Southey Brewing Co
Three casks and nine keg lines, and every beer on the list goes out unfined and vegan.1
Why go
The taproom opened in March 2018 in a stark Victorian brick building on Southey Street, and CAMRA's surveyor is honest that the outside puts people off.1 Inside is a long L-shaped room with alcoves, white and dark grey painted brick, wooden half-panelling, and dried hop bines hung off the original steel girders. The brewery is visible through a window. The beer menu goes on a board behind the bar because the selection moves. Cans in the fridge are mostly Southey with other microbreweries alongside, for drinking in or carrying out, and the coffee is from Carnival Coffee Roasters.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a cask, since only three are on and they are the brewery's own. Everything is unfined, so expect the beer to look like it.1
- Avoid: arriving hungry with a plan. There is no kitchen. Yard Sale delivers and you may bring your own food in.
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA, Bromley branch, on the beer:
Up to three real ales from the Southey range are available, with nine others available from the keg fonts covering a range of styles. There is a beer menu behind the bar, given that the selection changes on a regular basis. All of the beers are unfined and confirmed as being vegan-friendly.
1
Good to know
- Where: 21 Southey Street SE20 7JD, a short walk from Penge East.
- Hours: not published in any source read this pass. Check the brewery's own site.
- Booking: tables can be reserved.1
- Food: none of its own; Yard Sale delivers and outside food is welcome.
- Off-sales: cans from the fridge.
Verdict
could-visit — Three cask ales and nine keg lines from a brewery you can see through a window at the back of the room, and every beer on the list is unfined and vegan, which is a choice about how the beer is finished rather than a label. The taproom opened in March 2018 in a Victorian brick building on Southey Street that CAMRA's surveyor admits looks off-putting from outside, and inside is an L-shaped room with alcoves, half-panelling and dried hop bines hanging off the original steel girders. Coffee comes from Carnival Coffee Roasters, pizza from Yard Sale, and you are welcome to carry your own food in. It sits mid-ladder because one CAMRA record from a May 2024 survey is the whole published account, and not one Southey beer is named anywhere read this pass.