London Beers for Londoners
What is behind the boom? According to Christine Cryne, organizer of the London City of Beer event during the summer of 2012, “The reduction in the price of commercial property has helped. Meanwhile, outside London there has been a terrific growth in small brewers, producing beers with different styles and all creating interest. A lot of these beers began to be seen in London, and a few people spotted the opportunity to brew London beers for Londoners.”
Her view is echoed by Duncan Sambrook, founder of Sambrook’s Brewery in 2008, a decision kickstarted after he noted the lack of London-brewed beers at the Great British Beer Festival two years before. “Compared to the rest of the U.K., London was slow to embrace the craft beer revolution,” he says, “and I think that the main reason for this was simply a lack of real estate at a reasonable price.”
The rise of craft beer bars with their multitude of taps, handpumps and bottles has also played its part. The Rake in Southwark was the first, followed by the likes of Craft Beer Co., Cask and Euston Tap. During 2012, Fuller’s revamped a gastro pub and unveiled its own play on the craft beer bar: As well as Fuller’s beers, the Union Tavern features many of the new London brewers. In addition, a good handful of food-oriented establishments, such as the Dean Swift, realized that a stunning selection of craft beers was a must-have complement to a robust menu of gorgeous grub.
And while we’re within sniffing distance of the kitchen, let us not forget the abundance of artisanal food of all cultures available to Londoners. Those who eat well tend to want to drink well. Borough Market in Southwark is the No. 1 target for such dedicated foodies, and it’s no coincidence that the Rake set itself up here, while Kernel’s original home was also very close. Brewery founder Evin O’Riordain actually used to run a cheese stall at the market, and it was this special knowledge that took him to New York, where he couldn’t help but notice the depth of flavor and complex aroma of the craft beers he drank.
This light-bulb moment led to a spot of homebrewing and then the foundation of Kernel in 2009. Very quickly, he built up a reputation for his brightly hopped IPAs, rich porters and stouts and sprightly pale ales (he was named Brewer of the Year by the British Guild of Beer Writers in 2011). Kernel’s open Saturdays in the original small railway arch (it moved to a bigger one in 2012) remain legendary. People would come to drink beer but also eat artisanal cheese and ham made by neighboring producers.
“We started brewing here because this is our home,” he says. “This is where we live; this is where those with whom we want to share the beer live. It is as simple as that.”
“The environment of the brewery, the environment in which we work, has a huge effect on the beer, as does being in London. So we make our brewery the best place to be in. Which makes the beer better. We surround ourselves with our community—our friends the cheese makers, ham importers, butchers, coffee roasters—because these things are also essential to our lives. They affect the beer.”
O’Riordain’s sense of neighborliness and kinship with Londoners is echoed by Jasper Cuppaidge, founder of Camden Town Brewery: “Our drinkers are generally in their 20s and 30s and interested in what they buy, whether it’s shoes, sandwiches or beers. This knowing crowd of drinkers is taking things forward in London and making it a hot trend. That’s not going to disappear; it’ll only catch on and get into more places.”
As beers from Kernel and Camden Town might suggest (plus many others produced by these new brewing kids on the block), the weight of influence from U.S. craft beer is hefty. However, this is not about blindly getting involved in a hop arms race or ramping up the alcohol and sticking a big beer in an old whisky barrel: It’s more about U.S. craft breweries’ freedom, the ambience that surrounds their creativity and the almost Janus-like way they make use of the great brewing traditions while looking to the future.
“Yes, of course we’ve have been influenced by our transatlantic cousins for our APA,” says Jon Swain at Hackney Brewery (which started in 2011). “I love the highly hopped, rich beers they produce, but I also love a traditional British classic best bitter. We produce one to remember where we have come from and update it a little. Our golden ale is about trying to blend the gap between lager and ale and hopefully convert lager drinkers to nice ale.”
London’s a hip world city, and naturally the breweries’ branding is also smart and striking. For instance, Camden Town’s is almost percussive in the way the bold words and vibrant colors leap off bottle labels and keg fonts; Kernel opts for a more minimalist approach. London Fields offers a nod to Fritz Lang-style expressionism, and Redchurch goes for a clean, crisp look.
