Craft beer in Hackney, London:
6 breweries and a beer tour guide
Craft beer in Hackney, London: 6 breweries and a beer tour guide
Cheers from London! We stayed for a couple of weeks in this iconic city in late spring 2024, getting to know the craft beer scene of it better. We were based in Hackney area in East London, and it turned out to be a great neighborhood for craft beer enthusiasts! In this post we introduce six microbreweries and taprooms from Hackney; Forest Road, Five Points, Hackney Church, Great Beyond, Saint Monday, and Howling Hops. In addition we share a route for a great craft beer tour in Hackney, visiting the best taprooms and pubs!
The story of Forest Road Brewery started in Hackney
Forest Road looks like just an ordinary street in Hackney, but along that road began the story of Forest Road Brewiery. An American beer enthusiast, Pete, moved there years back, and started home-brewing with a very small brewing kit. As the beers turned out to be rather good, and sold well in the nearby pub, he decided to start contract brewing in 2015 to increase the volume. In 2018 he founded a beer pub / taproom in Hackney, and started to search for a good brewing kit for establishing an own brewery. After a while he ended up shipping a huge load of brewing equipment, previously owned by the famous Russian River in Northern California, through the Panama Canal to Europe.
The original plan had been to set up the brewery in the cellar level of the taproom pub but, with all the new brewing equipment, it was obvious that a bigger venue was needed. Pete and the crew found a large warehouse building from southeastern London, in an industrial area that once used to be home to a huge tea factory. Renovating the place and building up a brewery was a huge project, but now the former warehouse is the home-base to a large, award-winning artisan brewery and taproom.
Despite brewing elsewhere since 2021, Forest Road Brewery has strong roots in Hackney, and the original pub under the railway arches of Hackney still exists, serving as a taproom called Forest Road Brewing Co. – Taproom & Bar – it is a great place to taste Forest Road craft beer in Hackney!
Forest Road brews quality beers from crispy British Lager to hop-forwarded, fruity IPAs, focusing on keeping the beers easily enjoyable, light and simple. Majority of the beers are sold in taprooms, other pubs and events, but 20-30 % of the production is canned, and sold mostly online. The annual production volume is currently close to one million liters, which is quite a lot for a microbrewery, and with the new, larger fermenting vessels, the capacity will still increase.
Two of our favorite Forest Road beers were Ride APA and Work IPA (jump from the links to beer cards with more info and tasting notes).
More about Forest Road Brewery:
https://www.forestroadbrewery.com/
https://www.instagram.com/forestroadbrew/
https://www.instagram.com/forestroadtaproom/
The Five Points Brewing Company cherishes the Real Ale tradition
Five Points brews modern artisan beers with passion, inspired by the British Real Ale tradition as well as the international boom of craft beer, and is committed to quality and flavour. The Five Points Brewing Company was founded in 2013, when modern craft beer was still a relatively young phenomena in Europe. The first location of this independent microbrewery was, like many other small breweries, under a railway arch in Hackney. The brewery’s beers quickly became popular, and more space was needed – after just a couple of years they had not only expanded to the next arch, but also leased a second location for warehousing and distribution. In 2021 the whole brewery moved to its current location on Mare Street, still very close to the railway line in Hackney.
Five Points has for years cherished the tradition of Real Ales, and nowadays no less than 30 % of the production is in fact cask beers. Five Points cask ales showcase that the real ale tradition is not just for the past and for traditional styles, but also works well for many modern craft beer styles. Five Points also supports pubs who serve cask ales, offering training on how to treat, store and serve these beers properly.
The best place to taste Five Points beers super fresh is of course the brewery taproom on Mare Street in Hackney, right next to where the beer is brewed! Another great venue to have them is Pembury Tavern, a legendary bar that been serving a nice range of beers for decades, despite changing hands for several times and even being completely refurbished after a devastating fire.
Two of our favorite Five Points beers were Railway Porter and Dark Mild cask ale.
More about Five Points Brewing Co:
https://fivepointsbrewing.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/fivepointsbrew/
https://www.instagram.com/pemburytavern/
Hackney Church Brew Co. and their welcoming taproom restaurant
Hackney Church Brew Co was founded in 2018 and started with very small volume and just a couple of their own beers. In 2021, the operations were expanded and the beer selection diversified, and nowadays there is something for everyone available, from crispy Lagers to intense Stouts and more experimental beers.
Part of the production is canned, but no less than three quarters of the total volume is sold in the taproom restaurant – a warm recommendation to add this warm, welcoming venue on your list when visiting East London! In addition to serving quality beer, the taproom restaurant is known for its family-friendly Sunday Roast tradition, and there are also quiz nights, sport nights and events, including Hackney Church Beer Fest. Oh and on Thursday nights the tap beers are only £3.5 a pint!
