Kernel at 10: an exemplar of good practice & good beer
A lot has happened in the last 10 years and a good deal of it not for the good.
One positive has been the explosion of craft beer, in terms of styles, availability and quality.
Few if any breweries encapsulate that better than Kernel and its founder Evin O’Riordan who has now been brewing with a beard for 10 years.
Kernel held a 10th birthday event at their new taproom in Sarf London on Saturday 14th September (its at the end of Enid St, the far end of the Bermondsey Beer Mile). The taproom is not yet open generally but looks very decent.
Suffice to say that many of those who have featured in the development of craft beer over the last 10 years were there. I don’t plan to name them though I should perhaps mention Jonny Bright who now runs the Hereford Beer Shop. He was the original brewer at London Fields way back in 2011 when as Wiki notes it was the first commercial brewery to open in Hackney since the nineteenth century. Many more followed.
Kernel’s beer remains excellent. I particularly enjoyed the Saison made with Oliver’s cider apples underlining that Kernel to push at the boundaries of what makes good and interesting beer 10 years on.
The bottles and the label remain as they were although rather easier to get nowadays. As much to the point Kernel just continues doing what it does very well. No crowdfunding, takeovers and mega-expansion plans.
Its perhaps the toughest of all business models but arguably the best.
Here’s to the next 10 years.
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