We get asked about the Fuller's brewery tour fairly often — usually by guests who've done our craft crawl on the Bermondsey Beer Mile and want to see the other end of London brewing: proper heritage. The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick has been making beer on the same riverside site since 1845, and its tour is one of the most historic brewery visits you can do in the capital. Here's an honest, fair guide to what the tour actually involves, what it costs, how to book, and how it compares to a guided crawl like ours. As with any brewery we don't run ourselves, check the official Fuller's site for the current format, exact prices and opening times before you book — we're reviewing this as regular visitors, not as the operator.
What is Fuller's, and where is the Griffin Brewery?
Fuller's has brewed on the same Chiswick site beside the Thames since 1845, making it one of the oldest working breweries in London. It's best known for London Pride, a cask ale that's practically a London institution, alongside a wider range of cask and bottled beers. The brewery itself — officially the Griffin Brewery — sits well west of central London in Chiswick, a good half-day trip rather than a quick pop-in from Bermondsey or Camden.
What does the tour include?
Fuller's tours have historically walked visitors through the historic brewhouse, the fermenting rooms and the cask cellars, with a guide explaining traditional cask ale production and the site's long history, before finishing with a tasting of the core range. It's a heritage-led experience — more about craftsmanship and 180 years of brewing history than about hop varieties or experimental styles. Check the official Fuller's site for the current tour structure before you book, since formats and running times do change.
What we can say from having sent our own guests there: it's a genuinely atmospheric site, the cask cellars are impressive, and it's a lovely contrast if all you've tried before is modern keg-forward craft beer.
How much does it cost?
Single-brewery tours in London, including tours of this kind, typically run from around £20–£30 per person, though exact pricing depends on the tour type and changes over time. Always check the official Fuller's site for current prices rather than budgeting off an old figure. For comparison, our own guided Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour is £49 per person, runs 2–3.5 hours and includes a tutored tasting at every one of four independent taprooms — a different kind of day out at a different price point, worth weighing up alongside a single heritage visit.
How long does it last?
Single-brewery tours generally run two to four hours, including the tasting at the end. That's a fraction of the time you'd spend on a guided multi-brewery crawl — ours runs 2–3.5 hours precisely because it's built around four taprooms rather than one historic site.
Do you need to book in advance?
Yes. Tour slots at a well-known heritage brewery like this are limited, and weekend dates can sell out, particularly in summer, so book ahead through the official channel rather than turning up on the day hoping for a space. The same is true of any guided group tour, including ours — book early, especially for weekends.
Is it good for beginners?
Yes, especially if you're curious about the history and craft of traditional British cask ale rather than the newer wave of hoppy, canned craft beer. It's a gentle, story-led way to understand where London brewing came from, and a nice bit of context before diving into the city's independent scene.
Fuller's vs the Bermondsey Beer Mile: what's the real difference?
Here's the honest comparison rather than a sales pitch:
- Heritage vs craft. Fuller's is 180 years of brewing history on one riverside site, centred on traditional cask ale. Our guided Bermondsey Beer Mile crawl is modern independent craft beer across four taprooms — different eras of London brewing entirely.
- Depth vs breadth. A Fuller's tour goes deep on one brewhouse and its cask process. A Beer Mile crawl goes broad — six independent breweries, dozens of styles, in a single afternoon.
- Location. Chiswick is West London, a fair trip from the centre. Bermondsey is South East London, walkable from London Bridge, and sits inside the country's densest strip of independent breweries — see our Beer Mile map and route guide for the layout.
- Group size. A single-brewery tour usually caps numbers tightly. We run private groups from 6 to 60+, which makes a guided Mile crawl a much easier fit for stags, hens, birthdays and work socials — see our private & group tours.
- What's included. Check carefully whether tastings are bundled into the ticket price or charged separately — this varies by brewery. Our own tour includes a beer at every one of the six stops as standard.
Plenty of our own guests have done both and rate them for different reasons rather than ranking one above the other — Fuller's for the history and the cask cellars, the Mile for a sociable afternoon across several small independents. See our wider roundup of the best brewery tours in London for how the two compare against Camden Town Brewery too, in our Camden brewery tour guide.
What actually happens on a guided crawl, for comparison
If you haven't done a multi-brewery tour before, ours works like this: we meet at Southwark Brewing Co, 46 Druid Street, at your chosen start time, and spend the next 2–3.5 hours walking the railway arches with a local guide, stopping at four independent taprooms with a beer included at every one. It's less about one brewhouse's history and more about tasting widely, hearing the stories behind each arch, and finishing the day having actually met the scene. We've been running it since 2014, with 5+ TripAdvisor Certificates of Excellence.
Planning a visit to both?
If you're spending a few days in London and want the full spectrum of the city's beer scene, doing Fuller's in Chiswick on one day and our Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour on another gives you a genuine heritage-vs-craft comparison. Pair the Mile with our free self-guided heritage walk through Southwark's own brewing history, or our Saturday cheese, meat & beer tour, to make a full day of it — and see the Ultimate Beer Mile Guide for every brewery on the route in depth.
Good to know before you go (either tour)
- Bring ID. Brewery tours and tastings are an over-18s activity and you may be asked to prove your age.
- Eat first. Tastings add up quickly — line your stomach beforehand, whichever tour you pick.
- Book ahead. Popular dates sell out fast, ours included.
- Check what's included. Always confirm whether beer is bundled into the ticket price before you turn up.
- Comfortable shoes. Both the Griffin Brewery site and the Bermondsey arches involve a fair bit of standing and walking.
Gift a brewery tour
Whichever style of tour someone prefers, a brewery visit is a memorable present. Our gift vouchers are delivered instantly by email and never expire, so the recipient can pick whichever date — and whichever tour of ours — suits them best. See our guide to the best gifts for beer lovers for more ideas.
More to explore around West London
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- The View from The Shard — a good bookend for a London beer day if you're staying central and heading back into town after Chiswick.