The North Laine
A big old barn of a place, this former nightclub – now modishly decked out in chunky communal tables, industrial lighting and eyecatching sculptural pieces – still goes late each weekend with live bands and DJs. It is also home to Laine Brewery, whose gleaming, steel tuns dominate the bar, and so good beer comes as standard. Nigel Dallas, Laine's brewer, earned his stripes at Thornbridge and judging by his satisfyingly complex IPA, brews in a similar hop-forward vein. Lingering bitterness aside, every mouthful brought a new revelation: gusts of spice, floral, Parma Violet notes, toffee, lemons. There are eight cask beers to choose from, all (except Laine's Best) brewed on-site, plus a short list of craft bottles from Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada and more. True, North Laine does whiff a bit of brewing but, to beer fans, that mashed malt will smell like Chanel No 5.
• Each day, one pint is £3.20, otherwise from £3.85. 27 Gloucester Place, 01273 683666, facebook.com/NorthLainePub
The Southover (and other Indigo pubs)
Indigo owns a lot of Brighton pubs, all of which sell some cask ale from Sussex breweries such as Hepworth, Kissingate and Langham. Its best pubs go much further in their celebration of great ale. With its Brewdog, Brooklyn and Flying Dog keg beers, Belgian/US imports and bottles from edgier UK breweries such as Wild Beer and Harbour, the Cow is billed as the group's craft beer flagship (95-97 Dyke Road). Meanwhile, the Hare & Hounds (75 London Road), sells Meantime's unpasteurised, unfiltered "brewery fresh" lager which – held in two huge tanks, by the door - is maturing until the moment it is poured. It is a creditable drop: slightly yeasty, with a sharp hop edge and a twisting citric tale, but far from revelatory – particularly if you have tried similar unfiltered Czech beers, from brewers such as Bernard. It is also £5 a pint, which is typical of the crazy draught beer prices in these two rather overdesigned, self-consciously trendy boozers. In the Cow, even its cask ales start at a toppy £3.70 a pint.
All told, that is why I prefer the Southover. Located in residential Hanover, it is a bit off-piste but walkable from town. Not only does it still have the feel of a genuine lively local (be prepared: people will talk to you), but across its six keg lines, four cask pumps and bottled fridge it is somewhat cheaper than its sister venues and more adventurous in what it offers. Its Brewdog et al beers will still cost you a pretty penny, but its cask ales start at £3.09 and include, as well as beers from Sussex, brewing stars such as Burning Sky and 360° (its #49 Pacific pale was terrific), one guest beer from far-flung creatives such as Salford's First Chop or Huddersfield Magic Rock. The bottled selection is equally geographically wide-ranging. Summer Wine, Northern Monk and William Bros are all names you wouldn't necessarily expect to encounter on the south coast.
• Pint from £3.09. 58 Southover Street, 01273 601419, thesouthoverbrighton.co.uk
Curry Leaf Café & The Hop & Vine
Ordinarily, I wouldn't mention a restaurant in this series, but I have to make an exception for Curry Leaf Café. Yes, you must eat something to drink here, but, if you like, you can simply nibble on masala nuts or poppadums with chutneys (both £3) in an area of picnic table-style seating nominally set aside for drinkers. Crucially, its bottled beer selection is fantastic. Hip London craft brewers such as Partizan, Kernel and Beavertown, feature prominently, the 22-strong list rounded out by a small but high-quality selection of Belgian beers (Verhaeghe, Rodenbach). The Curry Leaf also serves Meantime pils on draught and has a second pump devoted to Sussex's excellent Burning Sky brewery.
On the subject of restaurants, should you find yourself up in leafy Fiveways, Hop & Vine (pint from £3.40, 300 Ditchling Road, 01273 549625), is a useful address to have in your mental Rolodex. It is both bar and bistro (so you don't have to eat), and its commitment to good beer is as rare as it is refreshing. Meantime and Freedom lagers occupy three keg pumps, while the two cask pumps serve beers from Sussex brewery Long Man. It is a traditional style that craft snobs may deem a bit passé, but Long Man's best bitter (clean and fresh, nice full mouthful, interesting sherbet/citrus flavours), was rather good. That is, after I had got over the hillock of ordering a Golden Tipple which had clearly gone past its best. It happens. And the beer was changed with good grace. The fridges, meanwhile, contain a compact selection of around 10 craft, Belgian and credible European beers from, for example, Brewdog, Redwell, Chimay.
