By The Horns were one of the so-called second wave of breweries to open in London when Alex Bull and Chris Mills started brewing professionally back in 2011. In the years since, the Wandsworth brewery has produced more than 250 different beers, secured prestigious listings and opened a taproom that’s a local community hub. And with new kit bedded-in, they’re just getting started.  

We’ve all been there. You’re sat around, or maybe standing. Who knows. But you’re daydreaming about doing something different for a living, certain that the grass is greener on the other side and there’s a much more exciting existence just around the corner. You might also want to be your own boss, managing your own time. Most of us do, after all.

So when Alex Bull and Chris Mills, university friends whose collective eyes had been broadened by travel and working abroad, started new jobs back in London nearly 10 years ago, it didn’t take long for the duo to get itchy feet and long for something new. And didn’t help their cause that they had also been bitten by the beer bug, too. At that point, there was no going back.

“It’s only when you are drinking fresh Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for the first time, you truly realise how crap the lager you were dealing with at university was,” laughs Alex Bull, co-founder of London’s By The Horns Brewing Co.

Friends through university, Bull and Mills studied different degrees during their time at Bath but both followed the path to North America following their studies. While Bull departed for North California to teach football, Mills’ travels would take him to famed skiing destination Whistler, north of Vancouver.

While the modern UK beer scene was very much in its infancy back in 2008, Bull was having his beer epiphany thanks to Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale. One of hundreds, thousands and more, that said beer has lit a fire under.

“Being so close to Chico meant great beer from the brewery was everywhere. It really made me look at things in a different way,” says Bull. “It put things in perspective.”

While Bull was imbibing fresh Pale Ale, Mills was going on his beer journey in British Columbia. Establishments such as the Whistler Brewhouse would broaden his palate, beers Bull would also enjoy after making his own trip to Whistler and the North West the year following. 

“The problem is, when you return home, you realised you had then taken those beers for granted and easy access to the beers we now loved was not so easy!” says Bull.

Thankfully for them, some supermarkets were starting to bring over some US staples, while CAMRA beer festivals helped scratch that particular itch. Just not enough, evidently.

“We drank some great beer at those festivals. But we drank some bad beer, too,” says Bull. “So after a couple of pints, you’re full of confidence you can do things better yourself. Obviously.”

A homebrew kit was ordered, as were various books to complement their learning. These volumes were read and absorbed in swift fashion so other titles followed in what Bull recalls an important time of learning for the duo.

It should come as no surprise that clones of Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale were the brewers’ foray into the world of beer production. Beers that went down well, especially at the house parties hosted as their shared house. Nearly a year passed and by the middle of 2010, Mills and Bull spotted an opportunity and sensed the timing was right to take it.

“We would attend all of these festivals but be surprised at how comparatively few breweries actually operated out of London,” says Bull. “We both loved the idea of doing something for ourselves so at that point, the seeds for sown for us to pursue our own brewery.”

In the world of work. Mills was handling offshore purchasing for a marketing business, while Bull was on a graduate scheme at an oil company. They used their spare time to locate a site that could enable the would-be brewers to start a small brewery that could be run as both a hobby, and a part-time profession. 

This site would end up being in Summerstown in SW17, a little-known area between Wimbledon, Tooting and Clapham. Investment from the duo, friends and family would secure the site and also the necessary kit required to get going. 

Tanks that were bought from Holland arrived complete with Heineken and Amstel sticks adorning their exterior. Kit that was sent to Oban Ales which fabricated the tanks to their specification. Though those tanks have long since been sold, Bull is certain those well-known logos are still present under the cladding their retrofitted.

“We started out with a 5.5 bbl kit, brewing once or twice a week. Beers like Stiff Upper Lip we still brew now, but others like an American-style wheat beer have fallen by the wayside,” he says. “Maybe those types of hazy beers, especially on cask, weren’t right for the time. The amount of times that beer would be returned because of its appearance was unreal.”

Bull was able to convince his employers to change his hours to part-time, while Mills continued in full-time employment. While Bull would carry out day-to-day duties at the brewery, Mills would head there after work before brewing, cleaning and planning into the evening.

