The UK is blessed with a number of excellent breweries producing superb lagers. And since 2016 Pillars Brewery in London has been doing just that. Here, co-founder Gavin Litton and head of sales Peter Kennelly outline their commitment, above all else, to quality.

Being a lager brewery is challenging, very challenging. You can call it cliché, I suppose, but we believe quality is always going to win. We might not be the cheapest lager, and I don’t ever want us to be, because the quality is there.” 

Peter Kennelly is in bullish form. And the head of sales at Walthamstow-based Pillars Brewery has every right to be. 

In the challenging market he identifies, the London brewery continues to grow and, as he says, that’s down to the quality of the liquid. Some 34 awards for their beers in the last few years help back up that claim, too.

At the end of 2021, the seasoned sales veteran, though he’d loathe such an accolade, left the revered Berkshire-based Siren Craft Brew to join Pillars and bring his wealth of expertise to help elevate and spread their lager cause. 

“I was really excited to see what the team here were doing. That’s with the beer, the branding, the lot,” he recalls. “Being part of a brewery that solely produces lager is not without its challenges but the absolute priority is, and remains, the consistency and quality of the beer.” 

He adds: “I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m being disingenuous but it really is the quality of the product. And thanks to that, in 2024 alone, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of inbound enquiries coming in from customers in Brighton, Herefordshire, Manchester, Leeds and beyond.

“They are all asking how they can get our beer and, you can imagine, to see that demand from across the country is very humbling and shows we are doing something right. 

“And from a personal point, knowing you can have an influence on a business is a big reason why anyone wants to wake up on a Monday morning and do their job. Luckily at Pillars we have a great team, great support and a great product that I’m proud to sell.”

Joining Pillars in December 2021, Kennelly is part of a team that includes the brewery’s four founders: Gavin Litton, Eamonn Razaq, Omar Razaq, and Samie Razaq. Other members of the team include head brewer Marius Matulevicius, who joined from Beavertown in June 2021, marketing manager Kayleigh Bell, Danielle Chivers, Braden Fletcher, José Silva and Rachel Perry.

But let’s rewind, and before Pillars came to be, Litton was studying for this Computer Science BSc at the University of Sheffield. Upon graduating he would join Deutsche Bank’s graduate scheme. Initially starting in technology he’d transition into the Investment Banking Division, focusing on Tech, Media and Telecoms Mergers and Acquisitions. 

And after several years he made the move to a private equity-backed business to join a client he had worked with at Deutsche Bank. Here, he worked directly with the management team on projects designed to grow the business.

But for someone that had wanted to start their own business since they were 13, it wasn’t long before the opportunity arose to leave the firm and start out elsewhere.

“I was friends with Omar since University, and along with his brothers Eamonn and Samie, we would go on to start Pillars. And the intention was to build a lager-focused brewery. “Why? It’s a huge part of the market, with lager accounting for about 80% of all pints sold in the UK. It’s also non-cyclical so we protect ourselves from periods of hype and downturn.”

As a self-funded business, they would train as brewers with Litton taking on the position of head brewer for the first three years. Running the taproom on the weekends would mean, as is a familiar story, the brewery was a seven day a week calling for a good few years. “We learned a lot in that period,” he smiles.

A significant focus of the team’s funding was committed to securing the brewery’s traditional Bavarian-style brewhouse, complete with its own lauter tun. Because, as Kennelly said earlier, quality was always at the forefront of production. 

The brew team also tailor the water profile for each brew using their onsite water treatment plant and complete the process with a minimum of four weeks of cold conditioning.

Litton is also keen to point out that the brewery’s commitment to producing Bavarian-style lager in the UK has environmental benefits, too.

“From early on, we set out to offer Bavarian-quality lager in London but without the negative CO2 impact of having to import it from Bavaria or the Czech Republic,” he explains. 

“Our goal is to bring UK quality up to the standards of Bavaria, and I think we’re getting there. All without the impact that importing has on the environment.

“The cost of delivering one keg from Bavaria is the same as driving a car for 35 miles here. We’re focused on changing the narrative of UK lager,” adds Litton. 

And in doing so, Pillars are one of number of excellent UK breweries producing equally great lagers and helping change that narrative.

“It’s amazing,” says Kennelly. “We have customers that don’t want to work with the big macros and instead choose to showcase a number of independent UK lagers on tap. So when we see our beers alongside brilliant breweries like Lost and Grounded Brewers, Utopian, Braybrooke and Orbit is a great feeling.”

He adds: “It’s satisfying because I feel that the lager category was the slowest to grow alongside the UK craft beer scene. It was almost something of an ugly duckling at a time where Double IPAs and Imperial Stouts would dominate.

“But things have come full circle and the amount of breweries now making lager is a testament to the demand from the consumer and the increased quality we have here in the UK.” 

And as Pillars Brewery approaches its 10th anniversary milestone, co-founder Litton remains vindicated by the team’s decision to their beloved liquid. 

“As Peter says, we’ve found that the UK pub scene is getting increasingly warm to putting a UK lager on tap. And they can exist alongside some European imports and macros, too.

“The speciality lager market remains in growth and we continue to see an increase in demand. Ultimately, we’re just really happy to be part of that conversation.”