The Hole in the Wall, Brighton

Small, two-room side-street pub located very close to (but hidden from) the beach. Limited seating and decoration in both parts, but it retains a very traditional feel. Four cask beers available from the bank of five handpumps on the front counter of the central servery, so you have to locate the chalkboard to see what's actually on. Anyway, I found Brew York's Maris the Otter (£4.50) plus a Session IPA from London Beer Lab, Bristol Beer Factory Wild West and Siren's Recurring Dream.

I hole-heartedly (sorry) agree with the two previous reviewers. I did a momentary double-take on entering and finding four empty hand pumps; then I saw how sparklingly clean and polished they were, and turned to see four cask beers listed on the blackboard, along with 10 keg beers and three ciders. A slight disappointment in seeing that three out of four cask were from northern breweries whose reputations, in my opinion, are better than their beers. I went for Burning Sky Aurora which was NBSS 4 and almost had me thinking of staying for another. Definitely one that I'll return to, though. If not this trip then next time.

Backstreet pub in unassuming location that is not far from the beach and the old West Pier. One of two 2023 Good Beer Guide pubs I had yet to visit in the town, this is a small 2-room pub where a few others had gathered not too long after opening on the recent bank holiday Monday. A large board in the front bar lists the real ale, craft beer and cider selection. 4 real ales were Salopian Day of Days, North Riding Citra Pale, Burning Sky Aurora & Settle Ernie's Milk Stout. The real cider was Iford Somerset Sahara. There was also a fizzy cider from Ascension. Craft beers dominated the selection, with Cloak & Dagger Komodo Bozo, The Kernel Pale Ale, Rivington Good Times Emporium, Elusive Double Oregon Trail, Pastore Limone, Burning Sky Saison Printemps, Track Each Coming Night & Anspach & Hobday London Black. Toad in the Hole was being played in the rear room, whilst our group pretty much filled the front room. It doesn't take that many people to make this pub busy. However, it's one of those Brighton pubs that I am likely to return to, with its decent ale and cider selection and excellent atmosphere, being tucked away just enough to keep any riff raff out.

This is a pretty tiny, two room back street pub, easily reached from the seafront and Churchill Square shops. The front bar is a very compact, bare boarded space with the servery to the rear, behind a nearly impenetrable row of bar blockers. Bench and low stool seating is provided in limited supply under the front windows and there’s a high shelf with bar stools along the left-hand wall, under a large and comprehensive beer board, which the staff worked hard to keep up to date as beers came and went. The servery has a rather short but pleasant dark wood counter with a pump clip lined bar back of sorts and a matching canopy decked with various hanging plants and a few bits of pub merchandise. An old fireplace to the right has been covered by a bamboo screen, with a framed pub board game above. Other blackboards list cocktail options, which I was a little surprised to see and didn’t notice anyone drinking, as well as various upcoming events. Passing the left-hand side of the bar, you can move through to the slightly lower rear room which offers similar seating options in what might be an even smaller space. There’s bar access back here too and the walls have been decorated with old photos and plenty of decent breweriana, whilst I also spotted a Toad in the Hole table near to the gents’ toilets. There was a great early Saturday evening crowd in here when I arrived, which ensured a cracking atmosphere and the staff all seemed very friendly and helpful. On the bar, the beer range included Kent Born To Be Mild, Squawk Solus and North Riding HBC586 on cask, alongside ten craft keg options from the likes of Roosters, Wiper and True, The Kernel and Three Legs. Two real ciders were also listed on the board and my pint of Mild was in excellent condition – my only gripe being that I couldn’t find anywhere particularly comfortable to drink it, as all the seats were taken. This seems like a great pub, keeping a modest selection of interesting and well-conditioned cask ales and some top-tier keg options, in a cosy space with a lively bunch of cheery locals. Had I been able to grab a seat, I may well have considered ending my crawl right here, as it’s somewhere I could happily settle down for a good session.

A new find for me in Brighton and a really good one. Two rooms divided by a U shape bar, as mentioned by Paul below , comfortable seating. The place was busy and buzzing, I managed to secure a bar stool at one end of the bar. My intended pop in for a pint soon turned into a two and a half hour session finding myself in the midst of a Marble tap takeover. Four cask beers were on,Manchester Bitter and Lagonda from Marble as well as Cloudwater Party and Howling Hops Shimmy, nine keg taps all were from Marble including a couple of colabs, two Ciders were available Ascention Pilot and Sandford Orchard Devon Scrumpy. A brilliant pub , I will be back soon.

They've gone all craft-style here, with 9 keg taps (Deya, Kernel etc), 2 of them serving non mainstream lager. There's also 5 hand pumps, with 3 in use when I visited - 2 of them dedicated to the local Hand Brew operation. Not a lot of seating to be had, but what there is is well-upholstered and comfortable. I found The Hole in the Wall to be a friendly, easy-going place hidden away in a quiet back-street near the seafront.