The iconic East End brewer Truman’s is set to re-open its doors this weekend having been closed for the past 24 years.
Truman’s, which established itself 350-years ago as one of the great names of British brewing, will open a brand new brewery in Hackney Wick having been acquired and refounded by James Morgan and Michael-George Hemus in 2010 as part of a £1m investment. Truman’s beer has previously been brewed under license at the Nethergate brewery in Essex.
The new 10,000 sq ft brewery – named The Eyrie, the term for an Eagle’s roost – will again make Truman’s the biggest cask ale producer in East London.
The team has also recovered the original yeast strain that was used at the Brick Lane brewery in its heyday. Preserved in liquid nitrogen since 1958 at temperatures of -196c, the yeast will ensure that the beer produced is linked to Truman's past.
James Morgan, managing director, said: “I am just delighted, and not a little humbled, to be able to return Truman’s to East London. We are producing brilliant, flavour-packed ale from our new brewery and are working hard to ensure that Truman’s Beer is once again a great name in brewing.”
Founded in Brick Lane in 1666, Truman’s was once a heavyweight of British brewing – by the late 1800s it was the world’s largest brewer. It fell victim to the merger mania of the 70s and 80s, after which the pubs were sold and the Black Eagle Brewery closed in 1989.
It was announced announced that Malcolm Heap, founder and former managing director of Realpubs, which was sold to Greene King for £53.1m in 2011, is now chairman of the company.