3 Locks Brewery Camden: Brewery Tour and Tasting Review

3 Locks Brewery Camden was one of those “finally, something different” London finds for us. Because we’ve been here so many times, we’re always hunting for experiences that feel a little less obvious than the usual checklist. This one hit a very specific sweet spot: we’re both food safety engineers (so yes, we notice the nerdy behind-the-scenes details), and during our studies in Poland we both did internships in a brewery. Add the fact that we genuinely like beer as a drink, not just a photo prop, and the chance to do a tasting plus a tour of a small working brewery in Camden felt like the perfect plan.

In this post, I’ll share exactly what the 3 Locks Brewery Camden experience was like, what happens during the tasting and the guided visit, and who I think will enjoy it most.

Where is 3 Locks Brewery? Camden Town location + vibe

3 Locks Brewery Camden sits right inside Camden Market at Hawley Wharf, tucked under the railway arches and literally on the edge of Regent’s Canal (address: Arch S14/15, Water Lane, Camden Market Hawley Wharf, London NW1 8NX). That canal-side setting is the main character here: big windows, water views, and I know now we have to come back on a warm day just to sit outside and pretend we’re locals with unlimited free time.

Getting there is easy. Camden Town (Northern line) is the classic choice and it’s a short walk from there. If you’re coming via Overground, Camden Road is also close (handy if you’re switching lines and don’t want to deal with Camden Town station crowds). There are buses stopping around Hawley Road too, so it’s one of those “you’ll end up here anyway” spots if you’re already doing Camden.

Vibe-wise: earlier in the day it feels relaxed, almost like a hidden canal-side break from the market chaos. But by afternoon it got properly lively, with more people flowing in for pints and that after-shopping energy building up fast. And one practical note before you plan your whole day around it: the taproom is walk-in friendly, but the brewery tours need to be booked online via their website.

Booking the 3 Locks Brewery Tour: Tickets, timing, and what’s included

If you want to do the full experience (not just pop in for a pint), 3 Locks Brewery Camden makes it simple: you book the brewery tour directly on their website via the “Book your tour here” section. The ticket price is £25, and honestly, the value is in how much you get packed into that one booking.

Timing-wise, the tour is listed as a 1.5-hour guided brewhouse tour, so it works perfectly as an afternoon anchor before you continue exploring Camden. The exact time slots depend on availability shown in the online booking widget, so the best move is to pick your date and lock in a slot in advance (especially if you’re visiting on a weekend or during peak Camden hours).

Here’s what’s included in the ticket, as described by 3 Locks:

• A welcome beer on arrival
• Guided tasting of 6 beers, plus a tank pour (yes, beer fresh from the tank)
• A beer in the brewhouse, and a celebratory “you did it” final beer vibe at the end
• 10% off beers and merch in the taproom

The Brewery Tour and Tasting: Behind the scenes, then straight to the beer

3 Locks Brewery Camden is a genuinely small brewery, which changes the whole format in the best way. Instead of a long walk through huge rooms and shiny equipment, this tour is built around what you actually came for: a proper conversation about beer, while drinking beer. Most of the experience happens seated around a shared table, with everyone lined up with a tray of six beers.

When I say “tasting,” I do not mean those tiny polite sips. Each beer came in a proper little glass, roughly a third of a pint (around 180 to 200 ml), so by the time you’ve worked through all six, you’ve basically had about two pints in total, plus the welcome beer and the tank pour.

The structure is simple and smart. You’re guided through six beers in a deliberate order (it’s not random, and you can feel that), and for our group the lineup was: lager, wheat ale, East Coast IPA, West Coast IPA, stout, and a lime-and-mint sour. The sour felt like their pride-and-joy moment, and honestly, I get it. It was that rare combo of playful and balanced, not just “acid for the plot.”

What makes the whole thing shine is the guide. Phenomenal. The kind of person who can explain brewing in a way that makes you feel smarter without ever making you feel talked down to. No exaggeration: I learned more in this 1.5 hours than I did during a month of brewery internship back at uni. And the vibe was refreshingly real, too. It wasn’t a sterile lecture. It was beer talk, at a beer table, with everyone including the guide actually drinking and reacting as you go.

As you try each beer, you get the story behind it: why that style, what ingredients matter most, how the process shapes flavor, and what they were aiming for. We also got to go hands-on with the raw materials. We could touch and taste the malt, crush and smell hop pellets, and see actual hop cones. That might sound like a small detail, but it makes everything click.

