£5 a Pint or Less: 11 Independent London Pubs Put Local Brewers on the Bar
Market Taverns celebrates independent beer with an exclusive Sambrook’s Brew, award-wining ales and fresh discoveries across the capital.
London drinkers are being invited to ditch their usual pint and discover a new favourite as independent pub company Market Taverns launches a 12-day cask ale festival across 11 London pubs celebrating the capital’s independent brewing scene.
From 28 October to 8 November 2026, 59 different beers will be dropping into different pubs throughout the festival, giving drinkers plenty of reason to explore what’s on the handpulls and try something new. The changing selection of festival ales will be pouring for £5 a pint or less, bringing together award-winning favourites, autumn specials and an exclusive brew created for the occasion.
Leading the discoveries is Market Pale Ale, a 4% beer brewed exclusively for Market Taverns by Sambrook’s Brewery, with citrus, pine and tropical hop notes. There is plenty more worth seeking out. Twickenham Brewery’s Naked Ladies, a former CAMRA Champion Beer of London, takes its name from the water-nymph statues in York House Gardens. Brockley Brewery’s award-winning Harcourt Red brings toffee, treacle and orange flavours, while Jiddler’s Tipple’s Swifty Session IPA, named World’s Best Session IPA at the 2025 World Beer Awards, joins London Tipple IPA, its limited-edition collaboration with Fuller’s.
For those drawn to darker beers, Big Smoke’s Dark Wave porter offers chocolate, coffee and caramel, while Village Brewery’s Devil’s Horse, a 4.3% Irish stout, combines rich coffee, chocolate and toffee flavours with a balanced spicy bitterness. Fresh-hop specials and autumn reds add a seasonal flavour, and Small Beer’s 2.3% IPA and 2.5% Pale show how much character can come at a lower strength.
Alongside Sambrook’s the line-up includes, Anspach & Hobday, Brockley Brewery, Belleville Brewing Company, Twickenham Brewery, Big Smoke, Small Beer, Jiddler’s Tipple, Village Brewery, Howling Hops and Redemption Brewing, alongside Wolfpack Howler Stout supplied by Great British Drinks Company.
The festival comes at an important time for Britain’s independent brewers. New 2026 research from the Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA) found that eight out of ten beer drinkers believe it is important for pubs to offer beers from small breweries alongside global brands. Yet independent breweries say they are unable to sell their beers into around 62% of pubs in their local markets. Cask remains hugely important to those smaller producers, accounting for 58% of the beer produced by independent breweries, while 31% of beer consumers say they would be encouraged to try cask if it had been brewed locally. Market Taverns aims to help close that gap, putting genuinely independent London beer onto the bars of genuinely independent London pubs.
Miles Slade, CEO of Market Taverns, said, “We’re proudly independent ourselves, so backing brilliant independent London brewers feels like exactly what we should be doing. London has an extraordinary brewing scene and there are some fantastic beers being produced on our doorstep. Giving those brewers more space on our bars encourages customers to try something new and with pints at £5 or less, including Market Pale Ale brewed exclusively for us by Sambrook’s, there’s every reason to give one a go.”
Selected pubs will host Meet the Brewer evenings, brewery takeovers and tastings, putting the people behind the beer in front of the people drinking it. Beer line-ups and event details will be announced through individual pubs’ social channels. Miles added: “You can’t recreate a beautifully kept pint pulled through a hand pump at home. That’s something worth coming to the pub for. You don’t need to know your hops from your malt. Come in, ask what’s on and see what you like. Every festival pint helps support an independent brewer and an independent pub.”
FESTIVAL DETAILS: 11 PUBS. 12 DAYS. £5 A PINT OR LESS.
The Market Taverns Cask Ale Festival runs from 28 October–8 November 2026 at:
The Market Porter, SE1; The Cleveland Arms, W2; The Carpenters Arms, W1; The Lady Ottoline, WC1; The Perseverance, WC1; The Sporting Page, SW10; Lots Road, SW10, The Crown & Anchor, W4; The Prince of Wales, SW15; The Spencer Arms, SW15; and The Arab Boy, SW15.
* Festival cask ales are £5 a pint, except at The Spencer Arms, where pints are £4.50. Beer availability varies between pubs and throughout the festival. Follow your local participating pub’s social channels for what’s pouring and what’s coming next.
For further information please contact Maureen Heffernan via maureenheffernan@leisurepr.co.uk.
Third-party news items are published as received for informational purposes. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Guild. Please use the contact details within the post for any enquiries.
Comments