London Craft Beer Crawl: Bermondsey Beer Mile

Calling all beer lovers,

London has the perfect thing for you! The Bermondsey Beer Mile. Rising in popularity it’s the perfect non-touristy thing to do in London.

Located in southeast London is a stretch of elevated train tracks where a bunch of brewers decided to cleverly to locate their microbreweries under the railway arches. Luckily for us, the public, the breweries open their doors to the public on the weekend!

Unlike a lot of breweries which are generally a shopfront, the breweries on the Bermondsey Beer Mile is actually where the magic happens. During the week they are busily brewing beer in their archways and on the weekend convert the workshop into a taproom.

What started out as a couple of breweries now has a couple of gin distilleries, cider and wine stores. There is something for everyone on the mile!

Planning a trip? Here’s what you need to know before you go.

Bermondsey Beer Mile Opening Hours

The best time to do the Bermondsey Beer Mile is on a Saturday as this is when all of the breweries open their taprooms to the public. The opening times will vary between breweries but as a general rule, they are open between 11 am to 5 pm.

The ones closer to Druid street are open more frequently like Thursday, Friday and Sundays. It varies a lot from taproom so you will need to check ahead. Sunday is a chilled day to wander around the arches and trying good beer.

 I’ve included all the opening times for the breweries in the article to help you make a decision.

Bermondsey Beer Mile Map

I have added a list of taprooms that you can visit on the beer mile. Bonus it’s a google map so the map can be saved on your phone! Here’s the link.

Here are all the breweries on the Bermondsey Beer Mile

• Southwark Brewing, 46 Druid Street
• The Barrel Project, 80 Druid Street
• Hawkes Cider, 92/96 Druid Street
• Hiver/All Good Beer, 56 Stanworth Street
• Anspach & Hobday, 118 Druid Street
• Moor Beer, 71 Enid Street
• London Calling Sweden, 72 Enid Street
• Cloudwater, 73 Enid Street
• Brew By Numbers, 75/79 Enid Street
• Bianca Road, 83-84 Enid Street
• The Kernel, Arch 11, Dockley Road Industrial Estate
• Affinity, 7 Almond Road
• Spartan, 8 Almond Road
• EeBria, 15 Almond Road
• Partizan, 34 Raymouth Road
• Fourpure, 22 Bermondsey Trading Estate

Where to Start Bermondsey Beer Mile

There are two points you can start the Bermondsey Beer Mile, at Fourpure or Southwark Brewing Company.

London Bridge and Southwark Station are closest to Southwark Brewery Company and this end of the beer mile has the largest concentration of breweries.

However, I like to start at Fourpure and get my walking out of the way early! The closest stations are South Bermondsey (national rail) or Surrey Quays (Overground).

When planning do keep an eye on the time as some of the breweries can close at 5 to 6pm on the weekend.

However, there are other advantages to starting the other way around is that you can drink at Fourpure until 8pm. Plus you can start the day by grabbing breakfast at Borough Markets or Maltby Street Markets.

Whatever route you choose I have organised the breweries in order!

Breweries on the Bermondsey Beer Mile and Route

This order can be reversed if you decide to start at the London Bridge instead of starting at the South Bermondsey (National Rail).

Southwark Brewing Company

Southwark Brewing Company is either at the start or end of the beer mile depending in the direction you choose. Their beer focus is mainly on craft cask ales which is different than most of the breweries on the mile. Don’t expect any fancy décor, they literally make space in the work area for a few tables and the brewing equipment is right there for everyone to see.

If you are a fan of Ales give their Golden Ale a go, it’s made using a blend of American and English hops.

Founded: 2014
Website: southwarkbrewing.co.uk
Address: 46 Druid Street, London SE1 2EZ
Hours: Tuesday 7pm – 10pm | Thursday 7pm – 10pm | Friday 5pm – 10pm | Saturday 11am – 6pm | Sunday 11am – 4pm

The Barrel Project

The Barrel Project is a microbrewery taproom, unlike the classic Bermondsey ‘railway arch’ taprooms it has some style. On the wall you will find huge wooden barrels stacked up high on the wall giving a cosy feeling and unlike the cold feeling you can get from the other.

They offer over 24 beers on tap so you will be spoilt by choice!

Founded: 2018
Website: https://www.thebarrelproject.co.uk/
Address: 80 Druid Street, Bermondsey. SE1 2HQ, London.
Hours: Wednesday- Friday: 4pm – 11pm | Saturday: 11am – 11pm | Sunday: 12pm – 7pm

Hawkes Cidery & Taproom

Recently opened in June 2017 in Bermondsey arches, they started brewing cider in an East-end Kitchen in London 2012. It was the first urban cidery in London. Hawkes Cider decided to open up a taproom on the beer mile for us to try the fantastic world of craft cider. They have a mix of ciders from traditional apple ciders to mixed berry ciders.

