South London's Bermondsey Beer Mile has long been London's established beer mile, however an North East London insurgent is threatening it's crown. Enter Blackhorse Beer Mile, a stretch of industrial spaces along Blackhorse Road, converted in recent years into breweries and taprooms. The lineup changes occasionally, however at time of writing (December 2025), the beer mile includes 7 venues - 5 breweries, a winery, and a brandy house. There's also set to be a new venue, Borough Wines, opening imminently.
Despite living in Walthamstow for over 8 years now, the Blackhorse Beer Mile, in all it's glory, was a relatively recent discovery for me. I am far from a beer connoisseur, so I'd rarely made it past it's first outpost, Big Penny Social. However I've discovered that the Blackhorse Beer Mile, whilst yes, being an excellent destination for a pint, is also so much more. There's a number of great dining options (I often complain that the local dining scene is limited, so this was a very welcome discovery), and always lots going on, from live music at Signature Brew, to comedy and flea markets at the aforementioned BPS.
In the past year I've gone from the beer mile being vaguely on my radar, to it becoming my go-to for a weekend tipple, or a casual bite to eat with friends. So I thought it was high time I put all that "research" to paper. As such, read on for a guide to the Blackhorse Beer Mile, sharing an in-depth overview into the venues that call it home, as well as practical tips for visiting. Whether you're looking to faithfully follow the beer mile from start to finish, or just looking for somewhere for a low key drink, I hope this helps prepare for your Blackhorse Beer Mile adventures.
Blackhorse Beer Mile 101
When to visit Blackhorse Beer Mile: Many of the venues are only open from Thursday or Friday - Sunday. If you want to visit a number of venues, I'd therefore recommend a Thursday / Friday evening or Saturday / Sunday afternoon. You can find more details on individual opening times below.
Getting to Blackhorse Beer Mile: The nearest tube station is Blackhorse Road, on the Victoria Line. From here, the nearest venue, Big Penny Social, is around a 7 minute walk, with the furthest spots around 15 minutes walk away.
Eating around Blackhorse Beer Mile: Pretty much all of the venues have kitchens, from burgers at Exale and pizza at Pretty Decent (pictured) to refined dining at Renegade. Check opening hours, as the kitchen hours may vary from general opening hours. Outside of the beer mile venues, there are also a couple of great nearby food options. Try Slow Burn, for innovative dishes served in a denim factory, or Tavern on the Hill for good ol' pub grub.
Is Blackhorse Beer Mile Kid Friendly? Surprisingly, yes. Maybe not so much at 2am on a Saturday evening during a club night, but many of the venues are generally family friendly. For example, Renegade Winery hosts "Pinots and Bambinos", kid friendly hours between 12-5pm on a Friday. Big Penny Social is always busy with kids, and last time I visited Pretty Decent, it was packed out for a 1st birthday party!
What's the best route for visiting Blackhorse Beer Mile? If you're visiting every venue, the logical route from the station would go something like this: Burnt Faith (brandy) - Big Penny Social - Signature Brew - Pretty Decent - Exale - 40ft - Renegade (winery). You can see them all on my Blackhorse Beer Mile map. However you may want to cherry pick venues you like the sound of best - if so, read on for my full overview of each...
Big Penny Social
There's always something going on at Walthamstow community hub and pillar of the Blackhorse Beer Mile, Big Penny Social. A pub, bar, restaurant, and events space all rolled in to one, I've visited for football match screenings, Halloween discos, flea markets, and just to get a bit of remote working done during the day. It's a vast space, with two large indoor rooms, an upstairs games space, Flukes, and a sprawling beer garden. They also have seasonal pop ups, such as an outdoor "beach" (I use that term very loosely), Walthamstow-on-Sea, in Summer.
The drinks menu includes Big Penny beers (I'm not 100%, but I don't believe these are actually brewed on site), but also cocktails, wines and softs. It's got a full, varied food menu, with plenty of burgers, pizzas, and more elevated mains. It's arguably one of the more family friendly venues too, and you'll often see plenty of little ones on the weekends. Oh, and cute dogs!