Two or our favorite Hackney Church beers were Squid Pro Quo Stout and No Cows Here Hazy IPA.
More about Hackney Church Brewing Co:
https://hackneychurchbrew.co/
https://www.instagram.com/hackneychurchbrewco/
Great Beyond Brewing Company, a rising star from Hoxton
Great Beyond is an independent craft brewery, founded by three friends who share the passion towards craft beer. This small group already had a long experience in different aspects of brewing and brewery business, and during the Covid-19 lock-downs they made plans for establishing a new microbrewery together. They found a suitable location in Hoxton in Hackney District, and built a brewery and taproom in 2022. Paperwork took its time, but finally in January 2023 everything was ready, and the taproom doors were opened.
Great Beyond brews quality beers emphasizing creativity and sustainability. The crew only wants to use the best ingredients with no compromises, and for example in their delicious fruited sours, all the flavours come from real berries and fruits.
We were definitely impressed by the Great Beyond beers that we tasted, so when you are heading to London, a warm recommendation to visit the cozy taproom of this brewery! From there you can also buy home some of the canned beers, with lovely label art.
Two or our favorite Great Beyond beers were Cherise Fruited Sour and Maximum Effort Imperial Stout.
More about Great Brewing Co:
https://greatbeyond.beer/
https://www.instagram.com/greatbeyondbeer/
Saint Monday rocks "on the ruins" of London Fields
Saint Monday is a relatively new, small brewery and brew pub under the railway arches of Hackney. We actually found it by accident, but it definitely was a happy coincidence! The location of Saint Monday, on the Warburton Road, has quite long craft beer history actually; there used to be an independent microbrewery, called London Fields, already years ago, from 2011 to 2014. After a rather colorful chain of events, this first microbrewery in Hackney first succeeded, then struggled, then changed owners and after a while was finally closed down. A London pub group called Grace Land rented the place in 2023, bought all the brewing equipment in there, and Saint Monday nanobrewery was born.
Saint Monday looks more like a rock bar than a craft beer pub or taproom, but it’s a great venue serving delicious beers from a long line of taps with eye-catching tap handles. Behind a glass wall is the shining, modern brewery with a 15-hl Schulz brew-house and everything that is needed for brewing quality craft beers.
The brew master Mark Walewski has a strong background in the brewing industry, and the selection of Saint Monday covers a rather wide variety of styles from Pilsners to IPAs and Stouts. Whereas many breweries in London, or in England in general, mostly focus on low-ABV beers, Saint Monday also has a bunch of stronger craft beers. After drinking quite a lot of under 5 % IPAs in England, we were happy to find a “real”, full-bodied IPA with 6,9 % ABV.
Two or our favorite Saint Monday beers were their West Coast IPA and Imperial Stout.
More about Saint Monday:
Rugged but trendy Hackney Wick is home to Howling Hops
The owners of Howling Hops are long term beer professionals, and they turned the legendary Cock Tavern in Hackney’s first brewpub back in 2011. During the first two years, they brewed 100 different craft beers in the basement of the pub and expanded the production a couple of times, but still couldn’t keep up with the demand. Then they found a suitable space in Hackney Wick, and founded the Howling Hops Brewery and Tank Bar there. During the past few years both the Hackney Wick area in general, and the Howling Hops Tank Bar have become very popular.
Two or our favorite Howling Hops beers were The Golden Hour BA Whiskey Sour and Thanks, Whoever You Were Barleywine.
In 2024, shortly after our visit, a re-branding took place, including updating the brewery’s logo and labels, which are now black and white with cartoon-like characters – check the new style out on Howling Hope pages!
https://www.howlinghops.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/howlinghops/
...and how about Hackney Brewery then?
Craft beer in Hackney – beer tour and map
- First head to Hackney Wick, which you can get to from Victoria / London City, for example, on the excellent “sightseeing bus line” number 26.
- After checking out what Hackney Wick has to offer, continue with the overground train to Hackney Central, which is a short distance from The Pembury Tavern, Hackney Church and The Cock Tavern.
- Then walk through the London Fields park (or take a bus down Mare Street) to visit Saint Monday, Forest Road taproom and Five Points.
- And then to Hoxton to the Great Beyond, which can be reached by bus, but also in a couple of ten minutes walking along Hackney Road.
About Craft Beer Nomads
Craft Beer Nomads is a blog about artisan beer, microbreweries and craft beer culture in Europe and beyond. The blog is written by FinnsAway, a nomad couple who has been on the road since 2017, and enjoys tasting new craft beers all around the world.
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