Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with sheffield hatter
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Evening Star, Brighton
Brighton
BN1 3PB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Evening Star
One of the first in at lunchtime so managed to get a seat by the window, purely to sit down mind and nothing to do with monitoring the traffic into the adult shop over the road. Although I have to report footfall was a bit thin at that time of day.
Back to the pub and good range of beers as usual including several interesting guests including a mild from the Brodies brewery. But didn’t look any further than the four Dark Star pumps to the fore and the couple I tried were in tip top condition.
On 21st June 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2109 recommendations about 1991 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Evening Star
Some of the best beer to be had in Brighton here and is always a must visit pub. Plenty of top Quality Darkstar beers plus good quality guests. A good mix of clientel but can be a bit on the studenty side of things at times.All things considerd though this is a first rate pub.
On 16th April 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Evening Star
A trip to Brighton isn’t complete without a drink or two here. The original home of the Dark Star brewery, this is now just a pub and appears to be converted from two houses knocked together. The bar usually has a handful of Dark Stars plus a couple of interesting guests, as well an extensive selection of overseas bottles and quality keg products, with cider and perry also available. The beer is invariably superb and reasonably priced compared to a number of other outlets in BN1. The interior is deceptively small, bare feeling and furnished in a very basic manner. The bar is also tiny and squashed into the left hand corner of the room, which can make for an uncomfortable crush at busy times though they have a rare knack of employing barmaids that are easy on the eye, friendly and knowledgeable about the beer so the wait is worthwhile. The clientele are an eclectic mix of students, locals, bohos and die-hard ale fans which makes for a convivial atmosphere and it’s easy to strike up conversation. The comings and goings in the two porn shops over the road offer a constant source of amusement. Close to the station which is very useful as it’s easy to be tempted to stay too long here. The downside is that the pub suffers from its own popularity; the interior often gets rammed and whilst I’m not claustrophobic to any great degree I do find it rather uncomfortable and, as mentioned elsewhere, those who have blagged a seat can often find themselves accidentally knocked, jostled and dampened when other peoples pints slop over them. This combo usually means that people spill out onto the narrow street outside which then puts you directly at risk of being splattered by oncoming buses (the staff do get very agitated by this and regularly go outside to gripe at people who have inadvertently stepped into the roadway).
If you like drinking, this one is unmissable but if you want more creature comforts (and a seat most days) you’ll be less inclined. I’m firmly in the former grouping.
On 31st July 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Evening Star
Close to the station in a busy residential street is the well known Evening Star pub, the former home of the Dark Star Brewery.
A wooden swing door tells us that we’re entering the “Evening Star Ale House”. True to form, inside we find a basic bare boarded interior which features some exposed brickwork, wooden pew style seats and heavy duty chunky bar stools. High up on shelves around the perimeter is a collection of beer bottles and there’s a few CAMRA award certificates on the walls, but the overriding impression is of a rather dull and functional place where little thought, if any, has been given to attempting to create a characterful interior and warm ambience. It is however pleasingly free of fruit machines, TV’s etc
Seating outside on the pavement at the front help alleviate the inevitable crush inside, where seating is at a premium and vertical drinking a distinct probability.
A small curved bar counter – made from oak vats in which the famous Merrydown Cider was once made – was dispensing 4 Dark Star beers plus 2 guests on my recent late Friday afternoon visit. The Dark Star beers included Hophead, American IPA and Original. The guests were White Horse Village Idiot and Kernel Big Brick, the latter weighing in at a chunky 8.9% ABV and being sold for £ 2.70p a half ( or £ 1.80p a third ). The pub has been a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular for some time now.
You’ll quite rightly want to include this in any Brighton crawl, but the lack of comfort will discourage all but the most dedicated real ale enthusiasts from lingering and people who think that this is one of the top pubs in the country really do need to get out more.
On 19th July 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Evening Star
I have to admit that if I had randomly come across this pub whilst on a crawl I would have given it a miss as it was absolutely heaving with a queue three deep at the small bar that seemed to get longer as I waited. There was no seating and the people in seats looked uncomfortable as people bumped into their chairs and leant over the tables trying to not fall over. This is certainly not my idea of a good night out, however good the beer is. After a five minute plus wait I finally escaped with a pint of Dark Star and sat outside on one of the two picnic tables located out the front. It was whilst drinking my pint and noting the late opening times as midnight on Fridays and Saturdays when I got involved in an in-depth conversation with some pub goers about the Sussex pub scene and I ended up staying for another two pints of the DS, which were on good form – even for a Guinness drinker!!!