Founded: 2017
Website:  https://www.wearehawkes.com
Address: 92 & 96 Druid St, London SE1 2HQ
Hours: Wednesday:4pm – 11pm |Thursday: 4pm – 11pm | Friday: 12pm – 11pm | Saturday: 11am – 11pm | Sunday: 11am – 6pm

Anspach and Hobday

Paul Anspach & Jack Hobday started as homebrewers, after rave reviews they set-up a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise enough funds to open up a brewery. Once they raised enough funds they teamed up with another team of brewers, Bullfinch Brewery and the brewery was born.

Now you can try their a good range of innovative beers from these prolific and increasingly accomplished brewers. The porter is meant to be one of Anspach and Hobday best beers on offer so make sure you add that to your list! The porter has the classic undertones of coffee, chocolate and fruit cake all present.

Don’t forget about Bullfinch, their beer is all about the hops with the IPA being particularly good!

Founded: 2014
Website: https://www.anspachandhobday.com/
Address: 118 Druid Street, London SE1 2HH
Hours: Friday 5pm – 9pm | Saturday 10:30am – 5:30pm | Sunday 12:30pm – 5pm

Hiver Beers

Craft beer brewed with honey sourced from London urban beekeepers. Hiver Beers are generally refreshing blonde beer and rather than using additives they use honey.

They are all about supporting the British market and ensure that everything from their glass, print our bottles and stamp our business cards are from British suppliers. Additional they back to the bees by donating 10% of profits to pollinator charities.

Founded: 2013
Website: https://www.hiverbeers.com/
Address: Arch 56 Stanworth Street, London, SE1 3NY
Hours: Friday 5pm – 9pm | Saturday 11am – 6pm | Sunday 11 am – 7pm

Moor Beer

Justin Hawke opened his original brewery in Bristol and has expanded to the Bermondsey beer mile. The brewery is well known for unfined beer which basically means that their beer isn’t clear and you can see hazy or cloudiness in the beer.

With a great selection, there will be something for everyone, there is twelve keg lines and three cask lines.

They also have a great tagline: ‘Drink Moor Beer’.

Founded: 2007
Website: https://www.moorbeer.co.uk/
Where: 71 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA 
Hours: Monday 12-5pm (Takeaway Only) | Tuesday 12-5pm (Takeaway Only) | Wednesday 3-10.30pm | Thursday 3-10.30pm | Friday 3-10.30pm | Saturday 12-10.30pm | Sunday 12-9pm

London Calling Sweden

Bring new styles of beer on the mile is Swede Andreas Fredriksson. You can discover Swedish beer from breweries like Poppels Brewery from Gothenburg and a range of cheeses from the country. The rest are guest beers from Brew By Numbers and Moor.

Since: 2018
Website: https://londoncallingsweden.com/
Where: 72 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA 
Hours: Wednesday to Friday – 3-10.30pm | Saturday – 12-10.30pm | Sunday – 12-9pm

Cloudwater

From the north of England, Manchester to be exact, is Cloudwater. Introducing new brewing techniques and flavours to the beer mile. They like to use the hops in different ways to bring out the flavours in the grains. Offering a great range of beers, you will definitely be able to find something that you like here.

All beers cost the same and the amount served varies on the beers alcohol %.

Founded: 2014
Website: https://cloudwaterbrew.co/
Where: 73 Enid St, London SE16 3RA 
Hours: Wednesday—Friday 15:00—22:00 | Saturday 10:00—22:00 | Sunday 12:00—20:00

Brew by Numbers

Expect it to be busy at Brew by Numbers as their good beer attracts big crowds. They opened their doors in 2012 and quickly outgrew their space due to the popularity of their beers. Brew by Numbers will generally have 6 taps on offer and selection of bottles. Expect a variety of hop and flavour combinations in their beers.

Founded: 2012
Address: 79 Enid Street, London SE16 3RA
Website: https://www.brewbynumbers.com/
Hours: Friday 6pm – 10pm | Saturday 11am – 8pm

Bianca Road

The brewery is inspired by founder Reese Woods cycling road trip which was a tour from San Francisco to Miami in 2014. The beer is fresh and hoppy ranging from LA Bloods, a Blood Orange IPA, tropical summer IPA and a crisp London Lager.

They started out in Peckham but now have joined the mile.

If you have a South London card you can get 20% off.

