BERMONDSEY BEER MILE: LONDON’S CRAFT BEER CRAWL

Disclaimer: I wrote this article on the Bermondsey Beer Mile as I was starting my travel + London blog and it became insanely popular. As such, I will update it every 2 months as there are more and more breweries appearing in the area by the minute. The last updated date is at the top of the article.

Are you a beer fan and a londoner? Or maybe just a beer fan visiting the city? Then you must not miss the Bermondsey Beer Mile!

Turns out that Bermondsey has become the hub for microbreweries in London. And the good news for you is that they open as taprooms so you can go taste their golden liquid right from the brewery. What’s even better is that they are conveniently located in a straight line over a mile. Hence why it’s called the Bermondsey Beer Mile. That, my friend, makes the perfect beer crawl.

Scared of getting hungry? Well fear not. There are also three food markets conveniently located along the Bermondsey Beer Mile. I’ve created a map for you to follow and I’ll walk you through the whole thing.

Don’t want to do this on your own? Luckily the folks at UK Brewery Tours have got you covered with three amazing tours of the Bermondsey Beer Mile area:

• Bermondsey Microbrewery Experience: My top pick! Visit a number of breweries on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, learn about how beer is made, tour the equipment, speak to the brewers and sample the beers straight from the taproom. It’s been going on since 2014 and the guides are super knowledgeable: I did it with beer writer Des de Moor.
• Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour: A guiding tasting tour of three of the Bermondsey Beer Mile venues listed below.
• Bermondsey Cheese Meat and Beer Tour: For those who want some food paired with their beer!

I’m gonna assume you are taking the tube, well this is where you get off to start your Bermondsey Beer Mile crawl. If you haven’t eaten anything yet, stop by Borough Market and grab a bite so that you don’t get drunk too fast. If you aren’t hungry, don’t worry, you’ll get another chance soon.

Southwark Brewing Co 

Your first stop in the Bermondsey Beer Mile, it will set the mood of what’s to come. Located in a railway arch, this brewery is the only one in the crawl which specialises in cask ales. As in most breweries in the crawl, the set up is simple and the equipment is visible which makes it feel like the real deal. I liked that they do a third of a pint, which is perfect for tasting.

Founded: 2014

Website: southwarkbrewing.co.uk

Where: 46 Druid St, London SE1 2EZ (opening hours on link)

Anspach & Hobday: 

Only a super short walk from Southwark we found our second stop on the Bermondsey Beer Mile. If you are hungry now stop by Maltby Street Market to get a snack which you can bring to the brewery. Anspach & Hobday is a little bit tighter on space and also gets pretty crowded so better to go early. The most recommended beer is the Smoked Brown.

Founded: 2014

Website: https://www.anspachandhobday.com/

Where: 118 Druid St, London SE1 2HH (opening hours on link)

Hiver Beer

Located in Maltby Street Market, Hiver make honey beers. You’ll usually find four taps available (two cask, two keg) as well as bottles to take away. It’s unclear if they let you bring food from the market inside. Hiver sources raw honey from independent British beekeepers. 

Founded: 2013

Website: https://www.hiverbeers.com/

Where: 56 Stanworth St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3NY (opening hours on link)

Moor Beer Co

Justin Hawke of California decided to move to the UK and ended up buying a defunct brewery. That’s how Moor Beer was born. The brewery is now recognised as one of world’s best, setting the benchmark for several beer styles. Moor Beer is also the leader of the unfined ’natural’ beer movement in the UK. And they have the best punned tagline ever: ‘Drink Moor Beer’. Their original brewery is in Bristol, but they have barrels in their London with beer aging at the back. It has twelve keg lines and three cask lines.

Founded: 2007

Website: https://www.moorbeer.co.uk/

Where: 71 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA (opening hours on link)

London Calling Sweden

Expat Swede Andreas Fredriksson missed the beer and cheese from back home. Allas, London Calling Sweden was born and is now the biggest Swedish taproom abroad. Unable to find anywhere in London that could provide him with these two basic essentials, he set one up himself. There are eight taps, most from the Swedish Västra Götaland brewery Poppels, while the rest are guest beers from their Bermondsey mates at Brew By Numbers and Moor. I’m vegan so can’t comment on the cheese, but apparently it’s good!

Since: 2018

Website: https://londoncallingsweden.com/

Where: 72 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA (opening hours on link)

Cloudwater

This Manchester born brewery is a recent addition to the Bermondsey Beer Mile. If you have never tried their beer, then you are up for a treat! I may have driven for two extra hours on a road trip just to visit their Manchester taproom. Was very glad to learn they now have one in London! All beers cost the same, and are served in the same glass. The amount served varies on the beers alcohol %.

