Griffin Brewery

A TOUR ROUND THE GriffinBrewery

Bartley Chipchase fulfils a long held ambition

The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick has started showing people around again after a year of having to close the brewery to the public. The brewery tours are a popular way to spend an afternoon, not least because there’s lots of beer sampling involved. It’s something I’d been meaning to do for ages, so when they opened up again I was quick to sign up for a tour. Perhaps best known for their signature London Pride, Fuller’s distribute a wide range of beers to pubs across the country and export to over 80 countries worldwide. The brewery occupies an impressive spot in the heart of Chiswick, just off the Hogarth roundabout. Brewing in Chiswick has a life which far predates this particular building. Prior to the 17th century it was not uncommon for large households to produce their own beer. The gardens of Bedford House in Chiswick Mall was one such brewhouse, which was acquired by Thomas Mawson in the late 1600s and expanded until in 1845 in became Fuller, Smith and Turner. The brewery was taken over in 2019 by Asahi, but the building and the beers remain substantially the same. After a brief introduction to this rich history, the tour guide brought us into the main brewhouse which is where the bulk of the tour takes place. A very informative diagram (to the uneducated beer drinker, like myself) gives an outline of the entire process from start to finish. It is as much a biological process as it is a mechanical one, as subtle temperature differences can cause fundamental changes in flavour and even the type of beer produced. Helpfully then, the tour largely follows the process in chronological order, winding its way upwards through the vast facility. At a very simple level, beer is formed from malted barley, a lot of water, hops and yeast. The

process starts with grains (in this case barley), which are processed through heating and drying. This milled malt, called grist, is added to huge vats called Mash Tuns which are mixed with hot water, resulting in a sweet liquid known as wort (pronounced wert). The wort is moved to a Copper where hops are added first for flavour, then for aroma. We’re shown a variety of hops used for the different products. Some are described as having ‘chocolate’ characteristics, others ‘citrus’ or ‘floral’. Our tour then takes us onto one of the most crucial parts of the process. After the mixture is cooled, it is then moved to a fermentation vessel where yeast is added, which ferments the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It’s at this stage where most of the final product is decided, depending on the length of the process. The tour finishes with sampling and there are so many beers on offer it’s hard to know where to start, but we managed to sample quite a few before re-emerging into the sunlight pleasantly merry and considerably more knowledgeable about brewing. I now have a new respect for this scientific marvel, perfected over centuries, which is undoubtedly one of great success stories of modern production.

Book tours through the website: fullersbrewery.co.uk/brewery-tours

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