that produces completely non-alcoholic beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Wolverhampton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This may not be directly connected to London but I think readers will be happy to learn of this promising news.\u00a0 The closure of Banks\u2019s Park Brewery hit Wolverhampton hard, both economically and spiritually.\u00a0 The mood has however been lightened by the opening of a new brewery, Springbanks<\/a>.\u00a0 The company aims to put \u2018Wolverhampton beer back where it belongs: front and centre<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0 It is based in a listed building dating from 1870 that was originally built for a firm of safe and lock-makers.\u00a0 As may be guessed from the name, as well as replacing, if not necessarily replicating, Banks\u2019s beers, Springbanks intend also to reflect the heritage of the former Mitchell & Butler\u2019s Springfield Brewery, which closed in 1991.\u00a0 To this end they have asked local residents to donate memorabilia from both breweries.\u00a0 Springbanks plan to brew a range of cask ales, craft beers, stouts and lagers, plus zero-alcohol beers.\u00a0 The first beers should be available at the end of March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers may recall that, as well as the set of Burton Union equipment that Thornbridge Brewery are successfully using, Carlsberg Britvic donated another set to a brewery in Edinburgh.  Unfortunately, that brewery has closed and the landlords of their former premises want the site cleared.  There was a danger that the set would go for scrap but Springbanks have stepped in to rescue it.  It may be some time before they can put it to use but at least it is now safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allsopp\u2019s to grow Jamie Allsopp\u2019s venture goes from strength to strength, with strong trading over the Christmas period at their pub, the Blue Stoops in Kensington.\u00a0 A second pub is… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brewery-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6020,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6018\/revisions\/6020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}