The best breweries and taprooms in London

A fun and friendly taproom from Exale Brewery on the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow, with a weekly changing menu of pints. A must-order though, is the bright orange Krankie sour, which might remind you a touch of a certain Scottish soft drink... Rotating kitchen residents will make you want to stay all night – previous talents include haggis supremos Auld Hag.  

Eko is one to watch. This Peckham taproom serves beers made from coconut palm sugar and South African hops and uses traditional African brewing techniques. Eko is run by a husband and wife team, and you can pick up their beers at some of London's most acclaimed restaurants, from Akoko to Chishuru. There's food at their own spot too, and the in-house Eko & Sides offers excellent west African and Caribbean cuisine. 

Wild Card Brewery’s Lockwood HQ is all about the social vibes. That means pop-up cinema, live music and regular jazz nights as well as record fairs. Oh yeah, there’s beer, too.

Peckham stalwarts Brick run a taproom as no-nonsense as its flagship line of beers. So, if you’re wanting to neck a Peckham Pale, a Peckham IPA, a Peckham Pils or even a ruby red Peckham Rye, this is the place to be. Bonus points for the pop-up art exhibitions which often grace the walls.

Check out this taproom-in-a-railway-arch for its charmingly pubby, walled beer garden. It’s a great spot from which to sample the east London brewery’s extremely drinkable range – and grub from barbecue crew Lagom seriously suits a session on the ales.

Want a brewery taproom with a touch of heavy metal? Then Blondies Brewery – a roomy off-shoot of Clapton's satan-worshipping dive bar of the same time – is the drinking cavern for you. You'll find it in the Patchworks creative space in Leyton, and they host regular pint and pizza deals, as well as vintage and zine markets, record fairs, film screenings. And, rather importantly, they also have pool tables with none more gothic black felt. 

A vast beer-moth on the Blackhorse Beer Mile, Big Penny Social is an events space, taproom and all-round playground for adults (and come the weekend, plenty of kids too). There are three bars, 82 taps and four tanks where they brew their own. 

Having migrated down from Manchester, Cloudwater has made a massive impact on the London beer scene with its seasonal-first approach. There are 20 ever-changing taps at its arty, spacious Enid Street railway arch location, which has quickly become a must for Bermondsey Beer Mile-rs.

An indie brewery and taproom which benefits no end from its next door neighbours – live fire restaurant Acme Fire Cult. They offer a short version of their menu, alongside cocktails, cans and 10 taps pouring fresh beer that's brewed on site.  

The sprawling Five Points space is ideal for a sunny day spent supping their own Five Points Pale and JUPA - a rather juicier pale ale - all served straight from the tank. Food here is always impeccable too, with From The Ashes bbq masters now in permanent residence. 

If you’re looking for something a little different, this is your place to go. Sure, it might seem like yet another Bermondsey brewery, but Hiver are unique because they use honey from urban beekeepers in the brewing of its beer. You can sign up to beer-and-beekeeping experiences, try its homemade honey or, on occasion, even help roll candles out of beeswax. There's even actual beehives on display inside.

You can’t talk about London beers without mentioning Camden, and the bright-red emblazoned home of Hells, Show Off and Gentleman’s Wit is suitably massive. There are brewery tours, street food appearances and, of course, all of your faves on tap – even if a good portion of the company’s actual beer brewing has now decamped to Enfield.

Hackney Brewery started life in Haggerston back in 2011, but have since moved operations to Walthamstow and the High Hill Taproom. Brewery tours, vintage fairs, games night and comedy evenings all provide an illumintating backdrop to a session of getting sozzled here. 

Head deep into this Tottenham industrial park and find the friendly Pressure Drop. The large warehouse has a compact bar and, out the front, rows of benches teeming with beer bods expounding their knowledge and imbibing the brewery’s best.

Another must-visit stop-off on the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow, Signature Brew is the most musical of all of London's taprooms. Live music is a common occurence here, and the names of the beers – Roadie, Backstage IPA and Studio Lager – reflect their dedication to the rock'n'roll cause. 

Another Bermondsey Beer Mile go-to, EeBria’s no-frills taproom is best known for its fun-first approach. Vanquish your foes in a high-intensity game of shuffleboard, play a few rounds on the old-school arcade machine, then treat yourself to a celebratory pint on a bright blue barrel outside.

You can’t talk about the Bermondsey Beer Mile without mentioning Fourpure, who have long lorded themselves over Bermondsey’s southern starting point. Their enormous ‘Basecamp’, includes an eye-watering 43 taps, resident street food and a lofty ‘treehouse tasting room’.

Although this independent brewery has only been producing pints for a couple of years, it has already established itself as a craft beer fixture in Deptford. Its taproom has the usual: concrete floors, woodchip furniture, naked light bulbs and potted succulents, plus unique fruity beers and the brewery’s trademark illustrations hanging above.

Sydenham’s Ignition Brewery is a small brewery with a big heart: both the brewery and the taproom are staffed by people with learning disabilities, who’ve been supported and trained to brew and serve delicious craft beer.

There are few taprooms which look cooler than Two Tribes’ flagship location. Vibey neon logo above the door? Check. Purple lighting shrouding the tables indoors? Check. Tables decorated with abstract art, from which to sip IPAs and watch live music? Double-check.

If you’re not drinking beer on an industrial estate, is it even summer? The fans of this tastefully done south-east taproom spill out into the car park, occupying picnic tables and chowing down on street food as they work through the brilliant beer on the lines.

This big, roomy venue in Hackney Wick prides itself on being the UK’s first dedicated tank bar (that means no cans, bottles, casks or kegs). A chatty crowd fill its Munich beer hall-style picnic benches.

Deptford dockside taproom Little Faith is legitimately post-industrial, with a bohemian vibe that’s often missing in these places, and a decent outdoor space – you have to go back out the door and down the road to get there, but hey. There’s also a selection of industrial-y furnishings for sale, so you can get drunk and buy some factory lampshades instead of going home and doing it on eBay.

Meantime are so significant on the London beer scene that its most popular lager and pale are called, well, London Lager and London Pale. If claiming the city’s name isn’t enough, they might just claim the prize of best taproom too – The Tasting Rooms have a kitchen menu specifically designed to be paired with the tank-pulled beers on offer.

Partizan is famous for its quirky and colourful bottle designs, and this Bermondsey taproom is incredibly on-brand. Sip an ever-refreshing roster of beers from one of its bar taps, all of which are wood-carved into strange, colourful and (most importantly) Insta-friendly geometric shapes.

This Battersea ‘Tap House’ is aptly-named because from the outside it looks a bit like, well, someone’s house. Venture inside (no need of a doorbell) and you’ll find a rotating line of 15 beers.

If you’re not a big drinker, the Small Beer Brew Co will be right up your little avenue. They offer a number of low-calorie, low-ABV brews, including a 1 percent dark lager and a 2.5 percent session pale, without sacrificing any of the flavour. All are available to try at its aesthetically-pleasing Bermondsey taproom.

If our American cousins heard us say, ‘in an old Victorian warehouse in Penge’, they’d think we were quoting from one of the Harry Potter books. In reality, we’re just talking about the location of Southey Brewing Co, which has on-site tasting rooms that are about as close to an authentic, old-fashioned pub as a craft beer taproom can get.