Alongside a clutch of other breweries, bars, and independent food producers and importers, The Kernel has found itself a home within the railway arches that stretch across Bermondsey in South London. The recurring tumult of the trains notwithstanding, it’s a place of surprising calm. To the outside observer visiting on a busy brew day, there’s an almost dharmic rhythm, a collective choreography to complete the tasks at hand: the tanks are cleaned and the kegs are labeled, and people pause to chat over sandwiches and the afternoon flows on unencumbered. Everyone pitches in—tasks are shared, on a rotating basis, among the staff of 14.

Founder Evin O’Riordain is a man given to pregnant pauses and erudite references. In an earlier life, he sold cheese professionally while writing a PhD on communication in the works of Samuel Beckett. For the past eight years, he’s overseen The Kernel as it’s grown from humble beginnings to its current position as one of the UK’s best, and most influential, breweries.