The Craft Beer Co, Brighton

I don't know how the Craft/Cask people decide what to name their outlets. The recently opened Craft Beer Co in Brighton seems, to me, to have more of the relaxed, lounge bar kind of feel of Cask in Pimlico than the beery intensity of Craft in Clerkenwell. Having said that, there's still a lot of Brighton about the place. It's not a large pub - the main room is L-shaped, bare-boarded and on 2 levels. On my visit, the beer menus were dotted among the tables, so I had a read through, admiring the prices. At the bar, it's more reasonable. Slightly cheaper than the London venues, in fact, for cask ales, but the usual £3.95 a half for the kegged exotica. 9 handpumps are available, one devoted to the house Pale Ale (cheapest beer of the lot). 18 taps (3 devoted to cider) are also present and, as you'd expect, avoid the usual suspects - 'lager' comes from Camden & Leeds, not from Australia or Belgium (or Northampton). A worthwhile addition to the Brighton beer scene; close to the shops, but sufficiently removed to avoid getting mobbed. I'll be back, I'm sure.

The Florist was closed and being gutted when I went past a couple of weeks ago. According to the local CAMRA news letter it is due to open some time in June as the Craft Beer Co,

The Florist is an L shaped pub with seating at the front where the bar is located and some more seating in a raised area to the left of the bar. Premium draught products are available alongside Guinness and one of the hand pumps was unused leaving Doom Bar and Castle Rock’s Harvest Pale as the ale options. I found the barman to be very friendly and the Harvest Pale was on good form. This isn’t the cheapest of places with doubles being advertised as ‘only £5’ and the pizza is £9. The pizza, which is served from 16:00 until 21:00, was the only food that I saw advertised during my visit late on Tuesday night last week. There is a happy hour(s) from 16:00 until 20:00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays but I’m not sure what sort of discount is given. The interior is made up of light wood and there are a few potted plants dotted about. There is also a piano and board games are available to play. There was some background music playing and I didn’t spot any televisions. This pub is aimed at the more affluent of the area, but it is a welcoming place and I would have no problem returning for another pint.