Dark Star is a brewery in

Partridge Green Partridge Green is a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2135 road north-west of Henfield. It is in the parish of West Grinstead. Partridge Green takes its name from a family called Partrych who were regist ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England.

History

Dark Star Brewery was established in 1994, brewing in the cellar of the Evening Star public house in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. The beer ''Dark Star'' was originally made by Pitfield Brewery in north London before its brewer Rob Jones moved to the Evening Star. In 2001 the company moved production to Ansty, West Sussex, before moving again to Partridge Green in 2010. The new brewery has a brew length of 45

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

and an annual capacity of 20,000 barrels. In February 2018, Dark Star was acquired by London-based brewer, Fuller Smith & Turner, with James Cuthbertson staying on as its managing director. In August 2018 the brewery confirmed that some of its flagship "Hophead"

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

was being produced by Fuller's in London. In January 2019, Fuller Smith & Turner announced plans to sell its entire drinks business, including The Dark Star Brewing Company, to Japanese firm

Asahi Breweries is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business (4 ...

. In November 2022,

announced that it would close the Dark Star Brewery in Partridge Green, with the entire Dark Star portfolio moving to its

Meantime Brewery Meantime Brewing Company is a brewery based in Greenwich, London, England, and owned by Japan's Asahi Breweries . The company was founded by Alastair Hook in 1999, and was purchased by SABMiller in May 2015. As part of the agreements made with r ...

in Greenwich, London.

References

External links

Goodbeerhunting.com. ''Fuller’s Acquires Dark Star Brewing in Bid for Craft Cred.''

Imbibe.com. ''"Ultimately Dark Star is Fuller’s toy", says MD.''

365 Magazine. ''The Man Behind Dark Star Brewery - An Exclusive Interview With James Cuthbertson.''
{{coords, 50.9582, -0.3041, display=title Mid Sussex District Companies based in Sussex Food and drink companies established in 1994 Breweries in England British companies established in 1994 1994 establishments in England