The opening date has been announced for the Meantime brewery’s return to Greenwich – with its first bar in the area since the Greenwich Union closed down five years ago.

Last year Asahi, the Japanese brewer that bought Meantime in 2016, closed its Blackwall Lane brewery, moving operations to Fullers in Chiswick.

Now Meantime is returning to Greenwich with The Dial, which will open at Peninsula Square, between North Greenwich station and the O2, on November 7. It will include a microbrewery, producing Meantime’s best-known beers as well as experimental brews. 

The Dial will also include a restaurant, sports bar, live music space and an outdoor terrace. Work has been going on since the beginning of last month to convert the space.

The company behind the Pop Brixton street food venue and the Amazing Grace bar near London Bridge, KG Hospitality, will be running The Dial. 

The Dial render
The new bar will be between the Greenwich Peninsula and the O2. Image: KG Hospitality

Sven Hartmann, the head brewer at Meantime, said: “Greenwich is where Meantime began. The Dial is our chance to honour that history while continuing to explore bold flavours and new beer styles.”

Meantime was founded in Charlton in 1999 and is often said to have pioneered the craft beer movement. At its peak, Meantime had three bars in the area – The Greenwich Union on Royal Hill, the Old Brewery at the Old Royal Naval College and the Beer Box pop-up on the Greenwich Peninsula – as well as a taproom in its brewery on Blackwall Lane.

But the company was sold in 2015, with the Old Brewery being taken by Youngs shortly afterwards and The Greenwich Union closing during the pandemic.

The new bar on the Greenwich Peninsula will just a few metres away from where the Beer Box was, the site of which is now part of The Tide high-level walkway,

📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.