Changing Scene

The London brewing scene, however, is a different beast to the one that existed only a few years ago, when the latest chapter of the Truman’s journey was being penned.

Hibberd explains: “It started with James Morgan, who was working in Brick Lane at the time, running a beer import business called Milestone Beers, working in and around the Trumans’s Brewery. He asked what had happened to this great old brand. as it was the brand of East London, and one that many people had respect and fondness for.

“He asked simply, where is it? And after, from checking on the IPO office, he found that it was owned by Scottish & Newcastle. He told them he wanted to bring it back, and their response?

“‘We don’t own Truman’s’.

“It took them being sent the registration papers for them to believe they owned it!”

So, Morgan carried on sending them letters every week until they were “thoroughly fed up” and agreed to license to brand to Morgan and Michael-George Hemus.

“This allowed the Truman’s brand to test the market, and prove the concept, to ensure it resonated with drinkers. Beer was brewed at Everards and Nethergate, where a recipe that took a long time to develop, ‘Runner’, was produced, which was massively successful and people got excited about it, which was very encouraging as you may imagine.” he explains.

Fast forward, and Scottish & Newcastle are bought by Heineken and so at that point, it became feasible for Morgan to buy the brand, which included everything that existed of Truman’s, bar the old brewery itself.

In 2011 this completed and following that, the team got busy raising the funds to bring Truman’s “back home” to London and in 2013, they opened the brewery in Hackney Wick.

“When James started the journey to bring Truman’s back, there were around 10 breweries in London and now, that figure is closer to 100. For us, that is only a positive as we really believe that a rising tide raises all ships and we are proud to be part of a vibrant scene,” says Hibberd. “We are slightly different to a lot of startups, and while we have similarities, we have the heritage too. We also have a duty to that, so we make beers for everyone everywhere, a commitment to consistency and quality, and a respect for our peers old, and new.”

He adds: “Our beers are modern, authentic, but also well made with a strong character. We are a small brewer with a big name and we have a small, craft ethos in the way we bring recipes to market, sourcing the best ingredients we possibly can, but we have a big ethos too, in the way we look after our customers, and responding to them.”