• Beers from £3.80. 60 Ship Street, 01273 207070, curryleafcafe.com
The Evening Star
Twenty years ago, Dark Star Brewing was born in the Evening Star's cellar. One of the first UK breweries to start producing big, hoppy, US-style beers, it helped kick-start the current craft boom. That would be reason enough to pay homage at the Evening Star, which Dark Star now owns. But there is nothing nostalgic about this place. Its bottled menu is a global roll call of brewing innovation (Brew By Numbers, Mikkeller, Wild Beer, Crooked Stave), while its 11 cask and keg lines start out with a selection of Dark Star beers, but then spiral off into the starry ether with stronger, wilder ales from the likes of Brodies, Marble or Magic Rock. The prices may make you wince: £3 a half is not uncommon. However, the Star seems to cap them as best it can. For instance, Axe Edge, a beautifully complex, aggressively bitter 6.8% IPA from Buxton Brewery, was a fairly reasonable £4.20 a pint. Money certainly hasn't been frittered away on fancy decor. The Star is basic and to the point: all utilitarian bare brick and wood fixtures, with almost nothing to distract you (bar a background soundtrack of vapid, Radio 2 indie schmaltz), from the business in hand: sensational beer.
• Pint from £3.30. 55/56 Surrey Street, 01273 328931, darkstarpubs.co.uk
The Prince Albert
Next door to Brighton Station, this friendly, grungy boozer and live music venue prides itself on the quality of its six cask ales. Traditional beers (Harvey's Best) are served alongside more radical, full-flavoured craft beers from Sussex scene leaders such as Burning Sky, Dark Star and Hasting's Handmade. The latter's unfined Citra Cascade (its multi-award winning porter was another option) was exactly the kind of hop-loaded, lemony fresh, lychee-tinged reviver that the craft beer revolution has – thankfully - made commonplace. The Albert also sells Meantime pale ale on draught (pint £4.20), Pilsner Urquell and bottled beers from US brewery Point. Historically, the exterior of the Albert was home to a Banksy original, Kissing Coppers, but its extensive murals, graffiti and quirky decorations still reassure you that you are in safe hands. How can you not love a pub whose icons include both Che Guevara and Frank Sidebottom?
• Pint from £3.30. 48 Trafalgar Street, 01273 730499, facebook.com/ThePrinceAlbert
Brighton Beer Dispensary
A joint venture between London brewery Late Knights and Brighton Bier Co, this ruggedly handsome bar is, as you might expect, a fulcrum of everything new and exciting in beer. Its cask and keg selection includes some interesting touches, not least four gravity-dispense, from-barrel beers and two "mystery" light and dark beers, which are left unnamed on the pumps. The intention is that people will try the beers on the staff's recommendation (they're super-friendly and eager to talk beer), rather than because it's from a trendy brewery or has a pretty pump-clip. It is a noble project, if one slightly undermined by the litany of brewers (they're listed in a book, after they go off sale), that have occupied those pumps: Beavertown, Kernel, Tiny Rebel, Redwell, Bad Seed. These are some of the best and best-known breweries in craft beer. Get some George Wright or Oakham beers on, and the Dispensary will genuinely be opening up drinkers to some great, lesser-known breweries. That said, an extensive bottled beer menu goes beyond the obvious names with welcome inclusions from, for instance, Red Willow, Liverpool Craft Beer and Summer Wine. Naturally, Late Knights and Brighton Bier's own brews feature prominently at the bar. The former's unfined Crack of Dawn was, for 3.9%, very tasty beer: cleanly bitter, citrussy, with a pleasant background graininess.
