Pub culture is one of the things I love the most about the U.K. Everyone has their “local,” the place where co-workers go to unwind, football fans gather before heading to the match, and families share the classic Sunday roast. Although the current situation for pubs across the U.K is dire—according to the BBC, nearly two pubs close each day in the U.K—a unique pub in Kensington, West London, is at the heart of the revival of one of the most storied names in British brewing history.
At first glance, The Blue Stoops looks like your classic British boozer. Inside, the bar area is bustling, filled with locals chatting away and tourists who wander in, lured by the appeal of having a pint in a historic London pub. It’s friendly, with the feel of a proper local. But a closer look reveals what’s unique about this one—absent from the bar are the ubiquitous commercial brews. Here, people come to drink Allsopp’s ales.
One of the great names in British brewing, Allsopp’s traces its roots to 1730 at the Blue Stoops Inn in Burton-upon-Trent, where Benjamin Wilson began brewing the robust ales that would bring him international fame. In 1807, his great-nephew Samuel Allsopp—then just 27—bought the brewery for £7,000. By 1822, he had pioneered the India Pale Ale that would make the family name famous across the Empire.
By the late 20th century, the name had faded away through consolidation and changing tastes, a fate shared with many other historic British breweries. That’s until October 2024, when Jamie Allsopp opened the brewery’s first London pub in over 90 years, which was promptly named the UK’s No.1 ‘proper pub’ by The Sunday Times.
“I am the seven-times great-grandson of Samuel Allsopp, the man who truly set our brewing dynasty on its path to global renown,” he says. “From those beginnings, the family went on to build one of the defining breweries of the 19th century, exporting strong Burton ales to Imperial Russia and later helping to pioneer India Pale Ale as a global style.”
Blue Stoops is still serving its original IPA, alongside other traditional English ales including a bitter, a unique Arctic ale, a hoppy pilsner and the signature Double Diamond. All are brewed at Kirkstall Brewery in Leeds under the stewardship of Steve Holt, following the original recipes and adding a few tweaks to reflect what today’s beer drinkers prefer.
The bartender is knowledgeable, eager to explain and let us taste the different cask ales, expertly pouring a couple of pints as we perch along the bar. That India Pale Ale is balanced, refreshing and delicious, like the English IPAs I remember when I started enjoying beer, unlike the many variations of modern IPAs which I dislike.
According to Allsopp, the process of recreating the beers was a combination of historical research and modern brewing expertise. “We discovered—almost unbelievably —the original Allsopp’s brewing ledgers containing recipes and production notes, dating back to the 18th century, tucked away in the attic above one of Steve’s pubs in Leeds,” he says.
“They offered an extraordinary insight into how the beers were made: ingredient ratios, brewing methods, even seasonal variations. Of course, brewing science has evolved enormously since then, so the challenge wasn’t simply reproduction, but interpretation, taking the principles and spirit of those beers and translating them into something that works for modern drinkers while remaining faithful to the brewery’s character.”
Although the pub sits in the middle of a busy, upscale West London neighborhood, Burton-upon-Trent will always remain central to the Allsopp’s story. “The town’s mineral-rich water was fundamental to the brewery’s success historically, particularly in pale ales, and that legacy still informs how we think about brewing today,” says Allsopp.
A historic brewery reborn in the heart of London
The building that houses The Blue Stoops was once a pub called The Macauley Arms, but, like many historic pubs, it lost its character over time. It later became a restaurant and then a wine bar, with much of its original identity stripped away.
“There was very little surviving documentation of the Macauley Arms itself, so the project became less about restoration in the strict sense and more about trying to recreate what a great Victorian pub should feel like,” says Allsopp. “We worked closely with Kensington and Chelsea Council, who were hugely supportive because they understood we were bringing a pub back to the area in a meaningful, historically sympathetic way.”
The three-story brick building got a facelift in cream and blue, with gold touches in hardware and lettering. Inside, the checkered floor tile and wooden bar with bespoke bright blue tiles, embossed with Allsopp’s famous hand logo, continue the Victorian look.
