Cheers! Entrepreneur reviving Wimbledon Brewery brand 183 years after it began

Mark Gordon left his job in banking in 2013 to set up the Wimbledon Brewery, and is hoping pour his first pint as early as June this year.

The name pays homage to the company of the same name set up by William Cook in 1832, but Mr Gordon will bring it bang-up-to-date with new beers, brewery tours and merchandise.

A pump clip for the company's first beer

He will be working with master brewer, Derek Prentice, who will be head brewer, with a small number of other staff to begin with.

The original Wimbledon Brewery was a Tower Brewery - a five storey high building which is said to have used state-of-the-art techniques before it burnt down in 1889.

Only a few bricks of it remain which have been worked into the current building which still sits opposite the Dog and Fox pub in Wimbledon Village.

The former brewery in Wimbledon Village

In 1889 it became a fire station, because, according to Mr Gordon, the fire alerted people to the need to have fire engines based in the area.

An article published in the Surrey Independent and Mid-Surrey Standard in January 1889 said: "A fire broke out in the Wimbledon Brewery on Wednesday morning, and in consequence of the long delay that occurred before the arrival of the fire engine, the whole of the inside of the building was consumed, the damage being estimated at £2,000."

The article went on to explain the frosty conditions in Wimbledon Hill Road meant it was too slippery to get the engine up, and they diverted to St Mary's Road, which was still a struggle.

Firefighters had to push the engine along the steepest part of the road.

The article said: "About six o'clock the tank on the top floor came down, and the contents being emptied on to the flames, did more to extinguish them than all the work of the brigade."

Mr Gordon, who lives in Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon, has international ambitions for the new Wimbledon Brewery but will start by opening a micro-brewery by the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood.

Up to 80,000 pints a week could be produced at the site in Prince Georges Road, Colliers Wood after Merton Council granted planning permission in December.

First on the list is a pale ale or bitter called Common, paying homage to Wimbledon Common, where the original brewers sourced their water.

Mr Gordon, 46, said: "We want to be part of the Merton community.

"If we get it right, it can be something Merton can be proud of."

He explained there will be a range of five core beers, with other flavours including elderflower in the early stages of planning.

"We want to do something traditional with a modern edge to it," he said.

He will not be reviving the Victorian recipes, however.

"Then it was a lot stronger - it was seven or eight per cent and the flavour was different.

"The modern palate is different," Mr Gordon said.

The Wimbledon Brewery logo, which has been designed to incorporate a press drawing of the original brewery and a phoenix rising from the flames, could soon be seen in pubs and bars across the borough and beyond.

Wandsworth based brewery Sambrook’s is said to be unhappy with a new rival setting up so close by, which will be one of about 60 breweries in London alone.

A launch for the new company is scheduled for June.