Website: https://cloudwaterbrew.co/

Founded: 2014

Where: 73 Enid St, London SE16 3RA (opening hours on link)

Brew By Numbers

A Bermondsey Beer Mile favorite, you’ll notice a slight change of vibe in this brewery. The branding is more modern and the crowd is a little bit more hipster than in the other breweries. Also people’s glasses will be more colorful. BBNo’s specialty is the Saison beers which I personally love. You’ll notice the beers have numbered labels. They represent their style and recipe.

Founded: 2012

Website: http://www.brewbynumbers.com/

Where: 79 Enid St, London SE16 3RA (opening hours on link)

Bianca Road Brew

The folks from Bianca Road brew fresh and hoppy West Coast beers. Inspired by a coast to coast cycling adventure from San Francisco to Miami, it was founded in early 2016 and have been brewing ever since. They started out in Peckham but now they are one of the newest additionsto the Mile.

Founded: 2016

Website: http://www.biancaroad.com/

Where: 83-84 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA (opening hours on link)

The Kernel Brewery & Taproom

The brewery that inspired the birth of many other breweries in the Bermondsey Beer Mile. The mother brewery. Originally, it became too popular for its size, so they closed up the taproom only sold bottled takeaway beer. But they probably realised they were missing out and they’ve opened a taproom close to the brewery in the Mile. It’s a great time to be alive.

Founded: 2009

Website: http://www.thekernelbrewery.com/

Where: Arch 7 Dockley Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 3FJ (opening hours on link)

Affinity Brewing

Having started life in Tottenham Hale Affinity Brewing has now moved into a former Partizan Brewery arch on the Bermondsey Beer Mile. It has a bar with five taps, visible brew tanks, and an upstairs seating area. The design on both their cans and taproom is cool too.

Founded: 2016

Website: https://www.affinitybrewco.com/

Where: Railway Arch, 7 Almond Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 3LR (opening hours on link)

Spartan Brewery

This tiny brewery is also located in one of Partizan’s old arches. The space is taken by their brew tanks and a few taps, with the seating space limited to the outdoor area shared with Affinity. Their owners Colin and Mike are the owners, brewers, cleaners, bartenders, etc and do everything themselves. They are so cool they’ve even been known to serve their beers directly out of the brew tank. Don’t you love them already?

Founded: 2017

Website: https://spartanbrewery.com/

Where: 8 Almond Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 3LR (opening hours on link)

Partizan Brewing

This brewery is one of the trendier breweries on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, with a modern vibe. This is partly because the beers have colorful branding designed by artist Alec Doherty. They have a core range of beers and then do seasonal ones. I really like their Saisons and you can probably already tell that I love Saisons. They were originally where Affinity and Spartan are and now have moved into a bigger space. Their taps were designed by Alec Doherty and are super cool, make sure you check them out.

Founded: 2012

Website: http://www.partizanbrewing.co.uk/

Where: 34 Raymouth Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 2DB (opening hours on link)

Eebria Tap 

Located only a few metres away from Partizan in. It is not a brewery, but a tap room where you can get beers from multiple UK breweries. They have 6 beers on tap and at least 40 bottled ones at a time. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff and some truly original beers.

Website: https://www.eebria.com

Where: 8 Almond Rd, London SE16 3LR

Fourpure Brewing Co.

You are in the last stop in the Bermondsey Beer Mile. And one of the best ones comes at the end! Fourpure’s name comes from this brewery’s commitment to respect the four core ingredients used to make beer: grain, yeast, hops and water. And they do justice to the name. The brewery’s tap room is located in an industrial site. Originally it was a smallish, no frills space and it has now become a massive snazzy taproom. That’s likely due to it being acquired by Australian beer company Lion, a subsidiary of Japan’s Kirin Brewery. If you are not visiting soon and want to stock yourself on their wonderful beer, they sell it on Amazon. 

Founded: 2013

Website: https://www.fourpure.com/

Where: 22 Bermondsey Trading Estate, Rotherhithe New Rd, London SE16 3LL

Those that didn’t make it…

Some of us make it in life, some of us don’t. Same with the Bermondsey Mile breweries. This section is dedicated to those that didn’t:

• UBREW: This brewery had a unique reason of existence. It was a place where you could brew. They sold memberships for groups of friends valid to brew beer and had beer brewing courses. They do also brewed and sold their own beer. Unfortunately, it closed down for financial difficulties in June 2019.
• The Bottle Shop: The Bottle Shop wasn’t a brewery but a massive off-licence in Druid Street stocked with beer from all over the world, although it also had ten taps. It also closed down for financial issues in March 2019.

Website: https://ubrew.cc/

Where: 29, Old Jamaica Business Estate, 24 Old Jamaica Rd, London SE16 4AW

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