“We rebuilt the interiors and exterior with enormous attention to detail, including installing a purpose-built cellar designed specifically to keep cask ale in exceptional condition,” says Allsopp. “Cask beer sits right at the heart of the pub, both literally and philosophically, and we wanted the theater of that experience—the swan-neck handpulls, the cellar craft, the pint itself—to be front and center.”
“The revival began as a deeply personal project for me,” he continues. “Part historical excavation, part restoration. Calling it The Blue Stoops felt important too. It reconnects the pub directly to the origins of Allsopp’s, while giving us a place to begin telling the story again, surrounded by the old mirrors, labels, signage and the Red Hand emblem that defined the brewery for generations.”
Despite its vintage charm, The Blue Stoops doesn’t feel kitschy nor outdated; it has an aura of the past, enforced with classic beer signs, gold-lettered mirrors, original serving trays and framed coasters lining the walls. But the smell of freshly poured beer and the lively chatter of patrons, just a few steps away from one of London’s busiest districts, anchors it firmly today. Non-beer drinkers are not out of place here, either. There are excellent cocktails and a meticulously curated wine list.
“I’ve always been deeply interested in breweriana and pub history, so immersing myself in the details was a real joy,” says Allsopp. “George Orwell’s essay The Moon Under Water was something of a touchstone for us—that idea of a pub feeling reassuringly timeless, comfortable and quietly atmospheric. The ambition was never simply to recreate the past, but to re-establish Allsopp’s as a living, breathing, modern brewing company rooted in that heritage. Our aim is to create a genuine continuation of a story that had paused, and we hope this next volume has many more exciting chapters to come.”
The evolution of Double Diamond, Allsopp’s flagship pale ale
Unlike my very happy experience with the IPA, my English partner was disappointed by the Double Diamond. It did not taste like the ale he remembered and loved back in the day; instead, it had that fruity, bitter finish that characterizes today’s American-style ales. In the end, he chose the bitter as his favorite pint.
“It’s a fair observation, and one we hear quite often,” says Allsopp. “Beer, like any cultural product, evolves, and Double Diamond in its heyday was perfectly suited to the tastes of the 1950s and 60s. Those sweeter, heavier flavor profiles simply don’t resonate in quite the same way today.”
Allsopp is also quick to point out that, historically, Double Diamond was never a static brew. The formula changed many times as tastes, brewing techniques and fashions evolved. It was first brewed in Burton in the late 19th century, reformulated several times through the 20th century, and by the 1930s, the brewing ledgers show the use of overseas hops—including Californian and New Zealand varieties—alongside traditional British ones.
“In many ways, evolution is part of the beer’s DNA,” says Allsopp. “Our approach has been to respect the spirit of Double Diamond while producing something that feels right for contemporary drinkers—bright, clean, refreshing and highly drinkable, but still with proper body and balance. The use of hops such as Citra and Mosaic is more about precision, freshness and clarity of flavor.”
“That said, we’ve consciously avoided drifting into the more extreme end of modern beer culture. We’re not interested in brewing opaque, aggressively tropical or overpoweringly bitter beers. The aim was to create something composed and elegant, recognizably ‘beer’, first and foremost. We also wanted the beer to work for modern lifestyles in practical terms—gluten-free, vegan, sessionable, but still characterful. We see this version as the latest chapter in Double Diamond’s long history of reinvention.”
Seasonal British cuisine in a classic pub context
On the side of the bar, almost hidden out of sight behind a curtain, a door leads to a larger space: a beautifully appointed dining room that feels more like a French bistro than a London pub. It’s elegant, yes, but it carries the laid-back vibe and décor from the adjacent bar.
The heavily seasonal menu from 32-year-old chef Jacob Farley is what sets The Blue Stoops apart for similar establishments, showcasing modern British cooking underpinned by classical technique, but firmly within the context of a pub.
