We all occasionally have those revelatory moments when a friend asks if you’ve been to a certain place, or seen a certain film, or eaten at a certain London restaurant etc, and you haven’t, and there begins a voyage of discovery to claim back what you’ve been missing out on. Well, let us ask all you beer fans this: have you ever heard of The Bermondsey Beer Mile? If not, get ready have your mind blown, and clear all your plans for next Saturday.
The Bermondsey Beer Mile is a group of breweries and bars in (you’ve guessed it) Bermondsey, which are all located in the various spaces of one long stretch of railway arches. At some point in time, people clocked onto the fact that on a Saturday all of them are open at the roughly the same time and that saw the birth of one of the finest bar crawls in London.
Due to the fact that there are always new taprooms opening and old ones closing, there isn’t a definitive list of bars which are part of the mile, but at the time of writing there are acknowledged to be 16 on the route. Whilst a lot of the bars brew their own beer on premises, this isn’t the case with all of them, but what can be guaranteed on the Bermondsey Beer Mile is that you’ll be drinking some pretty great craft beer. From crisp ciders (not technically beer, we know) to wonderful IPAs, you’re guaranteed to try plenty of different drinks on the route too.
Now, all the bars and breweries on the mile have their own quirks and specialities so we have put together a guide below of all 16 of the bars on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, in the order that you should visit them, along with some tips on where to grab some food on your voyage too. We’re not necessarily suggesting you need to do all of them at once, but you could even try just doing two or three of these cool London bars in one afternoon.
The Bermondsey beer mile route
Now, this route can obviously be done in either direction, but we like to start at Maltby Street food market so that you can line your stomach with a big old breakfast or lunch, depending on how early you start. Food options at the market include The Cheese Truck, who do amazing grilled cheese sandwiches, and also Finest Fayre who serve a mean selection of Scotch eggs. Once you've stuffed your face at one of the various stalls, it's time to head to the first bar.
Bar 1: Southwark Brewing
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Info: The all-important first bar of the journey - Southwark Brewing offers traditionally brewed ales served straight out of the cask, which means that the ales you're drinking are as fresh as they possibly can do. With a separate label called Big Bear which produces more typical crafty beers, there are plenty of great options on offer here to get you started.
Address: 46 Druid Street, SE1 2EZ
Saturday opening times: 11am-6pm
Bar 2: The Barrel Project
Info: A mass of barrels line the wall of The Barrel Project and along with a nice tiled bar, give this railway arch a really cool feeling. With 200 barrels and 24 taps on offer here, you certainly won't be short of choice at The Barrel Project. The kitchen here also oftens plays host to a variety of different pop-ups in case you're already getting peckish.
Address: 80 Druid Street, SE1 2HQ
Saturday opening times: 11am-11pm
Bar 3: Hawkes Cidery & Taproom
Info: You can complain all you like about the fact that it doesn't actually serve any beer, but the fact is that Hawkes is most definitely worth a stop in to try some of the fantastic ciders on offer. Most of the ciders it serves are by Hawkes itself but there is often the odd guest cider available too, quite often from companies you wouldn’t typically associate with cider, such as Tiny Rebel.
Address: 86-92 Druid Street, SE1 2HQ
Saturday opening times: 11am-11pm
Bar 4: Hiver Beers
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Info: With three bars down already, you might be wondering how the bars can keep on surprising you. Well, you might have guessed it from Hiver’s name but the trick that it's got up its sleeve as that all of the beers it serves are fermented with raw honey and the result is delicious. What’s more you can buy bottles of the stuff to take away, as well as having a drink on-site.
Address: 56 Stanworth Street, SE1 3NY
Saturday opening times: 11am-6pm
Bar 5: Anspach and Hobday: The Arch House
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Info: One of the more established taprooms on the mile having been around for a while, The Arch House is stuffed full of beer tanks and serves around 12 of its own beers along with the occasional guest beer too. There isn’t a lot of seating here so it can be a bit of a squeeze, but that’s part of the fun.
Address: 118 Druid Street, SE1 2HH
Saturday opening times: 10:30am-10pm
Book now: The Arch House
Bar 6: Moor Beer
Info: Having originated down in Somerset where its brewery is based, Moor Beer may not actually brew beer on site, but it still stores plenty of barrels in the Bermondsey outpost. This means that there are lots of wonderfully aged beers on offer here alongside some of Moor's classic drinks such as Return of the Empire. One thing’s for certain – you’ll certainly leave wanting even moor (sorry, we had to...).
