Five Points Brewing Co

The Five Points Brewing Company was founded in Hackney in 2013 by Ed Mason and Greg Hobbs. Ed had already built experience running hospitality venues in London and Leeds, including the early Shoreditch craft beer bar Mason & Taylor, while Greg had moved from working behind the bar at The Duke of Wellington in Dalston into brewing at East London Brewing Company. Their shared interest in beer gradually developed into plans for a brewery rooted in Hackney.

The brewery took its name from the five-way junction near its original home beneath Hackney Downs railway station. In early 2013 Greg began developing recipes on a small pilot kit in a cold railway arch near The Pembury Tavern, while a 16-hectolitre brewhouse was installed for commercial production. The first commercial brew took place on 9 March 2013 and was racked into cask before Ed personally delivered it to the brewery's first customers in a Five Points van.

Those early beers were released openly as 'Trial Brew' versions, allowing the team to gather feedback and refine recipes before committing to a permanent range. By the summer of 2013, Five Points Pale, Hook Island Red and Railway Porter had become the brewery's first core beers. Railway Porter changed remarkably little from its original pilot recipe, while the brewery's distinctive visual identity and packaging, developed by Kate Lyons, helped the beers stand out alongside their flavour.

Five Points expanded steadily from its railway arch beginnings, adding staff, fermentation capacity, a larger brewhouse, warehouse space and export markets as demand grew. In 2018, crowdfunding helped the brewery acquire The Pembury Tavern, the Hackney pub close to where its earliest recipes had been developed, deepening the company's connection with local hospitality as well as brewing.

After operating across separate brewery, office and warehouse sites for a number of years, Five Points consolidated the business at its Mare Street warehouse in 2021. The building was refitted as the brewery's new production home, bringing more of the company together under one roof, while a new onsite taproom was created at the same time to give drinkers a place to enjoy the beer directly alongside the brewery.

The hospitality side of the Mare Street site expanded again in May 2023 with the opening of The Five Points Courtyard. Conceived as a permanent version of the brewery's earlier yard parties, the outdoor space combines tank-fresh Five Points beer with food from From The Ashes BBQ, live sport and events. The Taproom & Courtyard is now open from Thursday to Sunday and also hosts brewery tours and tastings.

Quality cask beer has remained an important part of Five Points throughout its growth. Alongside brewing its own cask range, the brewery has supported pubs and other stockists with a dedicated care scheme intended to help ensure its beers are stored, handled and served properly once they leave the brewery.

Five Points marked its tenth anniversary in 2023 having grown from a small railway-arch brewery into a larger independent brewing and hospitality business in the heart of Hackney. Despite that expansion, its original aims remain central: producing approachable, well-made beer for a broad audience while supporting its local community and continuing to champion independent brewing.