March 2025: Two Tribes, Beamish & The End of an Era in SE23
A monthly newsletter about London beer and pubs written by Will Hawkes
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Happy Tribe
THE beer selection at The Crown and Greyhound in Dulwich is, for the most part, utterly predictable. The same four cask ales, served in varying conditions (Landlord, Sussex Best, London Pride, Doom Bar); Guinness; a wide range of lagers; and quasi-craft made by the likes of Beavertown (Heineken) and Brooklyn (Carlsberg).
There are occasional surprises, though. You’ll often find something from an independent London brewery - and from three independent London breweries, in particular: Forest Road, Signature and Two Tribes. The first two make sense: I’ve been to their breweries and they’ve clearly invested in equipment (Forest Road, for example, bought Russian River’s former brew kit back in 2020).
The third, though, is a bit of a head scratcher. Two Tribes is based in Tileyard, a music-industry-focused co-working development north of King’s Cross, and its brewing equipment is modest. It’s never been a big, buzzy name (their instagram posts generally get about 20 likes). The branding is bright and energetic but not particularly memorable, and while the beers are good, they taste much as you’d expect them to.
And yet this is one of London brewing’s undoubted success stories, its beer sold in Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado, at Mitchell and Butlers and Urban Pubs and Bars’ venues, at the National Theatre and Royal Festival Hall, and on Virgin Atlantic and Eurostar. How has this happened?
The story begins in 2015, when Niki and Justin Deighton - a former DJ turned entrepreneur - took on a brewery in Horsham, Sussex, adding the King’s Cross site in 2018. At that time, the stated ambition was to provide somewhere for Tileyard creatives to hang out. It was a £500,000 brewpub inspired by (although, notwithstanding an impressive sound system, not noticeably similar to) Warpigs in Copenhagen, and a music-themed brand, even producing beers for Island Records.
The brewery was run by two Justins, Deighton and (director of operations) Hutton; they recruited brewer Chris Tuominen a week before the 10-hectolitre brew kit, made by Zip in Hungary, arrived. His beers quickly proved popular, and initial modest ambitions were scaled up, with the Horsham site used to brew bigger batches to be sold to other venues.
The atmosphere in those early days was collaborative. Deighton (above) was in charge, but good ideas didn’t go unnoticed. Brewing and sales worked hand-in-hand; brands like Metroland, Dream Factory and Power Plant, still mainstays of the business, were born then. Deighton was very keen on sours - another Copenhagen influence, he once told me - and Tuominen produced the first iteration of New Romantic, a gose, with passion fruit.
Perhaps the key moment in Two Tribes’ growth, though, had nothing to do with the beer. It came in November 2018, when Finance Director (and later managing director) Paul Robinson arrived from Meantime via a short stint at Love Lane brewery in Liverpool. He hired some of those who’d worked with him in the pre-Asahi Meantime days, most notably Mike Shuster in 2022. In turn, Shuster’s little black book of contacts opened the door to a spate of key deals, from supermarkets to Eurostar.
There was also an element of fortune, in that Two Tribes were advancing at a time when a number of independent London brands - for various reasons - were on the way out. Venues were looking for independent options - and Two Tribes offered good quality and competitive pricing.
While the beer was soon selling fast, though, the company was in need of more cash. Investment came in 2023 from Hezi Yechiel, founder of bar company Urban Leisure Group, attracted to the company through his enjoyment of a Metro Land variation (‘Metro Land NYC’). Having invested, he took over, going through Two Tribes with a fine comb, cutting back on costs. It was a process that saw Deighton leave early last year.
If that was the end of what one former employee called Two Tribes Mk 1 (“The Music DNA had gone [after that]”), it’s clearly not the end for Two Tribes. Many of the staff that made it a success have moved on (Jess Ayres, regional sales manager, is the only original member of staff left; Dominic Lorberg is now head brewer, Tuominen having left in 2021) but the brewery, with a staff of around 30, is still upwardly mobile. This year they should make somewhere north of 16,000 hectolitres, around 15 percent of it on-site and the rest under contract.
The future seems full of possibility, although Two Tribes’ rise could also offer a clue as to how it might fall. That injection of Meantime experience proved crucial - but Paul Robinson is now chief commercial officer at upwardly-mobile Deya in Gloucestershire, having left Two Tribes in November. Where might he go hunting when he needs talent to help him sell more beer?
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Sekforde Saved
Good news from Islington. The Sekforde, which had been threatened with restrictive license conditions that (according to manager Harry Smith) would have resulted in the pub’s closure, has been saved. Islington Council, influenced by 1330 submissions in favour of the pub, threw out the proposed changes.
"It’s a weight off,” Smith says. “I spent the whole of the last three months thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself’. I thought I’d have to get a new job and felt guilty that this pub has been going so long and we might have lost it while we were running it.
