Islington’s popular Hammerton Brewery has opened its own pub in Holloway Road.
It marks yet more progress for Islington’s sole brewery, coming just three-and-a-half years since it was founded in the Roman Way Industrial Estate next to Caledonian Road and Barnsbury station.
The pub, called House of Hammerton, has opened in the former Wig and Gown premises.
Lee Hammerton, the brewery’s founder, wants it to become a community pub for the people of Islington – while also promoting experimental new brews.
For him, it was a logical step: “I really like beer and we wanted to have a beer haven. It’s not like it was my dream to open a pub, but it seemed like a good idea to have somewhere to showcase our beers.
“We’ve got 24 lines, about half of which are Hammerton, and the other half from breweries which we like.
“We don’t do sour beers, for example, but we know loads of good brewers that do that sort of thing. And we only do one lager ourselves, so when you are running a pub you need more lager options. It’s good to support fellow breweries, whether they are in London, UK-wide or Europe.”
Hammerton is known for its popular brewery “open days” in Roman Way on the last weekend of the month.
Lee added: “People always ask us why we don’t do it every week. We can’t do that due to production reasons, but having our own pub is a solution and another way of mingling with our community. We’ve refurbished it and it’s somewhere where we would like to go for a drink after work ourselves.
“It’s good for experimenting with our new beers. Luckily, we already have a good customer base which is happy to try out our new brews. But this provides a good opportunity for customers to try our small batch releases before they go anywhere else.”
But Lee, whose ancestors ran a London brewery of the same name, stressed: “The main focus is to be a good community pub for Islington people who like good beer, and hopefully beer enthusiasts who will travel across town to try our products.
“Opening here means a lot to me, personally, as I used to live around the corner in Orleston Mews for eight years. There’s not many pubs in Holloway Road, and I think we are offering something different.”
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