Big Penny Social is open 7 days a week from 12PM, with varying closing times.
Read More: The Best Things To Do In Walthamstow
Burnt Faith Brandy House
It was actually the lure of BBQ that first enticed me to Burnt Faith, Blackhorse Beer Mile's resident brandy distillery. The venue houses Black Cactus, a popular BBQ outlet voted the best outside the USA. High praise, indeed.
On a Saturday before Christmas, it's the place to be - in fact we had to come back later as they were initially full when we tried to walk in. So, take this as your reminder to book in advance during peak times. On arrival, we were seated at the bar and offered a complimentary brandy taster. It was surprisingly sweet and drinkable, not the searing burn I associate with liquors.
The drinks menu focuses on brandy cocktails, with around half a dozen classics, and another half a dozen seasonal drinks. We kept it classic with an Espresso Martini and an Old Fashioned. Adam is a total Old Fashioned snob (and drunk more than his fair share to be qualified to critique them!), and was thoroughly impressed with the Burnt Faith rendition.
As for the BBQ? We went all in with a sharing platter, a heaving portion of smoked meats and various sides. There was a tender 14 hour smoked brisket, juicy glazed chicken, and an interesting katsu curry flavoured sausage. My favourite on the platter, somewhat surprisingly, was the scalloped potatoes with a layer of brisket chilli - I could have eaten a vat of the stuff.
Adam and I spent some time eating our way round the BBQ scene of Austin and Dallas, and Burnt Cactus is easily as good. At £85 a platter it's definitely a bit of a splurge - but we ended up taking away leftovers, so it lasted two meals!
Though the food is undoubtedly a major draw, Burnt Faith is ultimately very worth a stop on your Blackhorse Beer Mile tour regardless. The vibe is slightly more elevated than some of the other venues, with a clubby soundtrack and dim lighting. It's got the ambience of a cool bar, but without any attitude. Staff were genuinely lovely all round, checking in and stopping to chat about all things brandy and BBQ. In fact, we enjoyed our experience so much that I can see it becoming a regular haunt.
The Burnt Faith bar is open Thursday-Sunday (current opening times listed here), whilst Black Cactus is Friday-Sunday (hours here).
Exale Taproom
Now I'm not one to play favourites, but when choosing which brewery to grab a drink, and maybe a bite at, Exale Taproom is more often than not my go-to choice on the Blackhorse Beer Mile. The on-site brewhouse produces a range of beers, but for the non-beer drinkers there's also a decent cocktail and wine menu. It's usually a fairly laidback affair, however they often have events on, such as karaoke and Halloween movie nights. They also host a revolving kitchen bringing in local street food vendors. At time of writing this is burgers from Patty & Pickle. Whenever I've eaten here the food has been great, so definitely go hungry!
Exale is open Thursday 4-10PM, Friday 4PM-2AM, Saturday 12PM-2AM, and Sunday 12-8PM.
Pretty Decent
Pretty Decent Beer Co is somewhat of an East London stalwart, with three venues across the region. The Blackhorse Road branch hosts their brewhouse and largest taproom, with plenty of indoor and outdoor space. There's a lot to like about this East London beer brand, with fun, playful branding that spans their beers and interiors, to their range of merch.
Their beer menu includes a core range, as well as 1-3 new drops weekly. Half the fun is deciding which to try - session IPA "I could get better at T*sco for a quid", or perhaps milk stout "employee of the month" (I definitely want to join their naming team, if they're hiring. Seems fun). Visit on Thursdays for £4 pints of new releases. For the non-beer drinkers, there's plenty of alternatives, including wine and spritzes.
Despite all these draws, the thing that most regularly entices me to Pretty Decent is actually not the drinks, but the food. Neapolitan pizza specialists It's Not Big Dough serve up pizzas from a truck in the front yard, with a truly delicious menu including regularly changing specials. It's one of my favourite pizzas in Walthamstow, pairing perfectly with Pretty Decent's drinks menu.
