Brewery hops back to its East End home

The historic Truman’s Brewery has returned to its London base after 24 years.

A £1 million new building opens today in Hackney Wick and will become the largest cask ale producer in east London. The 10,000 sq ft brewery is a few streets from where Truman’s was founded in 1666. By the 19th century it was the world’s largest beer producer but closed in the Eighties when it was bought in a hostile takeover and its affiliated pubs across the capital were shut.

In 2010 the Truman’s name was bought back by two beer experts. Managing director James Morgan said he was determined to bring it back to its roots. The new brewery will produce two new beers using the original Truman’s yeast strain. Mr Morgan said: “There is still a huge amount of affection for Truman’s in the area — there are families where three generations had worked in the brewery and when the sign-writer came to paint the new sign, he was almost in tears at the fact we were coming back.” The firm plans to create 30 jobs.