Founded: 2016
Website: https://www.biancaroad.com/
Where: 83-84 Enid St, Bermondsey, London SE16 3RA 
Hours: Wednesday 5 – 10.30 | Thursday 5 – 10.30 | Friday 5 – 10.30 | Saturday 11 – 9 | Sunday 12 – 6

Kernel Brewery

The Kernel is the original Bermondsey brewery established in 2009 and the initiators of the beer mile. They no longer brew here since they expanded but you can drop by and pick up some of their freshly bottled beer. The beer is bottled alive, to give them time to grow.
Specialising in Pale Ales, India Pale Ales and old-school London Porters and Stouts with upfront hop flavours.

The Kernel is the earliest closing brewery on the Bermondsey Beer Mile closing at 2pm so if you want to try their beers it’s something you need to factor into your plans.

Founded: 2009
Website: https://www.thekernelbrewery.com/
Address: Arch 11, Dockley Road Industrial Estate, London SE16 3SF
Hours: Saturday 9 am to 2 pm

Affinity

Affinity is one of the smaller microbreweries on the mile offering all unpasteurised beer, over five taps. Starting the brewery in Tottenham Hale and then moved into the former Partizan Brewery arch.

I quite like the playful names of the beers like Social Seduction which is a West Coast style IPA made with American hops.

Founded: 2016
Website: https://www.affinitybrewco.com/
Where: Railway Arch, 7 Almond Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 3LR 
Hours: Friday 5:00PM – 8:30PM | Saturday 12:00PM – 8:30PM | Saturday 12:00PM – 6:00PM

EeBria

A recent addition to Bermondsey Beer Mile and one of the few companies on the beer miles that are not a brewer but they are a local craft beer distributor. EeBria pours a variety of microbrews on a rotating tap and also serves beer in cans and bottles. They work with over 100 breweries in the UK and aboard to deliver excellent fresh beer to you!

Some of the breweries that have been featured Buxton, Moor, Cloudwater and Fyne, Northern Alchemy, Deya and Fallen, and every kind of craft brewery in between.

Bonus for summer it has a beer garden at the back of the railway arch and also has free air hockey and shuffleboard to keep you entertained.

Website: https://www.eebria.com
Address: 15 Almond Road, London SE16 3LR
Hours: Saturday 11am – 5pm

Spartan

Spartan is a microbrewery specialising in crafting beers using British hop varieties with a modern twist on traditional styles.

They are only open on Saturdays but they do offer brewery tours if it isn’t too busy and answer all your questions!

Website: https://spartanbrewery.com/
Address: 8 Almond Road, London, SE16 3LR
Hours: Saturday: 12pm – 7pm

Partizan Brewery

At Partizan Brewery is the smallest brewery on the beer mile and is based in the old Kernel brewery. There will only be standing room in amongst the giant steel tanks of beer but don’t let that put you off. They brew some pretty tasty beers ranging from their core to seasonal beers. Their style more focuses on uniqueness rather than any particular style.

Founded: 2012
Website: https://www.partizanbrewing.co.uk/
Address: 8 Almond Road, South Bermondsey, London SE16 3LR
Hours: Saturday 11am – 5pm

Fourpure Brewing Co

Fourpure Brewing Co. was opened up by two brothers in 2013 and they have created a successful business now selling widely. They pride themselves in brewing exceptional beer and in my opinion, it’s quite tasty! Unlike the other breweries, this one is located in a warehouse rather than a rail arch which features ample seating, bar, DJ and street food.

Recommendations: I love India Pale Ale (IPA) and Fourpure really delivers with its Session IPA. My second choice would be the American Pale Ale. They are around 4% each beer type.

Founded: 2013
Website: https://www.fourpure.com/
Address: 22 Bermondsey Trading Estate, Rotherhithe New Road, London SE16 3LL
Hours: Friday 4pm – 8pm | Saturday 11am – 8pm

Those That Didn’t Make in the Beer Mile

Some of Bermondsey Mile breweries have closed down in 2019 (super sad), here are the ones no longer around:

• UBREW: As it suggests in the name, Ubrew is about teaching you to brew. Which was great for keen brewers who don’t want to buy the brew kits or those who just want to learn how to brew like a pro. Occasionally they offer their members beer on tap and it can be an interesting range. I remember once having a lavender flavoured beer which was a bold choice on flavours! Unfortunately, it closed down for financial difficulties in June 2019.
• The Bottle Shop: The Bottle Shop doesn’t brew beer, they pride themselves on sourcing truly awesome beer and can be bought at wholesale prices in Bermondsey. They had over 200 local and international beer available. It also closed down for financial issues in March 2019.