Welcome to Independent Events Brighton

Keeping it Local.

About us.

Independent Events Brighton is a creative events team dedicated to showcasing the best of Brighton’s independent venues, breweries, and culture.

We design and deliver standout events that celebrate community, collaboration, and local flavour. We’re the team behind the Independent’s Beer Crawl, the Brighton Locals Beer Festival, Craft Pub Social Club and a myriad of other fun, sociable activities taking place across our glorious city.

From Festivals to Weddings, to pop-ups and workshops, we're here to celebrate Brighton, and the people that make it!

With bold plans for 2026 and beyond, we’re here to build unforgettable experiences that support independent businesses, bring people together, and highlight what makes Brighton one of the most exciting places in the UK.

Proudly local. Always independent.

🎉 Announcing the Winners of the 2025 Verdant Beer Trail!

We are thrilled to announce our four lucky winners! A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Verdant Beer Trail. We were overwhelmed by the incredible number of entries and appreciate each and every one of you.

Rest assured, we carefully reviewed all of your emails and messages. We will be reaching out to the winners this coming week with further details about your prizes.

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you once again for joining us on this exciting journey!

Cheers! 🍻

Tonight’s the night!

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you submit your completed maps to us by midnight tonight to enter the prize draw!

Either send us a message with a picture of your completed map, or email a picture to localsbeerfest@gmail.com

We will be announcing the winners next weekend!

The Verdant x Rivington Beer Trail kicks off NEXT WEEKEND! 🎉 
And good news… the stamp maps are now printed and ready to collect from Brighton & Hove’s independent pubs! 🍺🌿

To join the fun next weekend, grab a stamp map from any venue listed below and collect at least 5 stamps by visiting 5 different pubs. 
✨ Every 5 stamps = 1 entry into our prize draw! Visit all 25 venues? That’s 5 entries! 🥳

Once your map is complete, pop your name on it and send it to localsbeerfest@gmail.com, DM us here, or drop it off at The Independent or The Rook—we’ll take it from there.

We can’t wait to see you out on the trail next weekend! 🍻 
Artwork by @emitchell780

Venues: @the_rook_taproom @independent_btn @thepondbrighton @brick.brighton @theholeinthewallbtn @bisonbeer @bisonbeachbar @the_well_brighton @urchinpub @unbarredtaproom @waxingpink @eveningstarbrighton @patio______ @sevencellars @theprincealbertbrighton @vinestreettap @brightonrocksbar @brighton.bierhaus @brightonhausonthehill @brunswickpub @winebarrelhove @thegreysfreehouse @thedropbrighton @thewesttap

#verdantbeertrail #brightonbeer #supportlocal #brighton #independent #independentbrighton

🍻✨ We are over the moon to announce that the Verdant Beer trail will be back for its 5th year at the end of this month. The event will be taking place from November 27th-30th, across 25 of Brighton and Hove’s much loved independent venues.

This year, we’re thrilled that Verdant will be joining forces with Rivington Brewery to bring us two new collaborative beers, available at all participating venues, alongside a selection of their other fantastic brews. The trail is designed to get you out and about in Brighton & Hove to visit some of the best independent spots that make Brighton the vibrant city we love.

The trail is completely free to take part in as it’s fully sponsored by @verdantbrew @rivingtonbrewco and @pigsearsbeerltd

To join in the fun, grab a stamp map (available soon) from any listed venue and collect a minimum of 5 stamps by visiting 5 different venues. Each set of 5 stamps earns you an entry into our prize draw—so if you visit all 25 venues, you’ll get 5 entries! 🥳

Once you’ve completed your map, simply submit it with your name written on the map to localsbeerfest@gmail.com or DM us here. You can also drop off your maps to The Independent pub or to The Rook, and we’ll collect them from there.

We can’t wait to see you there! 🍻

Artwork by @emitchell780

@the_rook_taproom @independent_btn @thepondbrighton @brick.brighton @theholeinthewallbtn @bisonbeer @bisonbeachbar @the_well_brighton @urchinpub @unbarredtaproom @waxingpink @eveningstarbrighton @patio______ @sevencellars @theprincealbertbrighton @vinestreettap @brightonrocksbar @brighton.bierhaus @brightonhausonthehill @brunswickpub @winebarrelhove @thegreysfreehouse @thedropbrighton @thewesttap

#verdantbeertrail #brightonbeer #supportlocal #independent

✨ Ok folks, it’s finally that time! ✨

Here are our prize draw winners —all 28 of you! 🎉

Details of what you’ve won and how to claim it will be in your inbox tomorrow morning.

