Truman Brewery, London — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Old Truman Brewery is one of London's most important cultural and creative hubs, occupying the site of what was once the largest brewery in the world. It stretches along Brick Lane in the heart of London's East End.

The Black Eagle Brewery was founded around 1666, and Joseph Truman took control in the 1680s. Under the Truman family and their successors, it grew relentlessly. By 1760, it was the third-largest porter brewer in London. By 1853, it was the largest brewery in the world, covering six acres and producing 400,000 barrels a year.

The brewery finally closed in 1989, a casualty of changing drinking habits and industry consolidation. But the 11-acre site was given new life as a mixed-use complex of markets, shops, galleries, restaurants, and event spaces. The brewing heritage lives on: the Truman's brand was revived in 2010, and actual beer production resumed in East London in 2013.

Today, the Truman Brewery hosts the Sunday UpMarket, vintage markets, food stalls, fashion pop-ups, and art exhibitions. The architecture is a mix of Georgian, Victorian, and industrial buildings, with the original 1724 Director's House and the iconic chimney stack still standing.

The site is free to wander through and open daily, though individual shops and market stalls have their own hours. If you're on a Questo quest through the East End, the Truman Brewery is where London's industrial past has been reinvented as its creative present.