Queer Brewing will shut at the end of July 2026. Image: Ewan-M via CC BY-SA 4.0
East London brewery Queer Brewing — the UK's first queer- and trans-owned brewery — has announced it is winding down operations at the end of July.
In a video posted on the company's social media, founder Lily Waite-Marsden said: "This is the announcement that we never thought we'd have to make, but this is sadly the end of the road for Queer Brewing."
Explaining that the company has decided it is no longer viable to keep operating, Waite-Marsden added "We know that there's a certain irony in making this announcement at the start of Pride month, our busiest time of year, and we realise that this may come as a surprise."
Founded in 2019, Queer Brewing has become renowned for its superb range of craft beers, including a Queer Joy! Queer Power! stout, a Something To Put In You hazy pale, and a Glitter Veil IPA. The most frustrating thing about this news — both for Queer Brewing and the people who love it — is that business was good, with the brewery busier than it's ever been. "Everything seems like it's working," says the founder. Something in the brewery and pub industry has to give, because losing outfits like this one is in the interests of no one.
