Craft Beer Taproom Near Me in Walthamstow: East London Brewing on Lockwood Way

East London Brewing Co pours its beer at Unit 2, Lockwood Way, Walthamstow, London E17 5RB, about a kilometre from Blackhorse Road station, in the unit that Wild Card Brewery ran until 2024. Anyone after a craft beer taproom near me on the Blackhorse Beer Mile gets four sessions a week here: Thursday and Friday 5 pm to 11 pm, Saturday noon to 11 pm and Sunday noon to 8 pm, with Monday to Wednesday closed. The resident kitchen, Play With Fire, cooks over live fire.

East London Brewing has been brewing since 2011, which makes it one of the longer-standing independents in the east of the city, and it now describes its home as the Blackhorse Beer Mile. The building has its own history. Wild Card Brewery, founded in 2012 by William Harris, Jaega Wise and Andrew Birkby, moved its brewery and taproom to Lockwood Way in April 2018, then stopped trading in October 2024, after which Waltham Forest Council, the landlord, repossessed the unit.

In April 2025 the council agreed a lease with East London Brewing, and the brewery spent the following months fitting out the space as its new taproom. Regulars of the old Wild Card bar will recognise the shape of the room, but the beer, the kitchen and the menu are all new. In July 2026 the brewery announced The Blackhorse Tap, a pub on the same site, as its next project.

The old tenant left a mark on the neighbourhood. Wild Card took its name from the playing cards the founders used to tell their early homebrew bottles apart, and its core beers were called Jack of Clubs and Queen of Diamonds. Jaega Wise served as head brewer, and the three founders built the business from homebrew to a full taproom within six years, long before East London Brewing arrived with its own fifteen years of recipes. Its first brewery sat on the Ravenswood Industrial Estate from 2014 before the move to Lockwood Way, so beer has been made on this patch of Walthamstow for more than a decade.

Start with the beers that have picked up medals. Quadrant Oatmeal Stout was named CAMRA's Champion Beer of London in 2025, and it is the pint to order on a cold evening, smooth and roasty without being heavy. Cowcatcher, an American pale ale, took gold at CAMRA's London Cask Beer Awards in 2025, so drink it from the handpump if it is on. Nightwatchman won gold at the London Beer Competition in 2024.

The EAST range covers the everyday beers: House Lager, Pilsner, Pale Ale and IPA. In the brewery's webshop a dozen 330ml cans of EAST House Lager cost 26 pounds and the IPA costs 27.50 pounds, so stocking up on the way out is good value. CAMRA card holders get 10 percent off cask ale at the bar.

The food is the reason this taproom stands out from its neighbours. Play With Fire, the live-fire kitchen run by chef Matt Purkis, joined East London Brewing in July 2026 and cooks over flame on site. CAMRA's listing describes brisket, tacos and banh mi on the menu, which suits the roasted malt of Quadrant far better than the usual bar snacks.

Order food early on a Saturday evening, since a single live-fire kitchen serving a full room is the one bottleneck in the place. One honest judgement: if you only have time for one beer, make it a cask pint rather than a can from the fridge, because the cask beers are the ones that have won the awards and the taproom is the freshest place to drink them.

The taproom works mostly on a walk-in basis. Groups who want a reserved table are asked to message the brewery on Instagram at @eastlondonbrew, and during big tournaments the bar has used the same route for screening bookings. The unit is step-free and has an accessible toilet, according to CAMRA, which makes it one of the easier stops on the mile for wheelchair users.

Thursday, the first night of the brewing week's sessions, is the easiest time to find a table. Saturday from noon is the busiest, with drinkers working their way along the Blackhorse Beer Mile, and arriving in the first hour is the simplest way to sit down. If every table is taken, take a drink to stand at the bar and order food first, then claim seats as early groups move on to the next brewery.

Lockwood Way is part of a cluster of breweries and bars spread around Blackhorse Lane, and the Blackhorse Beer Mile describes itself as ten venues working together. Signature Brew, the music-themed brewery, runs its brewery bar at Unit 15, Uplands Business Park, Blackhorse Lane, London E17 5QJ, open Tuesday to Thursday from 4 pm and from noon on Friday to Sunday, and it makes the obvious second stop.

The route back to the station runs past the Walthamstow Wetlands entrance on Forest Road, a nature reserve set around working reservoirs that is worth an hour on a dry afternoon before the drinking starts. Bus 158 stops about 100 metres from the taproom, which helps on a wet evening when the walk to Blackhorse Road feels longer than a kilometre.

Address: East London Brewing Co Taproom, Unit 2, Lockwood Way, Walthamstow, London E17 5RB. Blackhorse Road station on the Victoria line and the Overground is about 1,000 metres away, Northumberland Park about 1,100 metres, and bus 158 stops roughly 100 metres from the door. Hours are Thursday and Friday 5 pm to 11 pm, Saturday noon to 11 pm and Sunday noon to 8 pm, closed Monday to Wednesday. Food is from Play With Fire. Group tables via Instagram at @eastlondonbrew. CAMRA members receive 10 percent off cask ales.