Here’s a public service announcement for those who still hold on to the outdated notion that traditional British food is bad: come to The Blue Stoops and judge for yourself.
Having trained under Jeremy Lee, Alastair Little and Hector Henderson, Farley’s resume reads like a short history of modern British cooking, bringing a style and philosophy inspired by some of London’s most respected and influential chefs. And before settling into London’s restaurant world, he also worked on the catering team for the Marvel film Captain Marvel in California, preparing meals for the cast including Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson.
The menus at The Blue Stoops change daily, rooted in seasonal British produce and driven by what is available rather than what sounds impressive. There’s a weekday lunch menu, featuring two or three courses picked from the all-day à la carte menu, from which diners can also choose.
At the bar, the food is treated with equal seriousness, featuring British oysters, anchovy butter toast with shallots and parsley and a fried onion cheeseburger that has already developed a following. If you only want a snack with your pint, there are marinated olives, roasted nuts and even pork scratchings, a traditional British pub nibble. Except that here, these don’t come from a packet behind the bar—they come from the kitchen.
“A pub should be somewhere you can have a proper meal, cooked with care, in a setting where everyone feels comfortable,” says Farley. “You don’t need lots of elements or complicated techniques. It’s about getting the basics right and making sure everything on the plate has a reason to be there.”
“British cooking has always borrowed and adapted,” says Allsopp. “That’s part of our history as a trading nation, and the best chefs working here today use those influences to sharpen and elevate what are, at heart, very familiar dishes. So yes, you’ll find roasts, pies and grilled meats—everything you’d expect from a proper pub—but treated with real care and affection. The ingredients matter enormously: native oysters, properly sourced fish, traceable meat, seasonal wild garlic.”
A signature of The Blue Stoops cuisine is Farley’s approach to whole animals, such as Old Spot pigs and Oxford Down lambs which are broken down entirely in-house. From a single animal, the kitchen produces porchetta, an outstanding pork chop with capers and sage, creamy and comforting ham hock pies, sausage rolls and black pudding, aside from the aforementioned scratchings. An ever-changing rotation of pies, emblematic of British cuisine, has quickly become one of the most talked-about things on the menu.
That same philosophy extends to Sunday lunch, where the traditional pub roast is reinvented with porchetta, slow-roasted and finished with fennel pollen, which the kitchen calls “angel dust.” In a city where Sunday roast is the most fiercely contested meal a pub can serve, it has quickly become one of the reasons people come back.
“There’s room too for the great old dishes done properly,” says Allsopp. “Steamed puddings, proper sauces, things that have slightly disappeared from public life.”
For instance, a steamed marmalade pudding or a rhubarb crumble will pair beautifully with the pub’s fantastic Madeira program, which draws from the historic mercantile connection between Allsopp’s and the Blandy’s Madeira family.
“The reason we like Madeira apart from it being delicious as a drink we want to promote, is that it was designed very much for the journey in mind which is a parallel to our beers, especially the IPA and Arctic Ale,” says Allsopp. “When people try Madeira, they’re very surprised how incredibly drinkable it is, particularly as many of them assume it is going to be similar to port, but actually it’s much more interesting and has a much greater range of styles, more akin to sherry.”
The Blue Stoops also features one of the more interesting digestif lists in London.
“The whole idea is to raise the standard without losing the soul of what a pub should be,” says Allsopp. “The gastro pub era, in many ways, lost sight of that. We wanted this to feel like a genuine pub first and foremost, one that simply happens to take food and beer extremely seriously.”
If there’s a single thread running through all of this, it’s continuity. Not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, but a genuine continuation of something that mattered culturally.
“Whether it’s the beers, The Blue Stoops Inn, or the wider Allsopp’s revival, the aim has been to reconnect with Britain’s brewing and pub heritage in a way that still feels alive and relevant today,” says Allsopp. “And ultimately, everything comes back to the pub. Beer is at its best there – properly served, properly enjoyed, and properly shared.”