And then came the twist I did not expect, but absolutely loved: the guide kept weaving in English beer history and London context. Not just “IPA stands for…” (we’ve all heard that), but the bigger why. How certain styles connect to trade, sea journeys, and what was happening in London at the time. It gave the tasting this extra layer, like you weren’t just sampling beer, you were sampling tiny pieces of history with it.

The finale is what everyone secretly waits for: beer straight from the tank. Literally poured from the stream, fresh and alive, and instantly turning the whole group into chaotic perfectionists. We were laughing because for some people the aiming skills were impressive… and for others, let’s just say gravity won a few rounds. And for us girls, it was absolutely a surprise bonus challenge: a full-on makeup durability test in real brewery conditions. We drank it right there on the spot, and yes, you’ll see that whole moment on my Instagram and YouTube very soon, because it’s one of those scenes that looks just as fun as it tastes.

By the end, our whole group was completely sold. Everyone was smiling, slightly louder than before (in the best way), and genuinely impressed. We left already planning to recommend it, and realistically, we’ll be back again. Preferably in summer, canal-side, pretending we’re just casually the kind of people who “pop into their local brewery” on a random afternoon.

The taproom experience: Atmosphere, seating, and crowd

The taproom at 3 Locks Brewery Camden feels like the kind of place you accidentally stay in for “one quick beer” and then suddenly it’s dark outside and you’re googling what time the last Tube is. Before the tour started, everyone got to pick a beer to kick things off, basically your best guess of what will be your favorite. We all made our choices very confidently… and then the tour happened and humbled us (in a good way).

After the tasting, we went back to our favorites from the tour, and the funny part is: our “types” changed. I usually play it safe with lagers and wheat beers, because IPAs have always been a bit too intense for me, sometimes even hard to get through. But their IPAs completely surprised me. They were genuinely delicate (in beer terms, meaning balanced and not aggressively bitter), with that hoppy character without feeling heavy or overwhelming. So we ended up leaving the brewery with a totally different “top pick” than we had walking in.

Atmosphere-wise, it’s lively but not stressful. There’s that Camden energy around you, but inside it feels warm, social, and easy to settle into. The staff also deserves a shoutout because they add so much to the vibe. Friendly, present, and actually into what they’re serving, which makes you want to ask questions and try more things instead of just ordering the safest option.

We said goodbye after the tour… and then came back not long after. We grabbed something small to eat at Camden Market, walked around, and immediately found ourselves heading back for another round because we’d fallen for the combination of the place, the people, and the beer. In the end, we spent basically the whole day in Camden and we regret absolutely nothing.

One practical warning though: later in the day it gets busy. By the time the afternoon turned into evening, seating became a bit of a sport. A lot of the indoor tables were reserved, and finding a spot was noticeably harder than earlier. So if you’re coming with a group, or you just hate hovering around like a lost seagull, it’s worth booking a table in advance.

Final verdict: My recommendation and who I’d bring here

If you’re even slightly curious about beer, 3 Locks Brewery Camden is 100% worth it in a “we’re still talking about it days later” way. The whole experience is ridiculously well put together for such a small brewery: the setting right by the canal, the warm taproom vibe, the genuinely generous tasting pours (not those tiny symbolic sips), and the guide who somehow managed to make brewing feel both deeply nerdy and totally approachable at the same time.

It never felt like a scripted attraction. More like being invited into someone’s passion, with enough structure to keep it smooth, but enough personality to keep it real. The hands-on bits (malt, hops, smelling, tasting, learning what you’re actually noticing) made everything stick in your brain. And the history angle, especially the English and London context woven into the beer styles, was such a smart twist.

Who I’d bring here?

• Beer lovers who want more than “this one is hoppy, this one is dark.”
• Foodies who enjoy understanding what they’re consuming, even if they’re not hardcore beer people.
• Couples or friend groups who want something social and fun that still feels a bit special.
• Anyone doing a Camden day who wants one activity that anchors the whole plan.
• People who usually say they don’t like IPAs, because honestly, this might be the place that changes your mind.

Here’s the real sign it was a good one: our memories are still super vivid. After coming back to our quiet, calm Sweden, we’ve been genuinely missing that canal-side London buzz, the atmosphere inside the taproom, and the people we met there. It’s one of those places that makes you feel like you were part of something for a moment, even if you were just sitting at a table with a tray of beer.

So yes, I’d recommend it. And not just as a one-time thing. 3 Locks Brewery Camden has officially become our “safe bet” for future London visits, the kind of spot you return to because you already know it will deliver: great beer, great energy, and the kind of tour that makes you leave feeling happier and slightly smarter than when you arrived.