Public House is a social history of the London pub edited by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro. Our contribution explores Tavern on the Hill in Walthamstow, once described as “the toughest pub in Britain”, and traces the restoration and custodianship of a historic neighbourhood pub. Speaking to Jaega Wise, the co-founder of Wild Card Brewery, focused on her career as a chemical engineer to brewer, and on her experiences of pub culture from a Black British perspective and as a woman in the brewery industry, the conversation explores questions of ownership, inclusivity, gender, and race in pub culture while reflecting on the pub’s important role as a place for gathering, conversation, and everyday sociability.