Truman's

Location:         London, England

Website:         Truman's     

Once upon a time Truman's was the most powerful brewery in London, if not in the whole of Great Britain. It was founded sometime in the 1680's by Joseph Truman in the East End of London but it was under the stewardship of Joseph's second son, Benjamin that brewery became a major force. It was a major producer of Porter, the beer of the day in London and also became the first major exporter of beer to the Indian colonies. It was only when Truman's fell out with the East India Shipping Company and they turned to the Burton brewers to start producing IPA that tide started to turn against the brewery. By the 1960's they had survived long enough to become the last major independent brewery in the London but by the 1970's they were at the centre of a take over war between Grand Metropolitan and Watney Mann. Grand Metropolitan won, then turned its attention onto Watney Mann and merged both breweries. The brewery was finally shut in 1989.

However there is a shining light at the end of this story. In 2010 two local beer enthusiasts restarted the brewery.