Our Next Chapter: Building A New Home In Hackney

The journey so far

When we began brewing in 2013, it seemed wild to even imagine that we would one day brew enough beer to fill what seemed at the time like a huge railway arch underneath Hackney Downs railway station…

By 2016, we had already expanded into the arch next door and were leasing a second site on Mare Street, housing our expanding team, warehousing and distribution, plus a co-working space with fellow East London businesses and charities.

Meanwhile, the search for a new combined site was underway. And, while we visited warehouse spaces across London, and beyond, we always hoped that we could find a home that would allow us to stay in our Hackney neighbourhood.

An opportunity on Mare Street

Last year, the opportunity came up to take on a long term lease on our existing warehouse premises at Mare Street. We jumped at the chance to create a new Five Points HQ here in the heart of Hackney, building not just a long term home for our brewery – but excitingly, to finally be able to invite our community to drink tank-fresh Five Points beer in our own brewery taproom, on site right where the beer is brewed.

And, that is what we are in the process of doing. We are systematically relocating our entire brewhouse to our Mare Street site – just a mile down the road from those railway arches – moving everything from giant fermentation tanks, to our beer-filled wooden wine barrels.

Our new Mare Street site is just a stone’s throw from bustling London Fields and Broadway Market, with Bethnal Green tube station (on the Central Line) just a ten minute walk away. We have an awesome location to host locals, travellers, and friends from further afield.

Phase 1: Open-air Five Points pints this Spring

We are finally moving slowly, but surely, towards safely sharing pints with friends and family once more. With a roadmap announced, we plan to launch the open air part of the new Five Points Taproom in time for the mid-April easing of Lockdown. 

Our open-air taproom and yard space will serve the freshest pints of Five Points beer in London. From our flagship Five Points Pale, to our crisp, refreshing Pilsner, or tropical and juicy JUPA, our beers will be tank fresh, and served in the largest brewery taproom in Hackney.

Our East London partners ACE Pizza will cook up their delicious NY-Neapolitan style pizza, straight out of a wood-fired oven on site. They’ll be bringing all the ACE Pizza flavour and style that our Pembury Tavern customers know and love (especially that sesame crust, vegan cheesiness, and crack sauce!)

We will be announcing launch date and booking details, with a priority for our investors and signed up supporters, later in March.

Phase 2: The indoor taproom – bar, mezzanine gallery and events space

Once our open-air taproom has launched, we will turn our attention to our indoor taproom, which we hope to open in Autumn 2021. We have lots of exciting plans, including a mezzanine gallery with view over the brewery, an area for tours and tastings, pilot brewery and a programme of events – including brewery tours, beer launches and tap takeovers.

Our taproom will continue the tradition established by our pub, The Pembury Tavern: operating as a warm, welcoming space for all, and we’ll be hosting community events and initiatives to continue to support our charity partners in 2021.

Join the Five Points community

Three years ago, we turned to our community to help us increase capacity, bring brewing back in house, and open our first pub, The Pembury Tavern. The response and support from our customers was wonderful, and we welcomed on board over 1,500 new part-owners of our brewery.

This spring, our business will be seeking fresh investment to complete our relocation and taproom launch. We will be offering our community the opportunity to invest, and perks will include bar tabs in the new taproom, free birthday pints, and more. This will be an exclusive opportunity only open to our community, so please make sure you are signed up to our mailing list using the form below. 

Thank you

We are so excited to be opening our new brewery and taproom site  – and so pleased to be able to secure the future of the company in the heart of Hackney, right where it all began eight years ago. 

We have an amazing team of 25 employees at the brewery as well as 14 at The Pembury Tavern, and our new premises and taproom will mean that we can continue to grow local employment as a London Living Wage employer.

This has been an incredibly challenging and frustrating 12 months for all of us. There were times when we really weren’t sure what the future held. So thank you to all of those of you who have supported us on this amazing journey – both during the challenges of the past year but over our entire journey when it was just Ed and Greg brewing on a pilot kit in an empty Victorian railway arch eight years ago.

We can’t wait to see you for a pint of tank-fresh beer at the new taproom this Spring. 

Keep safe, keep that fresh air flowing, and keep positive. There will be a pint with your name on it on the other side, that’s for sure.

Much love, 

Team Five Points