Craft Beer Taproom Near Me in Walworth: Orbit Beers on Fielding Street

Orbit Beers runs its taproom at 225 and 228 Fielding Street, Walworth, London SE17 3HD, on the same back street where it started brewing in 2014, and the beer travels only from the brewery across the road to nine taps. Anyone typing craft beer taproom near me between Kennington and Elephant and Castle should know the opening pattern first: Wednesday and Thursday 4 pm to 10.30 pm, Friday 4 pm to midnight, Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday noon to 9.30 pm, and closed on Monday and Tuesday.

The founder, Robert Middleton, grew up in Dundee. In 2012 he took a campervan on a mission to visit every brewery in Scotland, from Shetland and the Outer Hebrides down to the Borders, and came back to South London wanting a brewery of his own. He set Orbit up under the railway arches in Walworth with a team of DJs, vinyl collectors and musicians, and the record-label idea runs through everything: beers are released like records, and the brewery calls its approach high fidelity brewing.

The team is small and named on the website. Robbie Sykes is general manager and a director, Chris Newby drives the dray and runs logistics, and the brewery dog, Pancho, is listed alongside them with a favourite beer of whatever Robbie likes most. That scale is the point of coming here: the people pouring are the people who know when a batch was packaged, and the taproom sits on the site where the business began rather than in a showroom far from the kit.

Start with Nico Köln Lager, the 4.8 percent Kölsch-style beer that both the founder and the general manager name as their favourite. It is also classed as gluten-free: the brewery uses an enzyme called Brewer's Clarex to bring gluten below 20 parts per million and has it tested by an independent lab. The website notes that keg lines at other venues cannot be guaranteed gluten-free, so coeliac drinkers get the most reliable glass straight from the source.

After Nico, work along the core range. Ivo is a 4.2 percent pale ale, Peel a 4.9 percent Belgian wit and Dead Wax a 5.5 percent London porter, a good order for a slow afternoon. Tzatziki Sour is the beer the brewery calls its most famous, and the White Label Series and barrel-aged Digger's Series fill the remaining taps. The taproom also stocks cider, wine, spirits, cocktails and soft drinks for anyone in the group who does not drink beer.

Prices for take-home cans are published in the webshop: a case of 12 Nico costs 31.50 pounds and a single can 2.95 pounds, with White Label specials such as Festbier and Rice Lager at 3.20 pounds a can. Buying a mixed dozen on the way out is the easy way to try the specials you did not have room for at the bar.

Food comes from a resident kitchen, The Dragon Flame BBQ, which serves smokehouse burgers and tacos. Kitchen hours are shorter than bar hours: Wednesday to Friday 5 pm to 9 pm, Saturday 1 pm to 9 pm and Sunday 1 pm to 7 pm. On Sundays the menu switches to a roast served from 1 pm, with oak-smoked mains, crispy roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, red braised cabbage, Yorkshire puddings and red wine jus. Time Out has named it among the best roasts in London.

That reputation is the one thing that fills the room on a Sunday, so the brewery asks people to book the roast. The booking form has a separate option for it, along with drinks-only tables, food and drinks, the Sunday pub quiz and Christmas bookings. If you only want a pint, arriving after 7 pm on a Sunday, when the kitchen has closed, is the quieter option.

The music side is not decoration. Friday nights have DJs, the second Friday of each month is Bring Your Own Vinyl, when regulars carry in their own records to play, and the third Thursday is Spoken Word Night. Inside there is a games area with a Nintendo 64 loaded with the classics, and on dry afternoons the outdoor terrace takes the overflow.

The taproom and yard are family-friendly, dog-friendly and wheelchair accessible. Groups up to about 40 to 50 people can take the back space; bookings for 20 or more go by email to bookings@orbitbeers.com. The common mistake is arriving on a Monday or Tuesday, when the doors stay shut, or planning a big Friday table without booking when a DJ is on.

Tours run only for groups of 15 or more at 20 pounds a head, on Wednesday or Thursday at 6 pm or Saturday at 2 pm. The team walks the group through the brewery and the brewing process, then crosses the road to the taproom for a tasting flight of three beers, one each from the core range, the White Label Series and the Digger's barrel-aged project.

The rules are strict: everyone must be over 18, open-toed shoes are not allowed, animals stay out, and the tour is step-free throughout. Cancellations up to 48 hours ahead get a full refund, and the brewery asks groups to arrive 10 minutes early. A couple or a group of four should skip the tour idea and simply order the core range at the bar.

Fielding Street is a residential side road, so most people arrive from Kennington station on the Northern line or from Elephant and Castle, which has the Bakerloo and Northern lines plus National Rail. From either, the walk is through Victorian terraces and the Pullens estate, whose old workshop yards still house artists and small makers.

Kennington Park, a few minutes west, is the place for a walk before opening time on a Saturday, and the shops around Elephant and Castle give a rainy-day fallback if you arrive before noon. If the taproom is full and nobody has booked, the honest advice is to take cans home rather than wait for a table on a DJ night.

Address: Orbit Beers Brewery and Taproom, 225 and 228 Fielding Street, Walworth, London SE17 3HD. Nearest stations: Kennington and Elephant and Castle. Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 4 pm to 10.30 pm, Friday 4 pm to midnight, Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday noon to 9.30 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. Food from The Dragon Flame BBQ. Brewery tours 20 pounds per person for groups of 15 or more.