Melting pot

Art and craft beer may have a lot of spiritual links, but there can be few places where they rub shoulders quite as closely as Art and Craft in Streatham. The bar, bottleshop and art gallery – opened early 2015 – is run by Tom Talbot and Bradley Ridge of Inkspot Brewery, and has already gained a strong reputation, in both the capital’s beer scene and art world.

“The building itself is in an old fruiterers – originally a coach house – which we took over from Bradley’s dad and restored,” says Tom. “It was really born out of frustration at how long the brewery was taking, but it’s done really well! We encourage local artists to come in, and if they’ve got work that we think is appealing and fits the space on the wall, we don’t charge them a commission. We’re just about to open a second one, with a gallery and tasting room attached to the back and we’ll follow through that principle if we can.”

The pair met at Bradley’s restaurant, Perfect Blend, when Tom was serving in the British Army at the 2012 London Olympics. Tom and a brewer friend helped develop a range of ‘house beers’ for Bradley, which were so successful that, when Tom retired a couple of years later and Bradley sold his restaurant, they decided to go into business together.

Bradley’s background couldn’t be more different. He has been immersed in the urban contemporary art scene since studying graphic design in Bristol in 2000 (at the time when Banksy and his contemporaries were just emerging). He made a couple of well-judged art purchases which kick-started his career as a collector. Bradley loves craft beer and, with a foot in both camps, sees a lot of crossover between art and brewing.

“People sit huddled away working on their art, and that’s like brewers developing their recipes and their craft,” says Bradley. “They’re both artisan industries and people are equally passionate. So many artists and brewers are trying to get something started that they really believe in, so you’ve also got similar frustrations. But in Art and Craft, you’ve got a real marriage of opportunity – it’s somewhere for beer and art to support one another.”

With Inkspot Brewery already doing well and set to move into much larger premises, Tom and Bradley remain focused on the art connection, both in terms of commissioning special edition labels for their beers and tapping into a new appetite for craft beer within London’s art community.

“It used to be that, at exhibition openings, people would just drink bottles of Peroni or Stella,” says Tom. “People are now asked ‘who are you getting to do your beer?’. We’ll provide our beer at a reduced rate in exchange for a print or a mention in the programme and word is now getting around and people are asking for us. So there’s an investment of faith in the artist and gallery owners, but there’s also an investment of faith in us; it’s a perfect example of how beer and art can work well together.”