• Pint from £3.40. 38 Dean Street, 01273 710624, facebook.com/BRTNDispensary
Hand In Hand
Brighton Bier Co, which co-owns the Dispensary, is a so-called "gypsy brew" – that is it moves around brewing beer on other people's kit. However, it is based at the Hand In Hand, a Kemptown brewpub, where it brews a range of Kemptown Brewery beers exclusively for the pub, and its own ales. As bad luck would have it, on this visit none of the Kemptown beers was on among the pub's four cask ales. In lieu, Brighton Bier's new-wave best bitter (all toffee, caramel and spice, with a crisply modulated bitterness), slipped down easily. Elsewhere at the bar you will find a small selection of reliable bottles (Brooklyn, Einstock, Bristol Beer), as well as, on draught, Brugse Zot, Meantime's ubiquitous pils and fruit beers from Floris and Liefmans. Not that it is all about the beer at this quirkiest of old, street-corner boozers. It's packed full of bric-a-brac and curious objects (ties, beer steins, tame Victorian pornography), which means half the fun at the Hand is drinking in the decor.
• Pint from £3.20. 33 Upper St James's Street, 01273 699595
Brighton Rocks
This easygoing Kemptown cocktail bar recently broke free of its beer tie (hurrah!), and is now exploring the foothills of craft and real ale. Its small but growing list of bottles includes, among others, Hepworth's organic pale ale, Anchor Steam, Goose Island's Honkers, Chapel Down's Curious Brew lager and Hitachino Nest's Japanese red rice ale. There is also one cask pump that pours Brighton Bier Co ales. The star of the show, however, is a keg beer, Hibernation, from new London brewery Bear Hug. A wheat beer/IPA hybrid, this hazy, softly carbonated beer is full of lemon, lime and tropical fruit flavours, yet vigorously bitter. "Like drinking Um Bongo while chewing paracetamol," as I wrote in my notes. Warning: it is however a whopping £5.60 a pint. After a shock like that, you may need some air. Which you can get on Brighton Rocks' little terrace, which looks out down Rock Place to the sea. Personally, on a sunny day, I sat inside, listening to James Blake breaking his heart. Who needs vitamin D?
• Pint from £3.70. 6 Rock Place, 01273 600550, brightonrocksbar.co.uk
Craft Beer Co.
Fans of the London Craft Beer Co venues will know what to expect: light-touch renovation of an old building (a vintage Whitbread mirror is about as jazzy as it gets), and lots and lots of exceptionally good beer. You could lose days in the Belgian or barrel-aged sections of the bottle menu alone, where some of the prices, it must be said, are stratospheric. You would have to be celebrating something momentous (40th? divorce?) to spend £25 on a 750ml bottle of Mikkeller and Three Floyd's collaborative barley wine, Hvede Goop. Or £6 on a half-pint of Italian brewery Toccalmatto's Kilowatt, for that matter. That Craft Beer Co stocks such things, however, tells you everything you need to know about it. This is beer geek paradise, even if you stick to the sub-£5 beers offered across its 27 (count em!) draught pumps. The staff are knowledgeable, approachable guides through all this, whether turning a novice on to Thornbridge's Tzara kolsch lager or recommending the latest creations from Evil Twin.
• Pint from £3.30. 22-23 Upper North Street, 01273 723736, thecraftbeerco.com
The Black Dove
This eccentric Kemptown joint (its walls lined with artsy, boho and flea market clutter), is perhaps best known as a late-night cocktail bar. But the Black Dove is also serious about beer. Six keg lines – don't miss the two Kernel taps tucked underneath – dispense fairly standard stuff (Brooklyn, Harviestoun's Bitter & Twisted, Dark Star's enduring Hophead), but look in the fridges and you will find a startlingly good, constantly changing collection of around 60 bottled ales. A reasonably tight rein is kept on the prices, with most bottles £4 -£5.50. The bar staff were enthusing to me about a new beer they had in from Mikkeller's protégées, To ØL. Being a Danish beer, it might be something you'd run scared of, but at £4.90 it was a relative bargain. Not that you will necessarily stray into the imports. From something as simple as Sam Smith's superior lager to beers from pioneering craft outfits such as Wild Beer or Pressure Drop, the Dove's fridges are full of great UK beers.
• Pint from £3.70. 74 St James's Street, 01273 671119, blackdovebrighton.com
• Travel between Manchester and London was provided by Virgin Trains. Follow Tony Naylor on Twitter @naylor_tony
