The Brew by Numbers brewery on the Greenwich Peninsula has been closed by its new owners, with the future of its taproom at Morden Wharf looking in doubt.
The company was sold to a private equity business, Breal Group, last summer after falling into administration. The brew kits have been moved to Masham, North Yorkshire, the home of Black Sheep Brewery, which Breal also bought last year.
Brick Brewery, based in Peckham and Deptford, will also be moving out of London, according to The Drinks Business, which first reported the story. Brick’s taproom, underneath Peckham Rye station, has remained open, but the Morden Wharf taproom – in an isolated location next to a bus garage – was closed for “essential works” last autumn.
A spokesperson for the Breal told The Drinks Business: “There is an entirely new brew house being built in Masham to brew Brew by Numbers and Brick beers. There will be a little piece of southeast London in North Yorkshire.”
It was also reported that six people had been made redundant at Brick, with more to come at Brew by Numbers. Breal Group did not respond to a call from The Greenwich Wire asking for comment on the future of the Morden Wharf and Peckham taprooms.
Brew by Numbers was founded in Bermondsey in 2011 and became a key part of the area’s “beer mile”. Its arrival in Morden Wharf a decade later was hailed as a boost for the developer U+I’s plans to transform the site into 1,500 new homes. The company had also raised £530,000 in a crowdfunding initiative.
But Brew by Numbers closed its original site in Bermondsey last year and announced plans to go into administration, blaming “the combined Covid-19 debt burden and the recent cost of living crisis”.
In a statement published in May which was later deleted from its website, Brew by Numbers said it was about to strike a deal with investors that were “passionate about our brewery and eager to keep our team at the Greenwich site to continue brewing exciting and tasty craft beers”. Administrators opted to sell to Breal in August.
The Morden Wharf brewery was on the site of an old pub, the Sea Witch, that had been destroyed during World War II. The brewery and taproom was to be a centrepiece of U+I’s plans for the site, but shortly after planning permission was given in 2021, the company was sold to LandSec, which then announced plans to sell the land.
Galliard Homes bought Morden Wharf last year and has recently recruited a new team of architects to redesign the plans, which include towers of up to 36 storeys.
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