Every Pub in Brighton #21-25
Here’s entry FIVE to this thing. A couple of breweries, a couple of great pubs AND one of the best pubs in Brighton are all in this edition. It’s a doozy!
#21 // Unbarred Brewery & Taproom
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Address: 19-23 Elder Pl, Brighton BN1 4GF
Date visited: September 2022
Despite being around in various guises since 2014, Unbarred’s taproom has only been open since 2019. Moving from a shed to gypsy brewing at various breweries to their own brewery has allowed them to quadruple production and firmly establish themselves as one of the South Coast’s best breweries.
The site itself was the home of now-defunct Holler Brewery, the founder/brewer now heads up Only With Love Brewery further into the Sussex countryside, before Unbarred teamed up with the remaining Holler team, took on the premises and gave it an Unbarred revamp.
History lesson aside, it’s a very smart space. Tucked into the heart of Brighton and only a mere 5 minute walk from the back of Brighton train station, you couldn’t really get a more central brewery here if you tried. What’s more impressive is just how they’ve managed to fit a brewery in such a tight space (I believe it was two separate sheds stuck together originally) - I was actually quite surprised by how small the footprint of this place is given how widely known Unbarred are in craft beer circles.
Boasting an impressive ever-rotating 12 keg lines that usually offer a mix of pales, sours and darker beers it is easy to see why this place is so popular with beer drinkers in Brighton. Stoutzilla is one of the best imperial stouts I’ve had in recent times and well worth trying a third on draft, as well as it’s newer (more coconutty) brother King Conka. Joosy and Casual Pale are found across several pubs in Brighton which is always a welcome sight compared to the ubiquitous Neck Oil and other beers of that ilk.
I actually had my birthday drinks here and it was ideal - my visiting friends found the taproom easily and the long wooden benches out the front of the building offer a perfect spot for catching up on a warm day. We ended up staying far longer than we’d planned and worked our way through the tap list but I knew we needed to move on because we were heading to one of the best pubs in Brighton a short stroll away…
#22 // The Evening Star
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Address: 55 - 56 Surrey Street, Brighton BN1 3PB
Date visited: September 2022
As is tradition - I’m recommending another Pellicle article that covers this pub in far greater detail (and greater writing).
And what a pub it is. Despite being a stone’s throw from Brighton train station, it’s on a road parallel to Queen’s Road/West Street so the majority of people that exit the station and descend towards the beach will miss it completely, despite it being just one street over. It’s an absolute treasure trove for beer lovers - 22 taps (including 7 for cask and 3 for still cider) in total offering a huge range of the latest offerings from various craft breweries as well as some more traditional wares from the old guard to keep everyone happy. I’ve drank everything from milds to pales to barleywines to imperial stouts and they’ve all been delightfully kept and conditioned.
It’s one of the best cask pubs in Brighton. It’s one of the best pubs in Brighton. It’s one of the best pubs. Best. The curved bar located in the centre of the pub is packed full of aforementioned pumps as well as an impressive beer fridge offering sharing bottles. It’s got all the hallmarks of a great boozer - several wood-paneled booth-style benches with tables along the sides for larger groups, regular tables, and some stools to really maximise the space.
When we were house-hunting we stopped by the Evening Star for a pint to drown our sorrows after a particularly fruitless day of viewings and got chatting with a guy who’d joined us on one of the benches outside (I struck up conversation as he was wearing a Dark Star t-shirt). We got a much, much later train home that evening as his friends arrived and regaled us with plenty of reasons as to why Brighton is a great place to live and promised we’d find something soon before they had to leave for a party elsewhere. It’s little experiences like this that makes going to the pub unbeatable. Godspeed Dr. Doug and pals!
I’ve taken various friends here when they’ve come to visit and always have a great time. We came here after the Unbarred visit detailed above and spent longer here than we’d planned to (there’s a pattern here) so only made it to one more spot which probably tells you all you need to know about the quality of these establishments.
#23 // Lion & Lobster
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Address: 24 Sillwood Street, Brighton BN1 2PS
Date visited: September 2022
Tucked away down a relatively quiet street near both the seafront and the border of Brighton and Hove is where you’ll find The Lion & Lobster, standing tall in all its red-painted glory. It’s just on the Brighton side so still fairly central. It’s one of two venues owned by Portobello Brewery in Brighton (with most of their portfolio in London) and both are pretty large. They also own a restaurant/wedding venue just off the seafront but that’s not a pub so can be ignored for this project’s purpose.
