Big Penny Social | Enormous Brewery & Taproom
At Big Penny Social, you always get your money’s worth.
It isn’t so much a taproom as an absolutely gigantic warehouse that’s been converted into a kind of urban village hall, with arts, events, and social activities constantly to-ing and fro-ing from its barn-like doors (all of which are washed down with copious amounts of beer). And over Christmas, it’ll all be getting particularly festive thanks to the addition of a couple of covered curling lanes, a Christmas tree market, and a kind of vast workshop bazaar where you can drop in and try your hand at a whole range of festive-related crafts.
You’ll find Big Penny Social along the Blackhorse Beer Mile, a trail of breweries and taprooms that have recently sprung up along Blackhorse Road, just east of the Walthamstow Wetlands. As one of the southernmost stops along the route, it makes a good starting or finishing point for a brewery crawl – though it’s quite easy to end up spending a good few hours here, thanks to:
THE BEER
With three bars housing a total of 82 taps, there’s no shortage of suds in the place. Big Penny brews are housed in four giant tanks, but you’ll also get to try guest beers from some of the other craft breweries in London like Anspach & Hobday. And if that doesn’t float your boat, they do a decent line in cocktails, too.
THE FOOD
Providing a little ballast for all that booze is a hearty, autumnal food menu of braised beef & ale stew with confit garlic mash; glazed pork chop in whisky & bacon gravy; roasted butternut squash with walnut pesto – plus a crowd-pleasing line-up of pizzas & burgers. And of course, there’s the mandatory pub roast on Sundays.
THE EVENTS
Not forgetting the ‘social’ element of their name, there’s a vast programme of parties, events and pop-ups that take place at Big Penny Social year-round. There’s a packed roster of sports screenings, quiz nights, singles mixers, baby-friendly events, live music, comedy nights and makers’ markets, plus DJs & dancing every Saturday.
And over Christmas, you can drop in to play a little all-weather curling on one of their ice-free indoor lanes; refuel on mulled wine and boozy hot chocolates; and check out their festive events – which include craft workshops, a Christmas music quiz; roller discos; markets; festive bangers played by a 50-strong orchestra; and an empowering, all-female Christmas wrestling match.
That’s when the Penny really drops.
NOTE: Big Penny Social is open daily. You can see what’s on, and book a table or a curling session, on the Big Penny Social website.
Big Penny Social | 1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL
Ticked off Blackhorse Road? See how it compares to the Bermondsey Beer Mile