For a pint of Guinness in comfortable surroundings watching Sky Sports with some nachos and chips this isn’t the place to go, but for quality beer and conversation it’s unmissable. Unfortunately I like Sky and Guinness so my next visit will be when no sport is being played and maybe not early evening on a Saturday when every ale drinker in the South East seems to converge on this tiny little pub.
On 26th January 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
I L left this review about The Evening Star
Very handy for the railway station this is well known amongst real ale drinkers. Yes, it is a small pub and virtually always busy, so we normally end up either sharing a table with others or standing round the isolated fireplace between the entrance and the bar. The beers range both from their own Dark Star brewery or guest ales really makes it worth visiting this pub, even if just for one pint when its really full before walking to 2 - 3 minutes back to Brighton station.
On 8th September 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 287 recommendations about 284 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Evening Star
Quite a small & plainly decorated pub the beer is the star in this pub. Good selection of their own dark star beers & guests that included brewdog & thornbridge.Close to the station.
On 9th July 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Colin Gooch left this review about The Evening Star
Whilst the quality of the beer is not in doubt the Evening Star makes absolutely no effort in making having a drink there a comfortable experience, no food other than baguettes I can cope with but torn seats, sticky tables and less than clean loos detract from what could be a fine drinking experience. For the beer I would rate it a 9 but for the pub itself it would have to be much lower - hence my overall rating
On 6th July 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 60 recommendations about 57 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Evening Star
The history of this pub and its association with the Dark Star Brewery had elevated it in my mind to a level that it would inevitably struggle to meet when I finally visited it last week.
The small bar, wedged into the corner of the small, single room, housed four Dark Star ales and three guests, the pick of which was the Brew Dog IPA, which was in fantastic shape and worthy of repeated sampling. In addition to this, there were a number of draught beers, mostly from Meantime and an excellent bottled beer range covering Belgian and German bases as well as a fine selection from the USA.
The small room was fairly full at 6:30 on a warm Saturday with all of the tables occupied and patrons perched on stools along the window ledge and around pillars with beer shelves. There were a few benches on the front patio as well and I found myself spilling outside in the search for a seat.
Aside from the blackboards listing ales and bottles and a few promotional posters, the interior was fairly bare and bland, whilst the service was perfunctory and not exactly welcoming.
This is certainly a vital stop off for any visit to Brighton and its proximity to the station makes it essential for rail travellers - just make sure you lower your expectations and approach it with an open mind. I enjoyed my time here, but it wasn't good as it was in my head.
On 3rd June 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Evening Star
Situated a couple of carriage lengths away from Brighton Central station, the Evening Star is a good first (or last) stop on any trip to Brighton. The interior is quite small, just a single room frugally furnished with a 90° arc bar, a few pew seats and some hefty and quite uncomfortable bar stools. One side has an exposed brick wall and high shelves laden with beer bottles. The pub certainly isn’t built for comfort drinking and seating is at a premium when the place is busy.
The main draw here is obviously the beers (the "Ale House" patterned glass on the front door is, for once, not just purely decoration). This was the original hoime of the Dark Star brewery until it moved to a larger premises in 2001. On my visit 3 of the 10 hand pumps offered Dark Star (Festival, Sunburst and Hophead) with a further 4 guest ales (Thornbridge Seaforth IPA, Gadds Dr Sunshine, Crouch Vale Golden Duck and Oakham Maypole Mild) and 3 pumps for ciders/perries. The draught beers consisted of 3 Meantime and 3 Belgian beers and there is a healthy selection of bottled beers. Prices are very good compared with some of Brighton’s pubs and the staff are exteremely knowledgable and approachable (one barmaid cleverly diverted someone who asked for Guiness to an obscure bottled stout instead). If it is High Street beers you want, this is not the place.
There are a few photos of the current Dark Star Brewery on the walls but the décor and furnishings really take a back seat to the beers and ambience. The place seems to attract a wide ranging customer base and radiated a healthy air of decorum. I had been hoping to pay the Evening Star a visit for some time based on its reputation and happily it didn’t disappoint.
On 19th May 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]