Bermondsey Beer Mile
Founded back in 2014 in Bermondsey, we now have a number tours that take place every week on the Bermondsey Beer Mile in Southwark.
Click here to request a private tour of the Bermondsey Beer Mile
Gift vouchers are available for all the tours below too.
The Bermondsey Beer Mile
Our tours stop at various different breweries in Bermondsey and since we started the Bermondsey Beer Mile has grown as a destination for even more craft beer venues coming from as far away as Sweden just to be part of the modern history of brewing in the area.
Rich in brewing history, Bermondsey is home to the biggest brewery in the world in 1809 when it was known as the Barclay Perkins Brewery due to it’s connections to the Barclay’s bank family. The brewery was initially famous for the Porter beer style and later produced pale ales and Russian Imperial Stout.
The brewing industry was almost wiped out in this country due to the increasing demand for continental lager and our real ale industry was declining fast. However, thanks to the great work by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) over the past few decades we can still enjoy a good pint of our traditional cask ale down the pub.
In 2009, Bermondsey’s modern day history in terms of brewing beer was reborn thanks to The Kernel Brewery founder Evin O’Riordain finding inspiration during his travels to the USA and enjoying a new wave of beers inspired by American Hops. The Kernel Brewery was born and you can find out more about the history in Pellicle Mag here.
The area was later joined by Partizan Brewery, Brew by Numbers, Anspach and Hobday, Fourpure and Southwark Brewery and it was in 2014 we started our first visiting these brewery taprooms on our Bermondsey Microbrewery Experience tour.
Since then, we’ve seen other breweries open on the beer mile, with their taprooms expanding from just being open on Saturdays’ to now being open from Wednesdays to Sundays each week.
We take a look at all the brewery taprooms that you can visit on the Bermondsey Beer Mile whether you choose to come on a tour with UK Brewery Tours or are making your own way down the beer mile on a Saturday afternoon’s day out. We don’t visit all stops on our tours as there are so many now but here’s a run down of all the craft beer venues and brewery taprooms you can visit.
Southwark Brewing Company
The start of the Bermondsey Beer Mile is at Southwark Brewery Taproom. Founder, Peter Jackson spent 20 years at Marston’s Brewery before deciding to start up in Southwark with his old friends from Sunderland.
Southwark Brewery has a cracking range of cask ale and when they opened on 2014 they launched the taproom with Bermondsey Best and London Pale Ale.
Now with an even larger selection of cask ale including Maltby Street Mild (special occasions), they also have a great range of Keg beer to choose from including a Black IPA and White Coffee Stout on the menu from time to time.
It’s a great place to start your visit to the Bermondsey Beer Mile and also a good place to finish if you decide to start from the South Bermondsey end.
The London Beer Factory – Barrel Project
The Barrel Project is one of the best looking taprooms in Bermondsey and is owned by London Beer Factory. This stop is home to a huge tower of barrels where they age may of their beers on site for you to enjoy in the taproom.
Hawkes Cidery & Taproom
Cider lovers may wish to check out Hawkes Cidery during their visit to the Bermondsey Beer Mile. In June 2017, Hawkes Cidery opened in Bermondsey arches, whilst they have been brewing cider in East London since 2012. They were the first urban cidery in London. Hawkes Cidery invited us to their taproom on the beer mile so we could try craft cider properly. They offer a variety of ciders, including traditional apple ciders and mixed berry ciders.
Billy Franks Jerky and Craft Beer & Snack Shack
What started as a quest to make better Jerky in Will and Lauren’s kitchen is now a full time business for them. Originally based in Hackney Wick, Billy Franks moved to the Bermondsey Beer Mile to produce their jerky in the arches and later opened up the front of the building as a taproom.
Hiverquarters Taproom & Shop
Hannah founded Hiver Beers after leaving Meantime Brewery and having a love of brewing. Hiver Beers was born and each of the beers has a little bit of urban honey added in to give it a sweet lift. Now part of Hannah’s very own Made of England brand that encompasses Fabal Lager and Hiver’s own cider with just honey to sweeten it.
Anspach & Hobday Brewery
Childhood friends, Jack and Paul started brewing in their kitchen with their Porter attracting attention from food critics. They started up the brewery originally sharing the space with Bullfinch brewery however quickly needed the place for themselves as their beer sales grew. Now the main brewery is in Croydon but the Arch House remains in their former brewery arch. Currently focusing efforts on production of London Black – a nitro porter with sales growing fast across the UK.
Moor Beer Co Vaults & Tap Room
Bristol based brewery Moor Beer Co wanted to do something special when they opened on the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Already delivering their beers to London pubs, they decided to bring some of their award winning Bristol beer down to their Bermondsey arch so that it can be barrel aged over several months in brandy and whiskey barrels. They also have a range of non barrel aged beer available in their taproom.
Gosnells of London
Mead makers based in Peckham with a bar on the Bermondsey Beer Mile. They brew modern, sparkling mead like their refreshing canned range or the more traditional styles like Bochet and Vintage meads.
Cloudwater Brew Co
Manchester based brewery Cloudwater rose to fame through the production of a series of fantastic DIPAs (along with other great beers). Enjoy a visit to their Bermondsey Based taproom to sample a range of their beers at their Enid Street Taproom.
Brew By Numbers
Tom and Dave started brewing at home before moving into an arch on the Bermondsey Beer Mile and Brew by Numbers was born. The concept is that each beer style has a number such as 01 for Saison or 08 for Stout, then followed by the version of that particular style. eg. 01/01 was the first saison they brewed. Now the main brewery has moved the Greenwich but you can still visit the taproom on Enid Street.
Bianca Road Brew Co
Founder Reece Wood cycled from LA to Miami tasting a range of beers at various taprooms on the way. This inspired him to set up Bianca Road Brew Co on Bianca Road in Peckham. Quickly outgrowing the Peckham site, he moved to Paiges Walk before an arch became available on Enid Street. Try a range of American inspired beers such from pale ales to hoppy IPAs here.
Craft Beer Junction
A relative new stop on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, Craft Beer Junction is a bottle shop and taproom where you can enjoy a number of beers.
The Kernel Brewery
The brewery that started it all off again in Bermondsey, The Kernel Brewery taproom is open to the public who can enjoy a wide range of their beers.
Spartan Brewery
Spartan Brewery has taken over Partizan Brewing’s old home, leaving little room for anything other than barrels and taps. Seating is outside only.
EeBria Taproom
EeBria opened up their taproom so you can enjoy a number of guest beers alongside the beers in their craft beer subscription club.
Partizan Brewing
A former brewer at The Kernel, Andy ventured out on his own and started Partizan Brewing Company at the smaller arch now occupied by Spartan Brewery. The new taproom is just around the corner and has plenty of inside seating.
Fourpure Brewing Co.
Brother’s Dan and Tom Lowe founded Fourpure after exiting their web hosting business. Fourpure grew very fast and took over most of the South Bermondsey Trading Estate it’s taproom is based on. Purchased by Lion Brewery for an undisclosed sum a few years ago and the founders left the business – but you can still enjoy the beer they started brewing in Fourpure Basecamp Taproom.
