Local craft beer & real ale

Breweries in South East England

The hop gardens of Kent and the brewers of Sussex and the Thames Valley give the South East a scene that runs from centuries-old cask to modern saison. Meet them, then find the festivals they pour at.

In South East England
297 breweries
They pour at
50 festivals
Across
4 cities

The South East England brewing scene

Local breweries across South East England

The South East has hops in its soil. Kent is the historic garden of English brewing, and Shepherd Neame in Faversham, England's oldest brewer, still pours there. Across Sussex, Harvey's of Lewes keeps a beloved cask tradition while Burning Sky has won a national name for its saisons and farmhouse beers, and the brewers of Brighton and the Thames Valley fill in a fast-growing modern scene.

It is a region of contrasts: a hand-pulled Sussex best in a Lewes pub, a bottle-conditioned saison from the Downs, a hazy pale from an Oxford or Brighton arch. Many of these breweries run their own taproom, and they anchor the South East's festivals through the year, so a brewery you like is an easy way into a weekend out.

The directory

Every brewery in South East England

The full local listing, not a teaser. Each card links to the brewery and the festivals it pours at.

40ft Brewery brewery banner image

40ft Brewery

London

40ft is an independent brewery producing fresh modern, beer on the Blackhorse Beer Mile, Walthamstow. Born in a Dalston carpark in 2015 with just two 20ft shipping containers, we have grown one shipping container at a time.

ABC Brewing (Aylesbury Brewhouse Co)

Aylesbury

Pre-pandemic, Vale owned and operated Aylesbury Brewhouse Co, a sub-brand that brewed small-batch experimental beers on a smaller brewery kit at the excellent Hop Pole in Aylesbury. Now the kit at the Hop Pole is no longer operational, but from this year we’re going to be brewing new beers (and bringing back some old favourites!) under the ABC banner, all brewed at the main brewery. So expect a new monthly one-off beer across a range of different styles: high/low ABVs, hazy/juicy IPAs, new world flavours etc... Our core and seasonal Vale beers will, of course, be continuing in a range of classic ale styles.

ABYSS Brewery brewery banner image Festival regular

ABYSS Brewery

Lewes

Abyss Brewing is a creative, Lewes-based brewery founded in 2016 in the cellar of The Pelham Arms. They make “modern beers with big personalities,” ranging from dark to light ales, and place a strong emphasis on community, collaboration (with other brewers, artists and charities), and events.

Aleworks Brewing Company

Horsham

Welcome to Aleworks Brewing Company. We are an award-winning craft brewery based on the beautiful Knepp estate in West Sussex. We create a range of traditional Cask ales crafted with modern flavours and ingredients. ​Our mission is simple: keep Cask alive.

Alfred's Brewery brewery banner image Festival regular

Alfred's Brewery

Winchester

Alfred's Brewery is an independent microbrewery, established in 2012 by brewer Steve to produce high-quality, local craft beers. Moving to Easton Lane in 2017, it utilises a semi-automated brewhouse to produce a wide range of ales, including Saxon Bronze, Winchester Pale Ale, and Cipher.

AlgeBrew Brewery

Petersfield

Nanobrewery based in Petersfield brewing innovative and mathematically themed craft beers.

Amwell Springs Brew Co

Wallingford

Amwell Springs Brew Co (ASBCO) is a small, independent brewery founded in 2017 that brews its beer using its own precious spring water, combining that with high-quality English malt, well-chosen hops, and carefully cultivated yeast to make full-flavour craft beer. They run sustainably — composting used hops, reusing yeast, and giving spent malt to local farms — and operate a pop-up outdoor bar by their spring, as well as selling via a brewery-shop with polypins, mini-kegs and bottles.

Andwell Brewing Company

Hook

Andwell Brewing Co (Andwells) is a family-run Hampshire brewery founded in 2008 by Adam and Helen Komrower. They brew real ales, IPAs and lagers using high-quality ingredients and place strong value on producing “beautifully crafted Hampshire beer.” Their riverside site includes a 20-barrel Bavarian brew plant, a brewery shop, bar and café, and they also run regular brewery tours.

Anspach & Hobday brewery banner image Festival regular

Anspach & Hobday

London

Independent London craft brewery. Traditional beers brewed in a modern way, all in South London. We first started our journey in Bermondsey in 2013, located in the arches of the Bermondsey beer mile. In March 2020, we expanded and moved the majority of our production to our new site in Croydon, allowing us to make three times the amount of beer.

Arundel Brewery

Littlehampton

Arundel Brewery is an award-winning independent brewery, that has been brewing since 1992. Our aim is to create the most delicious and flavoursome beers we can and continually push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Showing 12 of 297 breweries

By city

Explore South East England breweries by city

Pick a city to see its local breweries and the festivals they pour at.

The other half of the weekend Looking for beer festivals in South East England? See every upcoming festival in the region, who is pouring, and how to get tickets. Beer festivals in South East England

Good to know

Breweries in South East England, answered

Use the browse-by-city block to jump to a local area, or scroll the full directory and check the location under each brewery name. Every brewery links through to its own page with a map and the festivals it pours at.

Many do. Where a brewery runs its own tap or an online shop you will find the link on its page. We do not sell beer ourselves, we point you to the brewery.

Closely. The breweries in this directory pour at the region's festivals through the year. Each brewery page lists its upcoming appearances, so a brewery you like is an easy route into a weekend out.

Many breweries are already listed through the festivals they attend. If yours is missing, or you want to manage how it looks, you can list a new brewery or claim an existing one in a couple of minutes. It is free to be listed.

For breweries

Run a brewery in South East England? List it or claim your page

Add your brewery, upload a banner and logo, and link it to the festivals you pour at. It is free to be listed, and claiming an existing page takes a couple of minutes.