(If you haven’t heard from us by 1pm tomorrow, please email localsbeerfest@gmail.com - but check your spam folder/ IG message requests first)

Once again, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined in—you made this amazing! 💛

Be sure to stick around… more fun is just around the corner 👀🍻

🎉🍻 Prize Draw Update! 🍻🎉

The wait is almost over…

The Brighton Locals Beer Festival prize draw winners will be announced this Sunday! 🏆✨

Thanks to everyone who joined in, explored the venues, met the breweries, and raised a glass with us. 🍺💛

Winnera will be announced here, and also contacted directly, so keep your eyes peeled! 👀📣

#BrightonLocalsBeerFestival #BrightonBeer #DrinkLocal #SupportLocal

Wrapping up our last few stops of the weekend at a leisurely place, with a late lunch @urchinpub

Special shout out to @larrik.in
This first beer we tried (Shuck Juice - the @larrik.in X @unbarredbrewery Collab) has been one of our favourite discoveries of the weekend.

Excited to try the rest of our flight!

Thanks to the team @urchinpub for the incredible hospitality and equally incredible food 😙👌

Still to go:
@brunswickpub
@bisonbeer @easytigerbn1 @winebarrelhove @the_rook_taproom

Let us know where you're headed this evening, maybe a Festival T-shirt will find its way to you! 🤞

✨ Brewery Spotlight: Beak Brewery ✨

Beak began as a nomadic project led by food & drink writer Daniel Tapper, who spent years perfecting recipes alongside some of the UK’s best breweries. Today, Beak has found its home in Lewes, complete with an award-winning taproom and street-food canteen. 🍔🍻

Best known for their hop-forward IPAs, Beak also brews across the spectrum — from crisp, clean pilsners to indulgent imperial stouts. Whatever your style, they’ve got something to make you smile. ✨

Find their beers across the city for Brighton Locals Beer Festival! 🎉🍺

@beakbrewery

✨ Brewery Spotlight: As Intended Brewing Co. ✨

Founded in 2025 and brewing out of Brighton, As Intended is all about community and creating beers they love to drink — and are proud to share. 🍻

Their ethos is simple: Beer for us. Beer for you. Beer As Intended. ✌️

You’ll spot their beers pouring at some of Brighton’s favourite spots — Vine St, The Greys, Wine Barrel, Bison Hove, West Tap, The Independent, and Brighton Bierhaus.

Catch them sharing the love (and the pints) at Brighton Locals Beer Festival 2025. 🎉🍺

@asintendedbeer
Photo from @jimmy_lynn100 💕

🎉 Brighton Locals Beer Festival Prize Draw! 🎉

We all know the real prize is a weekend spent sampling the best beers in Brighton's best venues, all while supporting our local independent economy…

But of course there is more...

The Big Prize Draw 🥳

All of the venues have chipped in amazing prizes, including:
🎁 Bar tabs
🎁 Beer
🎁 Vouchers (up to £50!)
🎁 Merch including T-shirts, totes and caps
🎁 Dinner vouchers
🎁 Plus some very exclusive Festival t-shirts
🎁 And more surprises!

Here’s how it works:
✅ For every 5 stamps, you’ll get 1 entry into the prize draw.
✅ Collect all 27 stamps, and you’ll score a bonus entry on top

You can enter the prize draw by either:

📸 Taking a photo of your card and tagging us on Instagram, or sending via DM

✉️ Email to localsbeerfest@gmail.com

📍 Dropping it off at @the_rook_taproom, or @independent_btn

The more venues you explore, the better your chances — and you’ll get to discover the brilliant pubs, taprooms and bottle shops that make Brighton’s beer scene so unique.

Winners will be drawn after the festival has ended.

We’ll announce on our socials and contact you to let you know you've won!

Prizes are allocated on a first come first serve basis (you get to choose, but only if you're quick!)

We'll also be dishing out a few festival t-shirts to our super supporters! So get tagging us in your posts!
We love to see where you've gone and what you're drinking 💕

So grab your maps and get those stamps, and let’s see who takes home the prizes!

