Latest reviews from Brighton Kemptown
| 74 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Visited in August '23, in terrible weather. Nice little oldskool pub, carpet and all, limited seating. Small bar with a couple of taps and hand pumps. Had time for only one beer, opted for a very decent Stout. Friendly service. Nice place.“ |
| 70 /100 Black Dove (Bar) 74 ST. JAMES’S STREET “Popped in here on my Birthday after eating in a nearby Turkish Restaurant. Quite a grunge type pub, quirky, loud music. Lovely helpful service, there is a decent range of beers on tap for the visitor. Definitely worth its place on our Kemptown list.“ |
| 72 /100 10 BELLTOWER INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, RODEAN ROAD “Brewery Tap on a small Industrial Estate opposite Loud Shirt Brewery, which is currently closed. Lots of seating available and a good range of their latest beers. Been to a few of these now and this is a decent example.“ |
| 68 /100 Barley Mow (Kemptown) (Bar) 92 ST GEORGE'S ROAD “This is a quiet, relaxed free-house in the Kemptown area of Brighton. There is a small garden to the rear, a couple of rooms inside, although knocked through. They had 4 beers on hand-pull on our visit, it seems that the Real Ale is popular in here, there was a couple of local breweries and a couple from near the area that I live funnily enough. The facia was all scaffolded on our visit so we walked past without spotting it. London prices, which appears to be the norm for Brighton apart from a couple of rare examples. Not a destination pub but worth a look if nearby.“ |
| 86 /100 Well (Beer Store) 102 ST. GEORGE’S ROAD “A new bottle shop and bar in Kemptown. Really bright with a high ceiling and informal pouring station at the back. Lots of flea market furniture. Feels like someone’s front room, in a really good way.
Three fridges of cans. Lots of local, as well as London beers, and certain regulars, like Deya and Verdant.
Three taps. When I was there, it was Beak, Burning Sky and Deya.
Really nice spot. Very chill.“ |
| 78 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “A wonderful brew pub, with a great atmosphere and very friendly staff. Quirky interior, with loads of vintage bits and pieces. Quite a cosy space.
Beers are mostly from the Hand Brew Co., and from their newer brewery.
Tried a really good selection of six beers, and pretty decent. I’d rate it as a must for a Brighton trip.“ |
| 76 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Excellent street corner brewpub in a residential area of the eastern part, Kemptown, not far from the central part of Brighton. A cozy little main room in dark wooden interiors with a bric-a-brac decor, not overdone though. Five cask ales and more than ten craft beers on the taps. At our stay there were five of their own beers, Belgian and German beers among the guest beers. Decent British rock music in the back. Friendly, informative service. (Visited with Finn 17.10.2019).“ |
| 74 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Tiny, cozy place. A must-visit.“ |
| 76 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Visited 21/3/2019. Proper eclectic slice of Brighton. Decent selection of house beers plus a small number of guest. Friendly service and locals. Definitely worth a visit.“ |
| 56 /100 Thomas Kemp (Bar) 8 ST GEORGE’S ROAD “A large and popular pub in Kemp Town, just slightly further out than The Hand in Hand. It appears to be the go to pub for families for parties and Sunday lunches. There is a small beer range, but it is possible pick up a new rating. Worth a look.“ |
| 78 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Our third pub of our visit. 5 cask beers from 5 different breweries plus one cask cider, and 4 interesting keg offerings. Beers in good condition, and a friendly atmosphere. Although Brighton Kemptown is listed separately from Brighton on RB it is only about a 10 minute walk from Brighton Pavilion. Recommended as part of a Brighton pub tour. Visited mid afternoon 31.3.15“ |
| 58 /100 Saint James (Bar) 16 MADEIRA PLACE “Big old boozer on the western end of Kemptown with a big single room and long bar. Worn in and loud, boisterous. The fridge holds several fairly interesting foreign bottles and the bar has a reasonable selection of beers. Handy for the trip out to The Hand in Hand.“ |
| 76 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Jun ’14 (76) This pub really hasn’t changed much over the years, still a small single roomed bar with a good selection of beers, friendly, cosy. Well worth the effort to get there. The beers are still brewed on site but by the Brewer from Brighton Bier now as they use the plant. 2003 Rating (72)I liked the Hand, it was small but very friendly, with a knowledgable barman. A good range of Real Ale to keep you away from the dreaded lager. Very nice.“ |
| 70 /100 Black Dove (Bar) 74 ST. JAMES’S STREET “The Black Dove is a somewhat quirky, eclectic bar that offers an above average range of beer. They are an independent freehouse that offers decent enough keg options from the UK & US. The best selection is undoubtedly their bottle range. This includes some of the key UK craft breweries like Kernel, Partizan, Magic rock etc, as well as some nice American ones like Founders. Prices seemed fair enough and the staff were happy to make some recommendations/offer tasters. A solid addition to the burgeoning Brighton beer scene.“ |
