There could be trouble ahead (again). Update on Brewdog’s Essex Rd N1 site
The Brewdog site in Essex Rd Islington, just a few minutes walk from Islington Green (but arguably in the wrong direction) has not been blessed with success.
It was originally a beer and hotdog outlet, DogEatDog. I thought it was OK but it didn’t work, and it was shut and briefly replaced by the Punk Kitchen. The idea here was to host month long street food pop ups but it lasted only a couple of months and closed towards the end of 2016.
This year the premises has been empty and, reportedly, on the market. That may not have worked either as Brewdog submitted a licensing application in the Autumn for a Hopworks outlet.
The Hopworks concept revolves around installing small brew kits (there isn’t a huge space to do this at the Essex Rd site) where people brew their own beer with the help of Brewdog operatives.
The existing Hopworks outlet in Scotland also has a bar, which appears to be the plan here too.
Clearly as the report from the Islington Gazette (link below) suggests there have been some issues and the licensing application is now due to be heard on 4th January.
There have obviously been objections from residents about the noise from the premises. It must be said that Essex Rd and the area in general is a very busy urban space so residents must be familiar with some noise. The issue of course, as elsewhere, is noise occurring late at night when people want to sleep (particularly if they need to be up early for work).
Brewdog appear to have agreed to reinstate sound proofing. The return of benches outside are more of a puzzle. Who wants to sit on the pavement by traffic clogged Essex Rd I’m not sure, but I’d suggest a pollution mask.
Anyway hopefully issues can be sorted and the project can proceed.
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