@independent_btn @sevencellars
@maddogbrewbrighton
@loudshirttap @winebarrelhove @unbarredtaproom @theprincealbertbrighton @the_rook_taproom @thepondbrighton @thegreysfreehouse @vinestreettap @brighton.bierhaus @thewesttap @urchinpub @thegeesebrighton @thewatchmakersarms @theholeinthewallbtn @lostpier_shop_and_tap @thedropbrighton @brick.brighton @eveningstarbrighton @bisonbeer @brunswickpub @handbrewpub @easytigerbn1 @hausonthehillbrighton @waxingpink

✨ Brewery Spotlight: @handbrewco✨

🍻 @handbrewco was born out of the tiny Brighton brewpub, the Hand in Hand, and has been creating award-winning, vegan-friendly indie beers for nearly ten years. ✨

Their ethos? 🌟
Brew accessible, smashable craft beers that taste great and do good. 💛 Their Art You Can Drink range gives away over 20% of profits to charities all year, every year. 🙌

👩‍🔬 Head Brewer Kate Hyde started brewing in France over ten years ago and joined the Hand team in 2020. She was shortlisted for @britbeerwriters Brewer of the Year in 2024 and is a @womeninbeeruk mentor. 💪

🍺 This year Kate has put together a specials collab calendar with Dishoom, Elusive, Thornbridge, Duration, Round Corner, Closet, Up Front, Hackney Church, Downlands and BRZN, and will be launching the freshest Helles lager in town direct from the Hand in Hand tanks later this year. 🍻

🔥 Big Sips: Thick, juicy, tropical New England Pale Ale, Lobo – and pillowy NEIPA, Beau Riso.

🌈 Always Pouring: Award-winning Toadlicker Grapefruit Pale, Shaka Original Pale, Pocko Original Lager, Bird Bitter, as well as Otto Stout, Tatchi Oat Pale, and Shaka Lo – their first AF.

🍂 Seasonals: Dayglow Elderflower Saison, Fest Marzen Lager, Kora Old Ale.

✅ Want Gluten Free? Try Shaka, Pocko or Toadlicker.

Both the brewery and the Hand in Hand pub are taking part in the Brighton Locals Beer Festival — so get yourself down to @handbrewpub or find them pouring across the city.
#handbrewco #handbrewpub #artyoucandrink

🔥 Brewery Spotlight: @firebirdbrewing 🔥

From a once-derelict brickworks to a solar-powered brewery with beers pouring across the country — Firebird has six generations of brewing heritage in its DNA. 🍺💪

They brew a big range of modern and traditional beers, all unpasteurised, unfiltered, gluten free, and vegan, so every pint is packed with natural flavour.

Always evolving, they’re investing in new equipment, their site, and their team — taking craft brewing into the future while staying true to their roots. 🌞🌱

Catch them bringing the heat at Brighton Locals Beer Festival 2025. 🔥🍻

🍏 Brewery Spotlight: @ascensionciderco 🍏

Based on Ringden Farm orchard in North Sussex, Ascension ferment, blend, and package a range of juicy ciders and fruity bevs — all made from rescued fruit that supermarkets reject. 🌱

Their flagship cider Pilot and seasonal fruited blends have a cult following in Sussex and beyond — even pouring as far as Japan. 🇯🇵

Owner Matt started making cider in his mum’s shed 20 years ago, and with Head Blendmaster Lozz now leading the blends, every drop is award-winning and perfectly balanced.

Their method? Ferment surplus fruit into a high-gravity cider, then blend in fresh apple juice for natural sweetness and flavour — with no refined sugars or acids, just the real thing. 🍎✨

Sip their flagship Pilot and more at Brighton Locals Beer Festival 2025. 🍻

🎉 Brighton Locals Beer Festival is ON! 🎉
📅 Today–17th August
📍 27 venues | 🍻 15 local breweries | 🎁 Prize draw

The wait is over — our 4-day celebration of Brighton’s indie beer scene starts today! From local breweries and independent venues, it’s time to explore what makes our city amazing.

Here’s how to join in:
1️⃣ Pick up your stamp map at any participating venue.
2️⃣ Buy a beer from one of the 15 local breweries in any of the venues in the list to get a stamp.
3️⃣ The more stamps, the more prize draw entries:
🖐 5 stamps = 1 entry
✌ 10 stamps = 2 entries
🎯 Fill your card = 6 entries!

Why join?
You’ll be supporting brilliant local businesses and every venue has donated something for the prize draw — pints, meal vouchers, merch & more (that’s at least 27 prizes!).

