Goose Island opens brewery and taproom in London
With over 130 breweries and contract breweries in Greater London, the UK’s capital has become Europe’s undisputed craft beer capital. Many breweries also run taprooms, which are becoming as important as local pubs. Nationally, pubs continue to close at an alarming rate, but in London, at least, punters are in a fix as to where to spend their money if they hanker after a craft beer.
Small wonder international brewers are piling into London – either by setting up shop themselves or by buying into existing ventures. The latest craft brewer to open a brewery and taproom is Chicago’s Goose Island, which is owned by AB-InBev. Goose Island is leading the way in a new global era of branded brewpubs, with venues in Philadelphia, Monterrey, Seoul, Shanghai, São Paulo and Toronto already.
In November 2018, Goose Island opened a brewpub in the borough of Shoreditch, east London. The brewery and taproom will do well, and certainly no worse than Goose Island’s previous incarnation as a bar in Balham, a neighbourhood in south London (since shuttered). AB-InBev is not taking too many risks. The new venue is in the heart of teeming east London, on a prime site on the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street. The BrewDog-light interior design is not too zany and the beers, brewed by ex-Fourpure brewer Andrew Walton, will probably be more than adequate.
Brexit notwithstanding, London is quickly turning into a crucial battleground. Australia’s craft brewer Little Creatures, which was founded in 2000 in Western Australia and is now owned by Lion/Kirin, is preparing to open in King’s Cross, and Panhead, a New Zealand craft beer also owned by Lion/Kirin, is set for Bermondsey. UK media report of a persistent rumour that US craft brewer Sierra Nevada, which is independently-owned, has similar plans. Scottish brewer BrewDog opened a brewpub in Tower Bridge earlier this year.
Does location matter? In the case of London with its 8.7 million inhabitants, it certainly does. If you can make it here, you have made it. Only a fool would be over-sentimental about ‘local beer’, especially when so much of it is made in the American, hop-forward style, Will Hawkes commented on imbibe.com. He added that Fourpure, which was bought by Lion/Kirin earlier this year, was not founded in 2013 out of love for London’s brewing heritage, but on an understanding of craft beer’s business opportunities.
The real question to ask is this one: Does ownership matter? Many Londoners think the city has been well served by independent craft brewers. But the diversity of beer styles, found in bars and pubs, is the direct result of diversity of ownership, a diversity that the Big Brewers perhaps threaten.
In fact, London and the rest of England are two worlds apart. AB-InBev also owns Camden Town, while Heineken has recently taken stakes in both Beavertown and Brixton Brewery. It is not impossible, argues Mr Hawkes, to imagine a future where the craft beer options in most pubs around the country consist of beers made by two or three multinational companies.
Mr Hawkes remarked that the Big Brewers “did not get big by playing nice; they seek to dominate. Brewers looking for an exit route won’t mind that, but drinkers should.” Will punters heed his advice, we wonder?