This is probably the most peculiarly laid out pub I’ve been in in Brighton so far. It’s very much a rabbit warren with various nooks and crannies across its three floors. I didn’t realise this was a multi-storey pub but more on that later.
The ground floor is home to the pub proper - the bar greets you as soon as you enter and then you have space on either side for seating. Lots of dark wood, leather banquettes, plenty of tables and a whole host of weird and wonderful memorabilia adorning the walls - yes there is a giant lobster on the wall (I did not spot a lion). We found ourselves on a huge circular table in the corner of the main bar area whilst some of us ate, some drank and some did both. I can’t speak for the food as I was a liquid lad but the consensus was positive from what I remember.
It was a hot day and some of our group had gone outside for some air. I followed soon after and stepped out onto the street unable to locate them. It turns out they’d gone to the rooftop terrace on the top floor, so I made my way up there (via the restaurant space on the middle floor). It’s very spacious for something so hidden and was a welcome surprise.
We weren’t here long as we’d spent way too long in the two previous pubs above but it’s definitely a pub I’ll return to if I’m nearby and feeling parched.
#24 // The Pond
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Address: 49 Gloucester Road, Brighton BN1 4AQ
Date visited: September 2022
I’d been to The Pond several times before we moved due to its proximity to both the train station and being on the edge of Brighton’s North Laine area so we ended up walking by it countless times and went there by osmosis. I assumed it was popular because of where it was but to paraphrase the old ‘assume’ saying - I was an ass.
It’s a great pub and is always doing a roaring trade which is brilliant to see for an independent establishment. The dual hit of a great range of rotating beer options and a kitchen run by local steamed bun merchants, Baby Bao makes for a knockout combination. There’s additional seating upstairs as well as a small courtyard outside to compliment the main bar area but I’ve never been able to sit in either due to the aforementioned busyness.
The pub also has its own house beer in the shape of Pond Water Pale Ale made for them by Arundel Brewery. At 3.5%, it’s a lovely light beer to sink a few of, don’t let the name put you off.
If you’ve ever got time to kill waiting for a train out of Brighton, you couldn’t do much better than holing up here for a swift pint (apart from The Evening Star but shh).
#25 // Brighton Bier Brewery & Taproom
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Address: 10 Bell Tower Industrial Estate, Roedean Rd, Brighton BN2 5RU
Date visited: September 2022
Our first visit to an industrial estate as part of this project. Just east of Brighton city centre is the Bell Tower industrial estate in Kemptown - home to Brighton Bier’s brewery and taproom. I’ve been here a couple of times and have had an absolute blast.
I’d only drank Brighton Bier at beer festivals in Portsmouth many years ago so was pleased to see they were still going when I moved down here. A brewery that focuses on supplying their local area with fresh beer rather than sending it further afield explains their absence from my life. Brighton Bier tend to make sessionable pales, IPAs, porters and stouts and have hit that sweet spot between respecting the historical German and Belgian styles as well as trying their hand at more progressive and modern styles from the US and elsewhere. I had a fantastic Belgian amber in a pub in Worthing earlier this year called Amberosia - it was made with Belgian candi sugar which gave it a sweet twist.
It’s a pretty standard taproom on an industrial estate save for three key things - an N64, chesterfield sofas and the excellent music on offer.
Firstly, they have an N64 and some fantastically comfortable leather chesterfield sofas to sit on whilst you play. We had a quick blast of nostalgia with 1080 Snowboarding which we all absolutely sucked at but it was great to play along and try and remember the controls as we smashed face first into barriers and back flipped straight off of several half-pipes onto our character’s heads.
Secondly, whoever is in charge of the music there deserves a payrise. It was another wave of nostalgia but this time for my university years as the speakers pumped out some pop-punk classics in Blink 182’s Dumpweed, Millencolin’s No Cigar and Fenix TX’s Threesome one after the other. If I closed my eyes I could’ve quite easily been back in Route 66 in Portsmouth on a Monday night drinking disgusting bottles of VK alcopops and almost inevitably not making any lectures on a Tuesday morning.
I visited for a few beers before a Whitehawk FC match and it helped break up the journey to the stadium a bit (it’s about a 15 minute walk to The Enclosed Ground). Also, Loud Shirt Brewery have opened a taproom on the same industrial estate in the past year so there’s an extra reason for a little schlep out to Kemptown for some brewery fresh beers.
