#194 | Evin O’Riordain

Last month The Kernel celebrated its 16th (!) birthday. A fantastic achievement by one of the UK’s most-loved breweries. And as the dust settles on our very own Brewers Congress event in the capital last week, we wanted to revisit our chat with brewery founder Evin O’Riordain from earlier this year before normal service resumes on The Brewers Journal podcast next week…. The London brewing scene has changed a great deal in the last decade. Styles have come into, then gone out of, fashion. People have learnt their trade across it and, in many cases, moved on to different companies, different counties, different countries. We’ve also seen breweries open, breweries consolidate, breweries close. But thankfully, one mainstay in England’s capital since 2009 has been The Kernel. Under the stewardship of founder Evin O’Riordain, it is safe to say the brewery has inspired a significant amount of people to get into brewing and for countless more, to look at beer in a different light. And last summer, The Kernel would open its beautiful new taproom on Spa Road. So with the fantastic new space now a Bermondsey mainstay, we caught up with Evin to learn more about the challenges and opportunities this move presented. We discussed the brewery’s evolving beer offering, which include a number of regarded and revered collaborations, The Kernel’s position in London’s ever-changing brewing fabric and more besides.