“But we did feel we were in this unreasonable spot, so it’s also vindication.”
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Queer Gear
Leyton's Queer Brewing has acquired a brewkit. Having contract=brewed for years, the UK's first queer- and trans-owned brewery is now the proud owner of a refurbished 30hl brewhouse from Gravity Systems. They've also got an elegant (and witty) new logo...
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Fish Out Of Water
The latest London brewery to bite the dust is Beerblefish, where the taproom called last orders on May 8. It’s the second Walthamstow-based brewery to close in a matter of months, after Wild Card shuttered at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, Wild Card’s former Barrel Store has been taken on by lager specialists Pillars, whose brewery is just a few doors down. It’s now the Malt Haus, a community space and social hub offering independent beer and whiskey. More on that when I’ve had a look; it’s expected to be open in April.
Finally, Hackney Brewery is closing its Walthamstow taproom. The brewery blames Waltham Forest council, its landlord, for the closure.
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1984 Murder
Two men have been charged with murder in connection with the 1984 murder of Tony Littler. Littler was returning from a meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood when he was attacked near his home in East Finchley in May 84.
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Anglesea End
A Woolwich pub which closed at the start of the year could be pulled down and replaced with flats. The Anglesea Arms, once owned by Kent brewery Shepherd Neame, is the subject of a planning application that envisages seven flats and a shop.
Shepherd Neame, meanwhile, is preparing to reopen the Westminster Arms having spent £1.2m doing it up. The pub, which is a hop, skip and a jump from the Houses of Parliament, is expected to open on St Patricks’ Day, Monday 17 March.
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Black Power
When does a fad become the new norm? I thought the post-Covid passion for nitro stouts (particularly Guinness) might subside at some point, as people moved on to whatever the next thing might be.
That hasn’t happened. It just seems to be getting more popular. More than once this year I’ve walked into a busy pub to discover that most people are drinking Guinness, while Paul Anspach, co-owner of Anspach and Hobday, semi-joked to me recently that “we don’t do many collaborations these days as we just make London Black all the time”. The newly opened Hand and Marigold, meanwhile, is selling O’Hara’s excellent nitro stout.
And then there’s Gibney’s, a pub in Shoreditch that is part of Richard Corrigan’s empire. Starting at some point later this year (maybe this month), it will have Beamish - absent from the UK since 2008, when the Cork brewery was bought by Heineken - on the bar permanently (other pubs, such as the Dog and Bell, are also getting in on the act). A preview last month led to scenes bordering on hysteria.
Interestingly (or not, your mileage may vary) Heineken UK still doesn’t actually offer Beamish as part of its portfolio - so any pubs with it on sale will have made some sort of bespoke importation arrangement (most likely with Heineken Ireland).
(In other stout news, Murphy's has released a map showing all the pubs where you can buy a pint in the UK).
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Dead Pubs
Are you interested in what happened to the 35 Old Kent Road pubs that have closed at some point over the past century-and-a-bit? You're in luck. Youtube's Tweedy Pubs has put together an informative if a touch depressing video.
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Room For One More?
A new Irish pub is opening in Southwark. Molly Mcs is coming to the site of the former Jack’s Bar in Isabella Street this spring, offering live music, intimate singing rooms and an extensive Irish spirits list.
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Pocket Pic
As mentioned last month, the team behind the Southampton Arms, The Cock Tavern & Howling Hops are preparing to launch a new pub in Islington. The Pocket will open next Thursday (20th) from midday.
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Bohem Blossoms
North London Czech lager specialists Bohem has taken on another pub, this time south of the river. Having acquired the Nicholas Nicholby in Finsbury Park last year, the brewery is now in charge at the Queen’s Arms in Battersea. The pub, which has been shut since 2022, is expected to be up and running within the next few months.
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Sensory Six Nations
The Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham is hosting a sensory friendly screening of this weekend’s England v Wales Six Nations rugby. This will include subtitles on one of the three televisions, no adverts, lower than usual sound levels, and fidget toys and noise blockers such as earplugs available.
General Manager Stuart Green has long worked with local organisations such as Choice Support and Fuller’s charity partner Special Olympics GB to offer employment opportunities to people who are neurodiverse or have intellectual disabilities.
“Having worked with a number of people with autism and other intellectual disabilities, I’ve seen how important it is to have spaces like this – that help cater to sensory difficulties,” he says. “It’s also so important to their families – to have a space where they can come together, socialise and have a good time.
“If this adapted screening goes well, I will definitely look at hosting similar events for the upcoming Women’s Six Nations matches.”
Further Fuller’s/Twickenham news: Fuller’s has bought the White Swan, a very attractive riverside pub in leafy Twickenham. “I’ve always thought that The White Swan is the best pub in Twickenham, outside of our existing estate – so I’m delighted,” says Fuller’s Chief Executive, Simon Emeny.
