Partizan Brewing

We are a micro-brewery based in South Bermondsey where we've been making exciting, high quality beer since 2012.

The Beginning.

Our journey began with the end of founder and owner Andy Smith's former career in fine dining. An avid home-brewer, Andy sought to make fresh exciting beer that was difficult to find here in the UK. A move from his home town of Leeds to London soon presented the opportunity to work with Andy Moffat at Redemption Brewing in Tottenham. Here he studied and learned to ply his trade as a professional brewer whilst making many friends and contacts in the fast growing UK beer scene. In 2012, one of these friends, Evin O'Riordain of The Kernel Brewery kindly offered to pass on their original brew kit as the Kernel embarked upon expansion. A short time later, some premises secured just down the railway line, and Kernel and Partizan were established as neighbors; so the brewery was born. On enlisting the services of Alec Doherty, an excellent artist, designer and illustrator and old friend, the image of the company too began to take its unique shape and direction. Almost four years later, we have gained more staff and a little black cat named Adina. We work with pride and determination to deliver the best beer we possibly can.

What we do now.

We at Partizan relish diversity. We delight in the cultural richness of our surroundings here in London, with its myriad ethnicities, languages and traditions. A city, fueled by passionate, creative and enterprising people, drawing on a wealth of strands of history and identity, filled with excitement to create anew. We consider ourselves very much in the bosom of a modern Babylon where inspiration and individual flair combine to breed innovation. Hence the name 'Partizan' - a strong belief in the preservation of identity and knowledge of the great strength and beauty that lies in the juxtaposed co-existence of differing ideas and ideals.

It is perhaps a better time than ever to be making beer! The last two decades have seen the development of thriving and burgeoning scenes the world over, populated by those who, as independents, wanted to take control of what the people of their communities were eating and drinking; to offer an alternative to big brands and the bland sterility of homogenization. In so many ways this involved a look to the past, to a time when people invested themselves fully in hand driven pursuits, producing with pride and precision the consumables that not only nourished physically, but excited the taste buds. The recent food and drink revolution has led to a wonderfully diverse international community of producers who are fiercely dedicated to making things that can offer the same to the modern consumer.

For beer makers, this has led to the resurrection of many wonderful styles and traditions that had sometimes existed only in very small communities, and allowed a new generation of brewers and enthusiasts to make them their own, adding to the rich and diverse market that has been created through small, independent labor and thought. This profers choice; the opportunity as a drinker to explore one's palate and the great variety of flavor, aroma and the nuanced drinking experience that can be produced from the combination of four simple ingredients.

An area famed for its brewing heritage, Bermondsey has been our home since the outset, and we have sought to show our respect for the great beer that was made here some generations before our arrival. Taking inspiration from the rich and complex stouts that deliver so much on flavor and body, the ubiquitous London classic, Porter, to the mild ales that were the solid staple drinking beers of many a working man, or the highly hopped India Pales which were such a success on the colonial market - we have developed a core range of beers that we feel both references history, but also speaks to a new generation of beer lover and embraces the zeitgeist of the new world hop! We look also to our neighbors in central Europe and the classic beer styles developed there that sustained an agricultural workforce and preserved with them the cultures of many small communities. We are also deeply fascinated by the medium of wood used for the growth, nurturing and dissemination of mixed cultures in fermentation, as was prevalent in much beer production in the past and annually we brew beer specially for fermentation and aging in wooden vessels, producing a complexity of character unlike any other. In addition to this we brew seasonally, special releases that allow us to mark the passing of milestones and acknowledge our growth and development both as a company and as people. In all our beers we look for subtlety and balance above all else – for each beer this will mean something different, but we are committed to delivering an experience that is never unrefined or aggressive.

We are excited to share our beer with you, and hope that you will find it as pleasing and inspiring as we do. Each weekend we open our doors to the public to meet with customers and share our passion, energy and knowledge and in turn to be inspired by and to learn from others and their perspectives on what we do. We hope to see you some Saturday and to share and glass and some conversation.