Chiswick Lane South , W4
website:www.fullers.co.uk
Shop Open: Monday to Friday 10-6; Saturday 10-4
Brewery Tours: Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday at 11am/12pm/1pm/2pm. Places must be booked in advance. Email tours@fullers.co.uk or telephone 020 8996 2175. No children under 14. Cost £6 per person (£4.50 for people under 18).
The tour takes two hours and incorporates the brewing process from the arrival of the raw materials to the packaging on the beer and ends with a tasting session.
History: Brewing has been taking place on this site since at least 1701 when it belonged to Thomas Mawson. He sold the brewery to a Chiswick family called Thompson in 1782. John Fuller joined the firm in 1829, providing a much-needed injection of capital. In 1845 his son acquired the brewery and, along with Henry Smith of Romford brewers Ind Smith, Smith’s son Henry and son-in-law John Turner, formed Fuller Smith & Turner. Descendants of these families still run the brewery today. The company owns over 363 pubs and its beers have won CAMRA’s Beer of the Year Award many times.
The wisteria which clads the brewery’s walls is the oldest wisteria plant in England. The first wisteria was brought to Kew Gardens from China in 1816 and a cutting was given to Fuller, Smith & Turner since it supplied beer to Kew. The Kew plant perished while the Griffin Brewery plant flourished.