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Two Pubs, One City: The Elm Tree, BR3, and the Blythe Hill Tavern, SE23
A WOMAN is leaving the Blythe Hill Tavern having (apparently) pilfered a prime piece of decoration from its wall. She is clutching a wood-mounted hurling stick and ball, an item that used to sit in pride of place just above the pub’s serving hatch, and she is heading out of the side door en route to a waiting taxi.
“She’s getting away!” I want to shout - those wood-mounted items do NOT come cheap - but something's not quite right. She’s not exactly skedaddling, for a start: there are too many fulsome goodbyes, too many hugs. I suspect I may have misjudged the situation. I have. This is not burglary but a gift, a memento for a regular customer (her dad) after many happy hours spent in this delightful boozer. Case closed.
The BHT has, very unusually, also been closed for the past two days. Tonight is the last Friday of February, and the first day of a new era. Con Riordan, who has run the pub since 1988, in the process turning it into the best proper pub in SE London, has retired, gone to play golf.
You can’t begrudge him that, but plenty of people are worried, including me. Pressed to name my favourite pub by the Telegraph last year, I picked the BHT, and was photographed looking gormless at the bar. I’m far from alone in my passion for this pub: over the last month I’ve received a steady stream of texts and emails from worried pals, speculating over who’d take over, and what they might change. Could it be a gastropub? The horror.
Well, we now know who’s taking over: County Clare’s Austin Whelan, who runs more than a dozen pubs around London and the south of England and has a compelling back story.
He seems alright, but I wanted to be sure - so I decided to visit another of Whelan’s pubs, The Elm Tree in Beckenham, on the Sunday before he took charge at the BHT. Beckenham is not Catford/Forest Hill, but it’s not miles away: although there are obvious differences - the Elm Tree serves food, for example, and the floors are hard, not carpet - the similarities are striking. There’s a sizable crowd, live sport, smartly-dressed staff racing here and there behind the bar, and a very good, keenly priced pint of cask ale (Landlord, £4.60).
There aren’t many seats, though, with Liverpool FC, as popular in Beckenham as they are in Catford and County Clare, on the telly. A group of lads are sitting around a table filled with stemmed Cruzcampo glasses; a couple on the next table, dressed in Gaelic Football tops, watch the screen in sullen silence. The seats at the bar are filled with robustly-proportioned older men. Another man, sitting on a table with his wife, grunts with disappointment when he discovers that the kitchen is all out of sticky Asian pork ribs.
There’s no pork ribs - sticky or otherwise - at the BHT, but it doesn’t seem to detract from its appeal. That Friday, the place is packed - to the extent that me and a couple of aging pals are forced to sit outside, in the large back garden popular amongst the pub’s younger clientele.
So far, not much has changed. The price of a pint of Harvey’s remains £4.95; a fruit machine has gone (although, as I discover during a mid-afternoon pint a week later, only to be replaced with a more modern one); and various bits of decoration have departed, including a unforgettable picture that used to occupy the space next to the pub’s serving hatch, sort of adjacent to the stick and ball. It was called ‘Greed’, it was the work of an Irish artist called Ted Jones and it was, as they say, of its time. You can enjoy it here.
Eventually the February chill forces us inside, where we manage to occupy a small table by the space vacated by the fruit machine. Next to us is a group of students, but not for long. Two very drunk, quite posh middle-aged men stumble in from the garden and, spotting a pair of empty stools amongst the students, sit down and introduce themselves. They’ve been here since 5pm, they slur, and they’re now chasing pints with whiskey. Five minutes later - through the sheer force of random drunk chat - they’ve driven off the students and occupy their corner triumphantly.
Textbook pub skills, but everyone seems to be in high spirits. On evenings like this, it feels like it would be harder to fuck the BHT up than to keep it as it is, but then running pubs always looks easier from the outside. And although I’ve got reservations about pubs where the person in ultimate charge is not always in situ, Whelan clearly understands what makes a good pub tick. A gastro-conversion doesn’t seem to be on the cards.
Indeed, any major changes seem unlikely - although the garden, which is basically a concrete hill (and which includes an intriguing and apparently completely unused fenced-off grassy bit), is probably in line for a spruce-up. If that happens, plenty of picnic benches could be heading out of the door - although, unlike the hurling display, they’re unlikely to be in huge demand as keepsakes. (Although you never know, people are odd).
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London Beer City is written by journalist Will Hawkes. Feel free to contact me on londonbeercity@gmail.com. If you like what you’ve read, please share it with your friends; if you’ve been forwarded this email and enjoyed it, you can sign up here. Unsubscribe here. Help me keep the newsletter free here. Thanks for reading!