The brewery
In a city with such a burgeoning beer scene, an entirely new brewery is a bit of a novelty – especially so when it serves its beer super-fresh from tanks above the bar. Since opening in its railway arch home near Hackney Central station in the early summer, the brewery has brought even more choice to a beery strip of East London that already includes Five Points, Deviant & Dandy, The Experiment by Pressure Drop and Verdant, and much-loved brewpub The Cock Tavern. Swing by and sup a few beers in its all-black, church pew-adorned taproom.
The beer
Because it's still so new, Hackney Church Brew Co's head (and for now only) brewer Ryan Robbins is still in the process of creating a core range. This means you'll see regularly changing, small-batch pours, plus a few that have stuck already. Refreshingly, these aren't just the same old pales and lagers (although the brewery does a good line in both): there's a 10.7% imperial stout, as well as a simcoe-hopped DIPA that's £4 by the two-third.
What else?
If you get peckish while you're there, the taproom is home to live-fire restaurant Lagom, which serves spectacular meat, fresh seafood and beautiful vegetable dishes at weekends. What's more, as part of the network of the nearby St John at Hackney church, it also puts on weekly lunches for homeless people in the borough, in partnership with chefs Sam and Sam Clark of Moro.
17 Bohemia Place, E8 1DU; hackneychurchbrew.co
