EC&O Venues Earls Court And Olympia

London leads charge as one of UK’s fastest growing brewing scenes

CAMRA Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court, London, August 2nd – 6th 2011, www.gbbf.org.uk

Since 2006, the number of breweries opening in the capital has doubled, from 7 to 14*!
Renewed interest in London brewing comes at a time when over 800 breweries are operational across the UK
New research shows Londoners find the South East of the city as the best area for quality pubs

CAMRA releases new London beer and pub bible

On the same day the world’s biggest pub comes to London’s Earls Court, CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is delighted to report that London’s historic brewing scene has been revived with findings showing the number of commercial breweries operating in the capital has doubled since the end of 2006.

New findings come at a time when CAMRA has released a comprehensive guide to the capital’s licensed outlets and brewers entitled London’s Best Beer, Pubs & Bars, by London beer writer Des de Moor. To celebrate this launch, CAMRA polled Londoners on where they thought was the best area for quality pubs, with the South East of the city coming out on top.

While 150 years ago London was the brewing capital of the world - with the city’s brewers pioneering industrial brewing, inventing the first two global beer styles and sending their products to every inhabited continent on the planet - the city was anything but a brewing superpower in October 2006 when Young’s (then of Battersea) merged with Wells of Bedford, leaving a record low 7 commercial breweries, with only two of any significant size.

Fast forward 5 years to the present day, and with 14 commercial breweries and at least 5 breweries reported to be in development, London is once again awash with exciting new local brews filling the capital’s 6,000 pubs. Such growth comes at a time when there are now over 800 brewers operating in total across the UK.

Des de Moor, London resident and author of London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, said:

‘Although London’s groundswell of exciting new brewers may not yet reach the production levels of the post-Victorian era when in 1905 the capital’s brewers produced almost a billion pints, the city’s brewing industry is once again revered for its innovation and craft.

‘For too long many Londoners haven’t had a brewery in their locality, and yet in the space of 5 years, each area of the great city now has a brewer to call its own.

‘With the growth of brewing in the capital, a new breed of discerning, savvy consumers have emerged, with beer drinkers who appreciate quality, provenance, craftsmanship, natural ingredients, flavour and character above the bland, processed conformity of international brands.’

Some of the new success stories of London’s brewing scene include small, artisanal brewers such as Kernel, based under a busy railway arch in Bermondsey. After a first commercial brew in late 2009, the producer has gone from strength to strength, now looking to produce over 14 different beers and 950hl (167,169 pints) by the end of the year.

In contrast, the loss of Young’s brewery in Wandsworth is now a distant memory after ex-City accountant Duncan Sambrook came to the area, setting up Sambrook’s brewery in 2008. Today, 2 core beers and 2 seasonals make up the Sambrook’s range, with 250 pubs supplied and 8000hl (1,407,744 pints) produced each year.

Duncan Sambrook, co-owner of Sambrook’s, and one of the founding members of the London Brewers Alliance (LBA), a body comprising brewers in the capital, said:

‘It was at the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court back in 2006 myself and friends hatched a plan to bring brewing back to the centre of London, and when we first started up, there were more outlets crying out for quality local beer than we originally thought. In fact, the London pub market’s so big it has the potential to support another boom in the next 5 years, so long as London’s beers retain a high quality and continue to push the boundaries.’

- END -

Notes to editors-
*At the end of 2006, 7 commercial breweries were operational in London-
Fuller’s, Meantime, Zerodegrees, Brew Wharf, Horseshoe, Stag, Twickenham

At present, 14 commercial breweries are now operational and brewing in the capital-
Fuller’s, Meantime, Zerodegrees, Brew Wharf, Camden Town, Stag, Twickenham, Sambrook’s, Redemption, Kernel, Florence, Brodie’s, Ha’penny, Moncada

This year the Great British Beer Festival will include:
- Over 1000 different British real ales and foreign beers
- Over 120 real ciders and perries
- 65,000 people anticipated to attend
- A Bottled Beer Bar offering more than 100 varieties of real ale in a bottle
- Tutored beer tastings with brewing experts
- A great selection of delicious food
- Live Music

Great British Beer Festival opening times-
Tuesday August 2nd
-5.00pm to 10.30pm
Wednesday 3rd to Friday August 5th
-12noon to 10.30pm
Saturday August 6th
-11.00am to 7.00pm

Tickets- available from the official Festival website (www.gbbf.org.uk) or by calling See Tickets on 0844 412 4640.
Advance day tickets- £6 (CAMRA members), £8 (non-members)
Advance season tickets- £20 (CAMRA members), £23 (non-members)
Day tickets- £8 (CAMRA members), £10 (non-members)
Group bookings (10+)- £7 per person (CAMRA/non-CAMRA members), only available by phoning See Tickets on 0871 230 5594

More festival information – www.gbbf.org.uk
More CAMRA info – www.camra.org.uk

For further information-
CAMRA Press Office (From Monday 1st August - Saturday 6th August) - 020 7244 3925
Jon Howard, CAMRA Press Manager - 07939 425471
Mike Benner, CAMRA Chief Executive - 07971 591224
Iain Loe, CAMRA Research Manager - 07801 706607
Tony Jerome, CAMRA Head of Marketing - 07736 948186