Address: 71 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
Saturday opening times: 12-10:30pm
Bar 7: London Calling Sweden
Info: London Calling Sweden is another bar which doesn’t brew its own beer on site, but it still has an incredible selection of Swedish craft beers on offer from Poppels brewery. It was set up in 2018 by Swedish expat Andreas Fredriksson when he couldn’t find anywhere in London that served proper Swedish beer so he took matters into his own hands!
Address: 72 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
Saturday opening times: 12-10:30pm
Bar 8: Cloudwater
Info: The London offshoot of one of Manchester most highly-regarded breweries, Cloudwater offers 20 different beers on tap and sports an incredibly minimalistic design which can mean it’s a bit of a mission to find out what’s actually being served. However once you do, it’s one price for all beers, meaning that the measure you are served will depend on the strength of the beer.
Address: 73 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
Saturday opening times: 10am-10pm
Bar 9: Brew By Numbers
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Info: You’re over half way by the point you reach Brew by Numbers, so it’s decided to make things a little bit easier for you here when it comes to ordering one of the beers brewed on site. Instead of naming its beers, Brew by Numbers gives each beer a number to denote its style and one to denote its recipe. Okay, that doesn’t make things much easier but it’s certainly pretty hipster.
Address: 75 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
Saturday opening times: 11am-8pm
Bar 10: Bianca Road Brew Co
Info: This is the last of the bars that you will be stopping into on Enid Street and it might be a case of saving the most fun until last. Bianca Road Brew Co serves West Coast American beers with a bit of added fun to them. You might be tempted by the Blood orange IPA entitled LA Bloods, or perhaps the Red Rye crimson IPA. An added bonus of this place is that the staff are always having just as much fun as the customers.
Address: 83 Enid Street, SE16 3RA
Saturday opening times: 11am-9pm
Bar 11: The Kernel Brewery Taproom
Info: Largely regarded as the OG brewery on the mile, Kernel used to be a little bit tricky reach before it closed as until recently it only stayed open until 2pm on Saturdays. However, it has now opened a brand new taproom just a few arches down from the original brewery which serves a mixture of their IPAs and pale ales as well as a 2.8% table beer, with around 12 taps available to pick from.
Address: Arch 7, Dockley Road, SE16 3FJ
Saturday opening times: 11am-8pm
Bar 12: Affinity Brew Co
Info: The next stop on the mile involves the longest walk you’ll have to do with one whole kilometre to go from the Kernel. However, once you get there, you’re rewarded with a bar that serves five different taps of its own beer, a lovely seating area, and also the option to sit outside in the summer. If you find you’ve worked up a bit of an appetite by this point too, there’s a well-placed hot dog and burger stall in the arch next door!
Address: 7 Almond Rd, SE16 3LR
Saturday opening times: 12-6pm
Bar 13: Spartan Brewery
Info: This is probably the smallest brewery on the whole of the mile and everything about it is incredibly modest too. Run by owners Colin and Mike, who do everything from mopping the floor to serving the beer, there are only a few beers on tap but on occasion the owners have been known to serve the beer straight out of the brew tank – the only place on the mile which does this.
Address: 8 Almond Road, SE16 3LR
Saturday opening times: 12-7pm
Bar 14: EeBria
Info: Whilst EeBria doesn’t brew its own beer, we don’t think you’ll notice, let alone mind, when you’ve already been to 13 other bars. However, what EeBria do have is a vast array of other people's beers available to try and buy. On top of this, there are 6 guest beers available on tap every day which you can sit down and enjoy a glass of.
Address: 15 Almond Road, SE16 3LR
Saturday opening times: 11am-8pm
Bar 15: Partizan Brewing
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Info: The penultimate stop on your epic journey down the mile – you’ve almost made it and they’ve saved some of the best until last to keep you going! Having been moving in and out of various stops on the mile for the best part of 10 years now, Partizan has now found its home in a particularly spacious arch on Raymouth Road. There, it serves a large mixture of seasonal and core brews including a highly unusual lemon and thyme saison.
Address: 34 Raymouth Road, SE16 2DB
Saturday opening times: 11am-8pm
Bar 16: Fourpure
Info: You’ve done it! Who knows what sort of a state you’re in, but you’ve made it to the end of the Bermondsey Beer Mile, and the reward is the largest taproom of the lot – Fourpure. Offering 20 different beers on taps, the offerings vary from its classic brews to a few small batch beers. One extra bonus of Fourpure is that it has a branch of Oh my Dog inside, meaning that you can treat yourself to a well-earned hot dog with your final pint, before falling into a deep sleep!
Address: 22 Rotherhithe New Road, SE16 3LL
Saturday opening times: 11am-8pm
Fancy something a little more sophisticated? Try one of London's best wine bars instead