The venue, which sits on Kingsland Road in Hackney, revealed the news on Twitter, stating that the landlord was taking back control of the premises for “structural renovation and refurbishment”.
“On 24th June, this Sunday, the Fox craft beer house will have to close,” it said. “The freehold landlord of the building is taking back possession of the whole premises for structural renovation and refurbishment. The upstairs is being turned into flats. This means the pub will be closed for 12 to 18 months.”
Time to 'drink the bar dry'
“We’ve fought this as hard as we could and we’ve exhausted all angles to avoid this,” it continued. “But alas there is no other way around it but the pub will be back. We’re sorry we couldn’t have given more notice (we received our notice last Saturday) but at least we still have a few days to drink the bar dry.”
“It’s been an awesome six and a half years and we are glad to have helped this whole craft beer thing along the way.”
Drinkers flooded to social media to express their sadness at the news.
The Craft Beer Channel tweeted: “Seriously sad news. One of the best pubs in London... ”.
Online beer website Honest Brew said: “Very sad news guys. You're right around the corner from our office and we've spent some lovely sunny evenings with you recently. Looking forward to the next venture.”
'Craft beer institution'
UK beer writer Matthew Curtis described The Fox as “a quiet craft beer institution”.
“Just around the corner from the now defunct Duke's Brew & Que too. That area of Haggerston has lost two of the beer scene's leading lights now,” he added.
The team behind the pub has not yet confirmed if it will reopen at the existing site, or seek a new venue for any future venture.