How to enter the prize draw:
📸 Snap a pic & tag us / DM us on Instagram, or
✉ Email: localsbeerfest@gmail.com, or
📍 Drop it at The Rook Taproom (Dean Street) or The Independent Taprooom (Queens Park Road)

Let’s drink, explore & celebrate Brighton together! 🍻
Big thanks to @don.brosbin for the gorgeous artwork 💕

@independent_btn @sevencellars
@maddogbrewbrighton
@loudshirttap @winebarrelhove @unbarredtaproom @theprincealbertbrighton @the_rook_taproom @thepondbrighton @thegreysfreehouse @vinestreettap @brighton.bierhaus @thewesttap @urchinpub @thegeesebrighton @thewatchmakersarms @theholeinthewallbtn @lostpier_shop_and_tap @thedropbrighton @brick.brighton @eveningstarbrighton @bisonbeer @brunswickpub @handbrewpub @easytigerbn1 @hausonthehillbrighton @waxingpink

🌾 Brewery Spotlight: Long Man 🌾

Since 2012, this crew has been brewing in a converted flint barn in the heart of the South Downs National Park — with sustainability at the core. 🌍💚 From reducing waste to giving back to the land, they’re brewing with purpose.

Situated on Church Farm, they regeneratively grow all the malted barley for their beers. Every pint starts in their own soil.

Expect easy-drinking, refreshing cask & keg beers — made for sharing with friends in pubs and bars across the South East. Their keg range now includes two core Pale Ales, two core Lagers, and an ever-changing seasonal small batch series. Right now, that means Citra & Mosaic hop showcases using Whole Leaf, T90, Cryo and DynaBoost. 🌿🍺

Their cask beers are loved throughout Sussex for being consistently approachable — the kind you go back for again and again.

So grab a map, and find a pint of @longmanbrewery to grab a stamp! 🥳

#BrightonCraftBeer #indiebeer #craftbeerbrighton
#BrightonLocalsBeerFestival

🚀 Brewery Spotlight: Silver Rocket Brewing 🚀

Meet Matt & Ben — two friends fuelled by a love of craft beer and Sonic Youth. 🎸🍺

With 4 Great Taste Awards and a World Alcohol-Free Awards Silver Medal under their belts, they brew across the spectrum — from crave-worthy AFs, to smashable session beers, to big-hitting NEIPAs.

Silver Rocket are known for their creative collabs — teaming up with local artists 🎨 (@cassettelord @miaunderwoodartist @cassiab), restaurants 🍜 (Koh Lab & Curry Leaf) and even bands 🎶 (@pavementband @lower_slaughter) to make beers that taste as good as their labels look.

🌱 Mostly vegan. Always tasty as heck.
🍺 Proud to be pouring at Brighton Locals Beer Festival 2025

#BrightonCraftBeer #indiebeer #craftbeerbrighton
#BrightonLocalsBeerFestival

Brew day with @unbarredbrewery 🥳

We recently had the pleasure of heading down to @unbarredbrewery 🍻 with some of the staff from the venues involved in this year’s beer festival to brew a special collaboration beer just for the event.

The result is a 5% Hazy Pale Ale brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Centennial – a bright, hoppy cask beer that’s tasting absolutely spot on 🍊🌿

Huge thanks to UnBarred for hosting us 🙌 and to everyone who came along to be part of the brew day – we had a wonderful time!

You’ll be able to try it for yourself during the festival, 14th–17th August 📅 Looking forward to sharing a few pints with you then 🍺

#beerfestival2025 #collabbrew #unbarredbrewery #caskale #hazypaleale #brightonbrewery #brighton #brightonbeerfestival #local #shoplocal

Brew day with @loudshirtbeer 🥳

We joined the team at @loudshirtbeer 🍻 to brew something special for this year’s Locals Beer Festival – a 6% New England IPA, packed with Citra, Strata, Idaho 7 and Mosaic. Super juicy, full of tropical fruit character, and seriously drinkable.

