Southwark Brewing

Location: 46 Druid Street

Opening hours: Saturday 1200-1900

Other days: Tuesday 1700-2200, Thursday-Friday 1700-2200

Official site: http://southwarkbrewing.co.uk/

Last updated: 10/08/2022

Ignore the ridiculous little bit of Tanner Street that Google Maps sends you up and down, and you'll see that we're doing a simple duck under the railway to commence the first major stretch of the Beer Mile: Druid Street, home to multiple breweries and bars. To be honest, though, Southwark Brewing was always an odd one that never quite fitted in. They were part of the second wave of breweries to open after the initial hype of the Mile, and stood out for their more traditional outlook. In an area full of young hipsters cranking out kegs full of hoppy fizz, Southwark were all about making real ale and serving it from cask. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you understand: The Belated Birthday Girl describes the battle between Real Ale and Craft Beer as being like listening to your parents arguing about their divorce in the room next door. Mummy, daddy, stop fighting!

For a while, Southwark went with an ingenious compromise: as well as being the self-proclaimed 'home of Courage SE1 ales', they had a separate label called Big Bear which produced beer that came closer to the definition of craft. But these days, they have all their cask and keg beers under the same umbrella, and the taproom has four taps of each available for you to try. Best of all, Southwark will give you your first view of one of the best things about the Bermondsey Beer Mile: the chance to see the tanks the beer is brewed in, and drink it from as close to them as possible for maximum freshness. There's plenty of room in this arch to cope with the demand. It’s the most traditional bar you’ll encounter along the Mile, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Back in December 2018, Southwark Brewing were claiming that you weren't allowed to drink on the pavement outside, by order of the council. However, it looks like as a result of the pandemic that restriction got relaxed, and it still seems to be relaxed to this day. (Just thought we should mention that to explain a couple of the comments below.)

Now walk 3m to Kanpai Taproom & Kitchen ----->

<----- or go back 170m to Maltby Street Market

or return to the home page

Comments

[Richard]

Was there today and there is outdoor seating

[Tom S]

If you ask for a plastic cup, you can drink on the pavement across the road....unofficially.

[PJ]

For clarity on outdoor drinking, Southwark Council did clamp down on drinking outside which was frustrating, but in part of the post-pandemic re-opening, temporary pavement licenses were given, and, with no incidents or complaints during this temporary period, a permanent one has been granted.