Pretty Decent is open Wednesday-Friday 4-11pm, Saturday 12-11pm, and Sunday 12-8pm.
Signature Brew
Whilst many of the venues also have live events and performances, Blackhorse Road's Signature Brew is all about music. The brewery combines a range of eponymous beers brewed on site with a varied schedule of music events covering all sorts of genres - so there's a bit of something for everyone. I've actually yet to make it to a gig myself, but I often stop in for a drink or two whilst on the Blackhorse Beer Mile.
Their beer list is fairly concise, with the usual suspects - at time of writing, two IPAs, a lager and a pale ale. But they also have a thorough menu of wines, spirits, cocktails and softs. Their food offering comes from Los Gordos, with a focus on Mexican staples like tacos and nachos. Again, I have yet to try this, but will report back - or if you go, let me know how it is in the comments below!
Signature Brew is open from 4pm Tuesday-Thursday, and 12pm Friday-Sunday, with various closing times, viewable here.
40ft Brewery
Out of all the venues along Blackhorse Beer Mile, 40ft Brewery is perhaps most what you imagine your classic brewery and tap room to be. Where many of the other venues on this list have all sorts of bells and whistles, 40ft focuses on beer. The space itself is no frills, a fairly simple room filled with lines of brewing tanks, a bar, and basic canteen style seating. There's a large outdoor seating area, which fills up on a sunny Summer afternoon.
Though it not might have a heaving roster of events, 40ft Brewery is nonetheless a great addition to the Beer Mile. It's a lovely low key spot for a drink - beer, of course, but they also have a decent cocktail menu. There's also occasional resident kitchen takeovers, and special edition collaborative beers available.
40ft Brewery is open Thursday - Sunday, full timings available here.
Renegade Winery
I'm not a massive beer enthusiast. Probably not the best thing to admit in a guide about a beer mile, but so be it. I am, however, a keen wine drinker (well, I was until I hit my 30s and two day hangovers became a thing). So, Renegade Urban Winery is unsurprisingly up there as one of my favourite spots on the Blackhorse Beer Mile. As to whether it counts, if it's a wine bar? Well, we're claiming it. Feel free to complain in the comments if you so wish.
The ground floor of Renegade is a functioning wine....factory (I have no idea what the technical terminology is here)? You step in to the smells of grapes, alcohol, tart and acidic, emanating off mysterious silver tanks. Past this, a set of steps heads up to the first floor, where the bar and restaurant looks out over the action below.
The bar, unsurprisingly, stocks Renegade's wine, of which they make around 12-14 varieties a year. There's a range - red, white, but also rosé, orange, bubbles. I'd recommend trying one of their flights, which is a fun way to experience a few different flavours. A playful twist, is that the bottles are all named after UK residents. These could be anyone - young, old, plumbers, teachers, from North or South. Each bottle is labelled with a picture of that person's eyes, making for a fun addition to your wine cabinet (and yes, you can buy bottles to take away - I regularly buy these as presents). They open up applications every now and then - and yes, I am absolutely going to apply next round. Who knows, you might end up drinking a glass of Anoushka soon!
Whilst most of the breweries on this list have fairly low key street food offerings, Renegade actually hosts a kitchen with a rather elegant menu. It's international fare, and veggie and vegan friendly. At £12-14 a dish for fairly small portions, it does rather rack up for a full meal - so definitely one for a nicer occasion than a quick bite. The sticky toffee pudding is a delight! On Sundays, there's also a roast menu, which I'm definitely going to have to head back to check out.
I hope this guide to the Blackhorse Beer Mile has been helpful. I'm aiming to update it as I discover more of the Beer Mile, from new openings to the various events and experiences on offer. If you have any questions, please do pop them in the comments below. And if you're looking for more things to do in Walthamstow, make sure to check out my ultimate Walthamstow local's guide.
