Bermondsey Beer Mile
Beer under the arches. Yeah. It is as cool as it sounds.
When I first heard about the Bermondsey Beer Mile, I was sold. It could have been the alliteration or the possibility that there might be a mile of beer. Who knows? I knew nothing else about it, but I was sold. Then I saw the pictures of the breweries built underneath the train track arches and it became a must. Craft beer in London is relatively new, and in an expensive city, real estate comes at a premium. But, just over the river from the Tower of London, someone decided to take up the space under the train tracks that nobody else wanted to use and the Bermondsey Beer Mile was born.
A couple of things to note if you are planning your own trip.
- The stretch of breweries runs closer to 2 miles and could keep getting longer as more come into play. It would be impossible to hit all the breweries and still be standing at the end of the night. I chose the most logical path that worked for me and tried to hit a variety.
- Saturday is the main day to explore the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Not all of the breweries are open on other days, so do your research ahead of time.
- It’s very common to get a half pour in the breweries which is 8 oz. It’s the perfect amount to get a full taste (or even 2) and let you hit as many breweries as possible.
I was there on a cold and rainy November 27th, 2022, so understand that some places may have closed and new ones may have appeared. This is my story.
I took the jubilee line to Bermondsey Station and then walked southeast to The Kernel. This is probably opposite how most people do it, but it worked for me as I started at 11am and I wanted to work my way up to the Maltby Street Market to get some food in my belly before working my way back down the other side of the tracks.
Looking at the map, this would be a nice and easy loop. But 6 breweries in, I made a decision to cut back down to Brew by Numbers and also hit Bianca Road Brewing which I had skipped before. Probably not necessary considering the state I was in, but I live with no regrets. Feel free to be more responsible. Or just hit Bianca the first time.
In order of first appearance.
The Kernel
One of the OGs of the London craft beer scene and should definitely be a stop on your Bermondsey beer crawl. When i was there, they seemed to specialize in saisons and because it was the first stop of what would be a long day, I thought a lighter beer sounded good.
The saison was fine, but it’s not a style I necessarily enjoy. I did a taster of the pale ale to get my taste buds back on track and then made my way to the next place.
Brew By Numbers
I was really excited about Brew By Numbers as I had heard an interview with one of their brewers on the Pubcast Worldwide and knew they experimented with some stuff. I tried the hazy because i gravitate towards them and it didn’t quite live up to my USA standards. Still it was a cool brewery with a great vibe and that’s what it’s typically about.
Cloudwater
Cloudwater is literally next door to BBNO and while they are technically not a London brewery (brewed in Manchester), they do have a taproom and their hazies are the closest I had in the UK to match what we expect from a New England IPA.
Hiver
Wasn’t originally going to stop at Hiver, but it was the perfect distance between my two stops and I know I need to try beers that may not sound good to me at first. If you didn’t catch it from the name, all of their beers are brewed with natural honey. Didn’t hate it. It was interesting, but not something that I would necessarily drink again either.
Maltby Street Market
The Maltby Street Market is one of the smaller street food markets that are now all over London, but it is packed with great food and is the perfect spot to grab some food mid-beer crawl to make sure you can make it through the second half.
No hyperbole here. The cheese fries at Duck Frites were the best fries of any kind that I’ve ever had. Every bite had a perfect crunch.
London Beer Factory
It was now 2pm and the Bermondsey Beer Mile was starting to pick up. I went from one of 10 people in a brewery to wall to wall people in a manner of minutes. The London Beer Factory brews a bunch of different style of beers and is pretty solid.
The bar was crowded but i found a spot up top to drink my beer.
Maltby Street Market – Take 2
After one beer, I knew that wasn’t enough so I snuck back up to the Maltby Street Market to grab another bit. The gyozas at Gyoza Guys were as good as anything I had in Japan.
Anspach & Hobday
15 minutes later, I’m back at another brewery and trying the light and the dark at Anspach & Hobday. The rain kept everyone inside, so I had the outside to myself.
Bianca Road Brew
The sun started setting at 4:20pm and while I didn’t partake in the Himalayan dumplings outside of Bianca Road Brew Co, they smelled amazing.
I grabbed a quick half pour inside. It was crowded so I made quick work of it and figured I’d head back to meet the family.
Brew By Numbers – Take 2
Except that I happened to walk back by Brew By Numbers and they were having a little festival and had tapped a few new kegs. Had a great stout and at 5:01pm, I was done with my walk down the Bermondsey Beer Mile and still had time to meet up with the family for some curry.