FAQs
Where can I buy your beers?
You can buy all our small-pack beers (and other merchandise) on-line from our webshop, or direct from the brewery. If you live in a London E-postcode you can call or email us and request a local delivery.
If you’d like to know which shops, pubs or bars stock us, please just drop us a line, letting us know your postcode.
If you are a trade outlet, please see the trade page on our website for information on how to stock our beers. We direct deliver within the M25 and work with a range of wholesalers and distributors outside London.
Do you export your beers?
We export our beers to some European countries and are interested in growing our export business. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this in more detail.
What are the different types of beer you brew?
We have a core range of bottled beers (that broadly mirror our cask range) and a core range of canned beers (that broadly mirror our keg range). In addition, we brew regular 'special' and seasonal beers. You can find descriptions of all our beers here, on our tasting notes page.
Do you bottle or can your beers?
Our beers are available in cask, keg, bottle, can and bag-in-box. Please see our webshop for current availability, or if you’re enquiring for a trade outlet, please see the trade page on our website for information on what we currently have available. Please note that some of our bottled beers are 'bottle-conditioned' (ie they undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle) and may therefore contain a bit of yeast sediment. All bottle-conditioned beers will say so on the label. These beers are better poured than drunk from the bottle.
What is the difference between cask and keg beer?
Cask beer, alternatively known as 'real' ale, traditional ale, cask-conditioned beer or 'beer from the handpull', is a natural product. It is unpasteurised and contains live yeast. It is fermented twice: once in a fermentation vessel and subsequently in the cask. It is less fizzy than keg beer as it has no added gas – its light sparkle is from CO2 produced naturally during fermentation.
Most of the rest of the world – and increasingly the UK – drinks beer from kegs. This is unlike the traditional British cask beer, is served colder and is typically fizzier than cask ale. You can identify it as the beer poured from ‘taps’ (rather than hand-pulls) on the bar. Kegged beers are brewery conditioned, undergoing a primary fermentation at the brewery. They are then force-carbonated to give them their fizz. In the pub’s cellar, kegs stand on their end for dispensing with a coupler attached to the single aperture which feeds gas into the keg to push the beer towards the bar.
I'm having a party, can I buy some keg/cask beer from you for it?
We are happy to supply our casks/kegs for private parties, with a returnable £100 deposit. Before you order, though, we ask you carefully consider the following:
- Kegged beer cannot be served without some form of keggerator to dispense it (as kegged beer is pressurised) so if you do not have a method of dispense, you will not be able to serve East End Lager or any of the kegged beers we do
- Cask beer CAN be served without any dispense, but bear in mind that cask beers contain yeast sediment, so you cannot move the cask before serving it -- it needs to sit in the same place and left to settle for 24 hours before you 'tap' it (open it), otherwise your guests may get a mouthful of yeast sediment (which won't kill them, but isn't pleasant). You also must have a way to keep the cask cool
- As most people having parties don't have the facility to leave the cask in the same place while keeping it cool for 24 hours, the easiest option is to take the beer ''bright''
- ''Bright'' beer is cask beer with the yeast sediment removed -- we do this for you in the brewery by racking a cask, leaving it to settle and then pouring the beer into a clean cask; we need 24 hours to do this
- You then don't have to worry about leaving it to settle
- We can also do ''bright'' beer in bag-in-boxes -- this is the same process, ie we rack a cask and leave it to settle and then fill the bag in boxes (10lt/~17 pints or 20lt /~35 pints)
How should I keep my cask beer?
Casks are ‘barrel’ shaped containers, mainly stillaged on their sides (to help trap the yeast sediment) and with a tap in the cask 'head' and a 'spile' inserted in the filling aperture which is used to control the 'condition' or CO2 content of the beer. In restricted cellars, it is possible to dispense cask beer from a cask set vertically by inserting a long stem into the tap hole (which does not quite go to the bottom of the container into the yeast sediment). Cask beer needs educated care from well-trained cellar staff. The quality of a cask beer served to a customer is highly dependent on how it is treated in the pub and on the hygiene routine operated (e.g. a weekly, thorough, line-clean with an appropriate product). Once put on sale (‘tapped’), a cask should be sold within 72 hours as it is a living product. It should be served cool – 11 to 13 degrees centigrade, to allow its full flavour and aroma to be savoured.
We can advise on all aspects of keeping and dispensing cask and keg beer in the best possible way to ensure a great customer experience. From knowing when to tap your beer, to your line-cleaning regime and detecting 'off' flavours, we are here to help – please just email or call us at the brewery.
Do East London Brewing beers contain gluten?
Gluten is found in the grains, such as barley and wheat, used to make most beers. In most countries, beer must contain fewer than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten to be considered gluten-free. During the brewing process, gluten levels decrease significantly, but most beers will nevertheless contain more than 20 ppm of gluten. A lager will typically have a gluten content of around 60 ppm, while a stout might contain 350 ppm, depending on their precise ingredients.We do not currently brew a totally gluten-free beer and our beers contain levels of gluten that may not be suitable for people who are gluten-intolerant.
Is East London Brewing beer suitable for vegetarians / vegans?
Yes, all our beers, whether in cask, keg, bottle, can or bag-in-box are made without using any animal-derived products and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
What is bag-in-box beer?
Bag-in-box beer is, as it sounds, beer in a polythene bag inside a box (just like the wine boxes you get in supermarkets, but bigger). There is a perforated opening in the box, though which a tap, attached to the bag, can be pulled. Bag-in-box beer is prepared to order and is available in 20lt (35 pint) and 10lt (17 pint) sizes. We need 24 hours to prepare it for you (but occasionally we do have one or two ready-prepared, so always worth asking, even if last minute!). You can choose to fill your bag-in-box with any of our cask (but not keg) beers. Bag-in-box beer is convenient for parties or picnics, as unlike cask beer, you do not need to leave it to settle, as the yeast sediment has already been removed. The beer inside is known as 'bright' beer. Pubs can attach bag-in-box taps to handpulls using a connector – please ask if you’re interested!
What is 'bright' beer?
Bright beer is live (cask) beer that has had the yeast sediment removed and which therefore does not need to be left to settle before drinking – you can drink it right away. We typically provide bright beer for events – such as weddings – where the venue is unable to leave the beer in a cold place to settle before serving. Bright beer can be provided in 9g cask or 20lt/10lt bag-in-boxes.
How do I store bright beer?
Bright beer, whether in cask or bag-in-box, must be kept cool (at 10-12 degrees). Bright beer in cask should be drunk within 24 hours of being opened (‘tapped’). Bag-in-box beer, because of the bag’s ability to exclude oxygen (the enemy of live beer), kept well, should last a good week to 10 days. Please note, that if the beer gets warm, it may continue its fermentation process and start to produce CO2. If this happens and the bag swells, you can simply release the pressure by carefully opening the tap when the box is upside down (so the beer itself is not released!)
What are the dimensions of a bag in box?
Our 20lt bag-in-boxes, which contain 35 pints, are 25cm x 25cm x 39cm.
Our 10lt bag-in-boxes, which contain 17 pints, are 20cm x 20cm x 33cm.
I’ve bought a beer that doesn’t look/taste right – what should I do?
We take great care and pride in making our beer and hope that you enjoy it in the best possible condition. Sometimes things do go wrong – for example a faulty crown-cap on a bottle that exposes the beer to air. In the unlikely circumstance that you think something might be wrong with a beer you have bought from us, please do let us know and if possible take a picture and we will do our best to make it up to you!