Opening later this month, The pub, set to accommodate 80 covers inside and a further 80 outside, will feature a drinks list including East London Brewing Co.’s heritage cask range, alongside hop-forward keg beers, lagers and a weekly-changing selection of guest cask ales from independent UK breweries. The offer will also include agave-focused cocktails, independent wines and spirits.
Food will be cooked in a dedicated open-fire kitchen, which will launch with a residency from Play With Fire until the end of the year. Chef Matt Purkis, formerly of Lagom and Ibai, will serve reworked pub classics and sharing plates cooked over fire and wood smoke alongside Sunday roasts.
The interior has been designed by London studio 3Stories and will include a green-tiled bar, walnut panelling, stained-glass pendants, a pool table and darts as well as internal windows looking onto the brewhouse. The venue will also include an outdoor terrace and a heated marquee in the yard serving food and drink during the winter. The pub will also have a multi-zonal sound system, with DJs playing at weekends.
The opening follows the brewery’s move in April this year to the 22,000 sq ft site on Lockwood Way, where it says it more than doubled production capacity.
The site, which the business describes as ‘the largest working brewery site on the Mile’, currently houses the Brewers’ Bar taproom, a shop and a 1,500-capacity events space alongside expanded brewing operations.
“East London Brewing was a production brewery for most of its life,” says Ronnie Finch, owner of East London Brewing Co.
“Since April we’ve been a hospitality business that brews its own beer, and The Black Horse Tap is the clearest sign of that.
“Moving to the Beer Mile mattered for the business, but it mattered just as much for being part of a community of independent brewers who support each other.
“The Mile has become a genuine destination in East London and we’re investing in it for the long term.”
Founded in 2011, East London Brewing Co. built its business on cask ale, supplying pubs across London from its former production site in Lea Bridge. Finch became an investor in 2019 before taking ownership in early 2024.
Finch has spent the past decade reopening closed or run-down pubs across East London. His projects include The Duke in Wanstead, Leytonstone Tavern, Tavern on the Hill and Empire Tavern.
ELBC supplies the on-trade directly across London and nationally through wholesalers. It also works with venues as the principal brewer, providing capital investment, cellar support and staff training.