Visit Date: May 2015
BREWERY NAME: Fuller's Brewery
WEBSITE: http://www.fullers.co.uk/brewery/book-a-tour
DATES: Mon-Fri only, at 11am, 12noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.
COST: £10.00 tasting tour per person
DURATION: 90 mins approx
CONTACT: 020 8996 2000 fullers@fullers.co.uk Book online is your best bet
So what to do with an impromptu day off from work? A quick visit to the Fullers website reveals an afternoon slot available for one of their tours, perfect.
Setting off with travelcard and map in hand I head for my destination. After leaving Stamford Brook underground be prepared for a good 15 min walk before being advised (by the downloaded ticket Fullers sent through almost straight away via email) to cross the A4 via a subway, you'll see why when you get there... but across the road and through the trees the Mawsons Arms, or is it the Fox and Hounds...waiting patiently.
Once inside a quick half of London Pride followed by a chat with a member of the bar staff to ascertain the rendezvous point and time to relax and enjoy the afternoon in store. The pub is not only busy with previous tour parties but is packed with plenty of Fullers historical emphera dotted around the walls.
Our guide gathered everyone together and off we all trundled to The Hock Cellar. As expected being a working brewery shoes are well advised, and after we were issued with our visitor high visibility jackets we are taken through the formation and history of the Griffin Brewery.
Our guide went onto explain that they have been brewing beer since 1845. Even though Fullers is situated on the Thames, they have never used it as a source of water. In fact it was more to do with barging in all the primary ingredients.
As well as brewing quality ales, they also manage an estate of over 360 pubs across the South of England. Their range of beers can be found across the UK and beyond in particular London Pride, their biggest selling beer.
Hard to imagine that every single drop of Fullers Beer around the globe comes from the Griffin Brewery
After leaving the Hock Cellar we moved onto the hub of the brewery whereby we discovered some of the early brewing equipment they employed. During the tour our guide Colin, was incredibly enthusiastic and informative. As we stopped at the various stations to observe the workings of the brewery further information was imparted by Colin which brought the unique and enthralling story of brewing and Fullers to life.
My previous brewery tours have mostly been (so far) microbreweries so it was extremey intriguing to gaze inside and wander around a larger brewery, in fact over 20 tonnes of malt is used every single day, and each of the massive boiling coppers hold up to 90.000 pints. One of the things that struck me as we were taken around is how the brewery has grown, every available space has been so well designed and utilised it makes for almost a historical journey through the years of Fullers expansion.
Moving on, we were taken to the bottle, kegging and casking area, thankfully my visit was the day before a bank holiday so it was all very quiet and somewhat peaceful although Colin assured us that is not normally the case.
Our tour concluded by returning to the Hock Cellar, whereby we could ask further questions and sample one or two of their beers, in fact the 45 mins in the tap room afterwards was a joy. On the day of my visit, Gales beers, and the full range of Fullers including my personal favourite (made from American hops) - Wild River was available, others included, the scrumptious London Cab, the refreshing Olivers Island, and the flavoursome Honey Dew, not to mention Chiswick Bitter, ESB and of course London Pride.
The Hock Cellar plays host to some stunning packaging, which demonstrated the development of their branding over the years, a real insight, into styles and trends change.
In conclusion, a fantastic impromtu day out of the studio - a great way for real beer lovers to while away a couple of hours in London - mind you that walk back to the underground didn't seem half as far...