| 76 /100 Black Dove (Bar) 74 ST. JAMES’S STREET “We visited here on Saturday 8th March 2014. We came here on our long walk (2 miles) back to the campsite. This was a busy little place situated in the Kemptown area so quite close to the Hand in Hand which is also worthy of a visit, inside it was quite dark but very interesting in terms of the clientele and vibe. The bar was quite small and situated at one end RH side as you view pub from road. I didn’t see any cask offerings and didn’t take much notice of the keg offerings; however the bottled beer choice was very good with a lot of the new wave of London breweries featured incl: Partizan, Pressure Drop, Kernel etc. There were two chaps serving, the one who served me seemed more interested in talking to his mates and less bothered about my presence but we stayed for a couple of further beers and he seemed a little better and even managed a flicker of a smile when I told him we’d re-use our glasses. There was an interesting painting on the wall to the side of the bar I should like to take a further look when it wasn’t so busy but the painting looked crazy with robotic ’things’ apparently serving behind a crammed bar, it looked like one of those H.Bosch paintings but more up to date. There were a couple of folk with very interesting clothes, pink Lycra tops (chap) silver trousers, looked great. There is a great looking tiny bar downstairs nr toilets. We enjoyed this bar, (we stopped for three beers) it’s great for people watching if you get a window seat as we did.“ |
| 74 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Me and Loz visited here Friday 7th March 2014. Interestingly I had been here before about 19-20 years ago when we were on a family holiday at a great place called Duck Barn in Lewes. This place hasn’t really changed that much, its still a pleasant little pub, a little dark, feels a little cluttered but is friendly with plenty of locals. The pub is about a mile walk from town slightly uphill through the Kemptown area, you will pass what appears to be the old/original Kemptown brewery building on your left as you walk. As you enter the pub (it sort of occupies a corner position I think) the bar is diagonally ahead of you. This is a one-room pub and to be honest anythink over ten people would make this place seem busy. Beer choice saw three Kemptown beers Red, Black and I think Gold? along with a few others such as Dark Star etc. Loz had a Dark Star Meltdown which was off but when I pointed this out to the landlord he had no hesitation in changing this in fact he also took it straight off sale and put on Marble Pint so I had one of those as well. A good traditional boozer, friendly, welcoming and the Kemptown beers are fine, bit too old fashioned twiggy, malty rather than hoppy for me but were in good nick and absolutely fine“ |
| 54 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Worth visiting only if you want to tick their beer - which isn’t very good.“ |
| 78 /100 Black Dove (Bar) 74 ST. JAMES’S STREET “A small and pleasant cosmopolitan pub. It has by the standards of most places a good range and shouldn’t be forgotten alongside the likes of Craft, the Evening Star and the Brewery Tap. Friendly staff. There are a small number of handpumps, keg beers, ciders and bottles, all well chosen from the likes of Magic Rock and, from the US, Odell, Brooklyn. Schlenkerla Rauchbier in bottle.“ |
| 80 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Small, quirky character bar located a few streets back from the beachfront. Solid cask ale selection including a house brew, as well as local and UK microbrews (including Orkney and Caledonian at my last visit). Solid and frequently changing international bottle selection. Good value and friendly service. Really nice ambience and music (jazz and blues at the time). It also has interesting black and white pictures of nude women on the ceiling.......“ |
| 82 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Visited on 29th August 2009. Only beer from the pub’s brewery available was Kemptown (see rating), but another six or so beers were on from other small/micro breweries. All staff friendly and there were some very outgoing and conversational locals in the pub when I visited, making it difficult to leave! In my review I have awarded 7/10 for food. I need to qualify this. The pub is not a "foody" or gastro pub, but it DOES serve homemade pies subject to availablilty, and these are excellent. I recommend the Thai chicken variety. Pies served by themselves in a foil case and paper plate. Subdued lighting and some interesting artefacts, namely german "Stein" mugs hang from the ceiling and the pub’s central beam is festooned with ties and cravats. The pub has a piano but I’ve not seen it in use. A real, proper pub and worth seeking out even if only one homebrewed beer is available. Do phone beforehand to check availability. Recommended.“ |
| 78 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “The only brewpub in Brighton I think. Five real ales and one cider on tap. A small but very nice place. Brewery is in the same building (upstairs). The landlord was very friendly for showing me that (22.10.08).“ |
| 46 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “Looks a bit dusty, old and uninteresting. Got served as if I wasn’t really wanted there by a annoying fat guy. Selection wasn’t that great either. They didn’t have 10 taps, maybe 8? but only a few cask ales.“ |
| 86 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “After The Evening Star, the next best pub in Brighton. I usually call in once a year after my visit to Brighton Eye Hospital which is nearby. A pint or two of Kemptown Bitter (my favourite of the three beers) is usually enough to sustain me for the walk down the hill to the Evening Star before catching a train home. I was sorry to read of the passing of the charismatic landlord recently. He was quite a character.“ |
| 62 /100 33 UPPER ST JAMES STREET “The Kemptown Brewery is on the same site, so this is essentially a brewpub. They serve the Kemptown beers as well as guest ales. They have a dcent bottle selection (mostly Belgian from memory) and have hacker Pshorr Weiss and Hellese on tap aswell as some standard Foster/Stella type rubbish. This is quite a small cosy pub, with a friendly atmosphere, definitely worth a visit if in Brighton.“ |