We’ve named it “Take My Shoes Off and Throw Them in the Lake”, after one of our favourite Kate Bush songs — with label artwork by the brilliant local artist @don.brosbin 🤩

Huge thanks to Loud Shirt for having us – really appreciate the warm welcome and a top-notch brew day 🙌

You’ll find this pouring during the festival, 14th–17th August. Can’t wait to sink a few pints with you next weekend 🍺

#beerfestival2025 #loudshirtbrewery #neipa #takemyshoesoffandthrowtheminthelake #localsfestival #juicyipa #craftbeercollaboration #brighton #brightonbeerfestival #brightonfestival #independent #shoplocal #supportindependent

🎉 The countdown is ON! 🎉

We’ll be taking some time over the next week or so to introduce you to the breweries taking part in the upcoming Brighton Locals Beer Festival.
Starting with one very close to home: @unbarredbrewery 🍻

UnBarred was founded back in 2014 by Jordan Mower, who began brewing in a garden shed with one goal in mind: to create exciting, uncompromising beer. That first flagship IPA? It only went and won the Bev Robbins Award for Best Sussex Beer in its first year. 🙌

From those humble beginnings, they quickly outgrew the shed and moved into gypsy brewing — teaming up with other amazing breweries across the UK to scale up production and keep pushing boundaries.

Fast forward to August 2019: UnBarred opened their own brewery and taproom right in the heart of Brighton. Since then, they’ve quadrupled production and become a cornerstone of the city’s beer scene. Their core range is now stocked nationwide, and their ever-changing limited releases are packed with creativity, character, and flavour.

Everything they do — from recipe development to label design — is infused with a love for Brighton, for craft, and for community. They collaborate regularly with local artists, independent businesses and other creatives to celebrate the wild, wonderful culture of this city. 💥

Oh — and they’re also the masterminds behind this year’s first official Festival Brew 👀🍺

We’ll be sharing more about that very soon, but here's a sneaky sneak peek 👉

#BrightonLocalsBeerFest #UnBarredBrewery #BrightonBeer #CraftBeerFestival #SupportLocalBreweries #DrinkLocal #BrightonEvents #CraftBeerBrighton #FestivalBrew

Something of a shindig happening up at the @independent_btn this Saturday 30th.

With a huge range of @verdantbrew & @beakbrewery beers, and @danwattsindependent & @niallmcnicol taking over the decks, IT’S A THING you won’t want to miss.

Make your way to @independent_btn this Saturday and celebrate the Indi Beer Crawl us!

See you there! 💚

We’re back again this November with the most exciting Indi Beer Crawl yet, with more pubs involved than ever before as well as two of our favourite breweries, @verdantbrew and @beakbrewery who have collaborated to make a special beer for the crawl, ITS A THING!

Keep an eye out for maps which will be distributed in the coming weeks. As before, those who get 6 or more stamps will be entered into the prize draw, so keep your postcards safe and tag us on social media with a picture of your stamped cards to be entered into the draw.

We would like to say a special thank you to @tomirusselldraws for designing the maps, posters and T-shirts (coming soon) for this years crawl. We would also like to thank everyone else who has contributed to make this years Indi Beer Crawl A THING, including @pigsearsbeerltd who have coordinated the distribution of beer to all of these fantastic venues.

We look forward to seeing you all at the end of the month!

THANK YOU!!

We had the best weekend watching you all enjoy the crawl.

Big love to the @verdantbrew crew for being great co conspirators and crawl buddies 💚

We’ll be in touch with prize winners- keep an eye on your inboxes.

Watch this space for Brighton Independents beer crawl 2024! 🍻

You saw it here first! 🍻

@verdantbrew and @pressuredropbrw ‘s collab ‘The experiment requires a conclusion’

This special brew will be available exclusively at our crawl sites this weekend- don’t miss it!

Maps are now available to pick up at all crawl sites!

Tomorrow, we'll be busy delivering maps to all your favourite indies. Don’t forget to grab yours in time to crawl! 🍻

We back baby! 🍻💃🏼🕺

We’re super happy to announce that the Brighton Independents’ Beer Crawl is back – this time for a summer version, from August 25th to 28th 2023.

Taking place across Brighton and Hove on bank holiday weekend, the Beer Crawl sees 15 of Brightons best independent pubs join up with Verdant Brewing and Pressure Drop for a citywide tap takeover. These are two of the UK’s best independent breweries and they will be collaborating on a very special pale ale, exclusively available for the event.

Maps will be available to collect from all venues from next weekend!

Map design- @alexolford

Thanks to everyone who joined us last weekend for our Brighton independents beer crawl with @verdantbrew!

Watch this space for more to come 👀🍻

Maps ready to collect at all checkpoints! See you this weekend 🪩

Sampling our route today on a map drop mission! The hills may not be for the faint hearted but the destinations are worth the climb 🍻

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