Hackney Wick bar to showcase UK and Ireland’s hottest breweries

Mason & Company, the canal-side craft beer bar from The Five Points Brewing Company, is to showcase beers from some of the most exciting UK and Irish breweries next month.

The east London bar’s ‘Ones to Watch’ takeover will celebrate beers from 10 breweries that have made waves in 2017, and which Five Points believe will prove popular in 2018.

The breweries selected include: Affinity Brew Co, from Bermondsey south London; Ampersand Brew Co, from Earsham, Norfolk; Beatnikz Republic Brewing Co, from Manchester; Burnt Mill Brewery, from Badley, Suffolk; Fierce Beer Co, from Aberdeen, north-east Scotland; Left Handed Giant Brewing Co, from Bristol; Little Earth Project, from Sudbury, Suffolk; Northern Alchemy, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Unity Brewing Co, from Southampton; and Whiplash Brewing Company, from Celbridge, Co Kildare, Ireland.

In addition to the tap takeover, a tutored tasting session will be offered, where representatives from five of the featured breweries will each regale ticketholders with the history of their brewery and talk them through one of their beers.

A 'wonderful platform'

For some of the breweries involved, this will be their inaugural London-based event. Paul Greetham, founder and brewer at Beatnikz Republic, said the event was a “wonderful platform” to showcase the brewery’s beers.

“We’re delighted to be included in Mason & Co.’s ‘Ones to Watch in 2018’ tap takeover alongside some of the UK’s most exciting new breweries,” he said. “It’s been a labour of love starting the brewery and we’re very happy that our beers are beginning to gain national recognition at one of London’s most respected craft beer destinations.

“I think events like these are a wonderful platform to help newer breweries showcase their beers to a wider audience and a valuable insight for beer lovers to see what’s happening around the UK.”

Accredited living wage employer

The tap takeover will take place on Friday 2 February from 5pm and is free to attend. The tutored tasting session has limited places, with tickets costing £10 plus booking fee. Mason & Company is a short walk from Hackney Wick station or a bus ride away from Stratford station.

Both Mason & Company and The Five Points Brewing Company are accredited living wage employers. In November 2017, the bar hosted a beer festival dedicated to celebrating other breweries that pay their workers the wage.

Among the breweries featured were Weird Beard Brew Co, from Hanwell, west London; Hackney Brewery, east London; Lost and Grounded, from Bristol; and the Gypsy Hill Brewing Company, from south-east London.