He says: “We were living in a shared house at the time so while it was hard work, it was both fun and exciting, too. We had a passion to get our beers on hand pumps in pubs we love and bottles in the off licences. That vision drives you during those cold late nights.”

Recipes such as the 5.1% Lambeth Porter would go on to win awards across the UK and the brewery’s beers would find a home on the guest taps of the prestigious pubs Bull and Mills had hoped.

“We knew most of the independent real ale pubs across London because we drank in them,” says Bull. “So we’d approach places we respected such as The Bricklayers Arms in Putney and The Bree Louise in Euston, anywhere that was well regarded and sold guest beers.”

Such beers ended up on rotation at 10 or so pubs so extra capacity was added early on, all at a time where Bull and Mills were endeavouring to teach themselves everything and anything about running the brewery. 

He recalls: “I feel like we were a part of the second wave of London breweries. Before us you had Sambrook’s, Redemption, Windsor & Eton and The Kernel. Then it was us and outfits such as ELB, Moncada and Hackney Brewery.

“We look back at how we’ve developed, the investment in kit such conditioning tanks back in 2013 and there was no manual for small breweries making beers like we wanted. The only advice available was on big scale for bigger breweries. It was challenging, but it was an opportunity, too.”

So when it came to moving into kegged beers, By The Horns sat down and assessed their options. This would result in the decision to invest in conditioning tanks, run it through a carbonation stone, drop bright in the tank before carbonating and keg on site. 

“We like to do everything on site because it allows us to control everything, manage our expectations, and teach ourselves the best process. I’m proud of how quality procedures continue to improve over the years. We’ve learnt a a lot,” says Bull.

He explains: “Learning is so important at a brewery. If you don’t learn then you don’t grow. After the first two years we had brewed 80 beers. We’re now up to 250. It’s a leaning process and a valuable one. But the beers have never been better.”

Bull has never been happier with the brewery’s beers and processes. A core can and keg range comprises beers such as Hopadelic Session IPA, Cosmic Warrior Pale Ale and a 4.0% Lager. While core cask bees include Giggle Mug Amber Bitter, Lambeth Walk and Stiff Upper Lip. These are complemented by seasonal and special numbers such as Dead Man’s Chest Oyster Oatmeal Rum Stout, a Brut IPA called Spark Dust, Dusk till Dawn Old Amber Ale and Chateau Rouge, a wine barrel-aged Red Farmhouse Saison.

The company’s equipment setup is at its most modern, too. A recent investment in a Framax canning line has given the brewery the ability to fill 250ml, 330ml, 440ml and 500ml vessels at upwards of 1,000 cans per hour. 

“I did my research and the gravity fill technology featured in a lot of American systems seemed ok, and clearly do well for many breweries, but I wasn’t convinced,” says Bull. “Working with Framax, they supplied us a counter pressure filler with the same technology in their rotary lines. It was expensive but in terms of quality and what we perceive was right for us it made sense.”

It’s no coincidence that investment in in-house canning has timed perfectly with a rebrand that adorns marketing material and vessels such as cans.

“We were improving as a brewery, improving as a team so we felt it was time to pause and refresh. We wanted to take the brewery forward and impactful, strong branding is key to that,” he says. “A lot had changed in the years we had been brewing so a rebrand was timely.”

Bull and Mills were impressed with the work Nebojsa Matkovic put into a mock up brewery, work designed to showcase his wares to potential brewery clients. Those designs adorn the blank canvas labels are then applied to, creating a complex and strong juxtaposition of artwork.

Working on the brewery’s canned output has been part of the bigger picture, but a new contract with online drinks membership business Flavourly will see the brewery’s canned output grow even further. So much so, that the arrival of two new 4,000l vessels is imminent and for the first time, canned produce will become the majority package for By The Horns.

Bull explains: “At the moment we are 65% cask, 20% keg and 15% can. By the end of this year, that will swing to 80% can. We never wanted to commit to major contracts without the ability to cater for them. But the new capacity and with canning technology in-house, we can confidently fulfil these obligations.”

Not bad progress for a team that fell into the world of quality modern beer.

“We want to push on, make new beers and never lose sight of that desire to experiment,” says Bull. “If we can do that, improve all the time, grow this time and brew beers people enjoy then it’s job done.”