One Year On
It’s been one year since we refurbished and relaunched The Pembury Tavern as our pub and taproom. Heck, doesn’t time fly.
In 1896, Mr T Cox, publican of The Pembury Tavern at the time, talked about how the majority of his customers were from the residents of the neighbourhood; many of them returning home from work in the city, coming in to meet their friends, sharing a table and some beers at The Pembury.
Over 120 years later, it’s incredible to think how much hasn’t changed for The Pembury Tavern. Our customers are still sharing pints with friends, many of them locals from Hackney and people that live in our community. Many of our customers are still passing by the pub after busy days in the city.
This weekend, we celebrate one year since our refurbishment and relaunch of The Pembury Tavern. This milestone feels like an opportunity to reflect upon the year just gone, and reminisce about some of the great beers, breweries and friends that have visited us.
We’ve also made some observations. Ever wanted to know how many pints a pub can drink 12 months? Or how many pizzas it would take to feed the population of Hackney? Well, here goes…
You guys like beer. Quite a lot.
A whopping 166,000 pints worth! XPA, our 4% Extra Pale Ale, tops the best-selling charts, and accounts for 17% of beer sales at the pub.
We’ve had some amazing guest beers on, too. We added a Classic Best Bitter cask line to showcase some traditional favourites like Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Harvey’s Sussex Best. We celebrated the Citizens of Everywhere project and the spirit of pan-European collaboration in uncertain times, launched a 200 day conditioned lager from Budweiser Budvar, and have had everything on tap from Coconut IPAs to Barrel Aged Stouts.
Cask is flowing.
It’s been interesting to see how much cask has been sold. It amounts to 20% of our total beer sales, which is about 38,000 pints.
During the refurbishment last year, we decided to create two different cellars—one for cask (kept at 9°) and one for keg (kept at a cooler 4°). Having these two different cellars, for different kinds of beer, has enabled The Pembury Tavern cask offering in particular to be something that we’re really proud of nailing.
There is a Best Shandy drinker among us.
Over 3,700 pints of Five Points Best have been sold since we launched our newest core range beer, our take on a classic Best Bitter, back in April.
Including, however, six halves of Best Shandy. You know who you are…
A slice for everyone in Hackney!
You guys have consumed about 35,000 pizzas since we relaunched! That’s 210,000 slices; the same weight as 14.625 giraffes! Or 1.75 elephants! Enough for a slice (and a bite) for everyone living in Hackney, anyway.
It also turns out that the pub’s favourite pizza choice is Marg. A classic, you boring bunch.*
*Joking, we actually really approve. Marg’s our favourite, too. Simple and delicious.
The history of The Pembury Tavern, and Hackney, is pretty cool, huh?
We’ve had a good dig through the Hackney Archives over the past year while we were looking for photos to share online and to display around the pub. We found some gems, and learned a lot about our local area in the process!
Like the time Mare Street flooded, or seeing the Hackney Library van stocking up on books or the milk vending machine that used to stand on the end of the road of Institute Place, which is where our brewery stands.
Also, it’s been cool to see how Hackney looked back in the day. The photo above, left, is Hackney Downs Station in 1925, and on the right it’s Pembury Circus in the early 20th century.
The pub is a space for giving, too.
The Pembury Tavern has hosted seven community and charity events in the past twelve months, and has helped us raise thousands of pounds for charity (over £6,000, we estimate!). Highlights include our Stand Up for Mental Health comedy night, the Hackney Winter Night Shelter Clothing Drive, and our Women in Beer Panel Discussion. Thank you everyone for being so generous.
Ain’t nothing like hosting.
We’ve hosted nine Tap Takeovers and Showcases, and five Five Points beer launches. We had some truly phenomenal beers, from the likes of North Brewing Co, Fierce Beer, Left Handed Giant, Wylam, Donzoko, Lost & Grounded Brewers, and plenty more.
Here’s some nice photos of the past year. And, here’s to another fantastic 12 months, and more beyond!
