About
Since 2024 Dark Star beers are brewed at Fullers brewery, Chiswick.
The Dark Star Brewing Company was born in 1994 in the cellar of a pub in Brighton. With a brew plant only marginally bigger than an enthusiastic home-brew kit the characteristic style of hoppy beers was developed and tried out on the willing guinea pigs at the bar. As with all the best ideas, the business was planned on the back of a beer mat, driven by a few beers and funded with money we didn’t have.
A few years on, well 25 years actually, we find ourselves in Partridge Green, just south west of Horsham, West Sussex, with a 45 barrel brewhouse. It’s all been a bit of a blur really. None of us really wanted to leave the cellar of the pub, but apparently more and more people liked drinking the same beers as us, so we needed to brew more…
What’s in a name…: The brewery is named after a song by the band The Grateful Dead, although if you have a heard a different story, use that, never let the truth stand in the way of a good yarn.
In February 2018, Dark Star was acquired by London-based brewer, Fuller Smith & Turner. In January 2019, Fuller Smith & Turner sold its entire drinks business, including The Dark Star Brewing Company, to Asahi Breweries.
The brewery and taproom at Partridge Green was closed in 2022 and production moved to Meantime brewery, and following the closure of that in 2024, production shifted to Fuller’s Griffin brewery.
The Dark Star Brewing Company was born in 1994 in the cellar of a pub in Brighton. With a brew plant only marginally bigger than an enthusiastic home-brew kit the characteristic style of hoppy beers was developed and tried out on the willing guinea pigs at the bar. As with all the best ideas, the business was planned on the back of a beer mat, driven by a few beers and funded with money we didn’t have.
A few years on, well 25 years actually, we find ourselves in Partridge Green, just south west of Horsham, West Sussex, with a 45 barrel brewhouse. It’s all been a bit of a blur really. None of us really wanted to leave the cellar of the pub, but apparently more and more people liked drinking the same beers as us, so we needed to brew more…
What’s in a name…: The brewery is named after a song by the band The Grateful Dead, although if you have a heard a different story, use that, never let the truth stand in the way of a good yarn.
In February 2018, Dark Star was acquired by London-based brewer, Fuller Smith & Turner. In January 2019, Fuller Smith & Turner sold its entire drinks business, including The Dark Star Brewing Company, to Asahi Breweries.
The brewery and taproom at Partridge Green was closed in 2022 and production moved to Meantime brewery, and following the closure of that in 2024, production shifted to Fuller’s Griffin brewery.
5.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
[Cask at Akkurat, Stockholm] Pale amber. Unusual soapy perfumy haroma. Medium sweet with cxlean mouthfeel and medium body. Really smokey with notes of ash. Strange finish with some plasctic and salty bitterness.
Tried
from Cask
on 24 Jul 2006
at 13:10
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask handpull at Market Porter, Borough. Deep copper colour with thin white head. Blackcurrant herby hop aroma (could have willamatte hops) Bit of yeast. Bit of choc malt in mouth. Bready. Smokey bacon finish. Really impressive beer. Very good malt.
Tried
from Cask
on 18 Jul 2006
at 07:33
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
(Cask at Akkurat, Stockholm) Colour is golden with hints of orange, frothy head. Nose is floral with spicy notes of honey, elderflowers and cardamom. Taste is fruity and floral with the same spices (honey, elderberries or -flowers, cardamom). A bit on the thin side, but very summery and refreshing.
Tried
from Cask
on 11 Jul 2006
at 14:56
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
(Cask at Oliver Twist, Stockholm, 9 July) Colour is golden with notes of orange, frothy head. Nose is fruity and hoppy with notes of citrus (grapefruit, orange peel), very fresh hop aroma. Taste is hoppy and fruity with notes of grapefruit and a fresh, hoppy finish. Very refreshing.
Tried
from Cask
on 11 Jul 2006
at 14:48
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask at Merton Beer Festival July 7th, 8th 2006. Looking more like a dark bitter than a traditional mild this beer poured a reddy brown colour. Great big dollops of citrusy fruitiness zapped out with more restraint shown by the malts and an ever present sweetness. This was by some distance my favourite mild here but it wasn’t typical of its style and was pushing more towards a bitter nonetheless a beer of great character.
Tried
from Cask
on 10 Jul 2006
at 03:40
6.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 5.5
[Cask at Akkurat, Stockholm] Deep golden. Eviden spicy cardamom aroma. Medium sweet with soft, rounded mouthfeel. A touch of old english marmelade adds an interesting twist to the spicy flavour. Finishes with low bitterness.
Tried
from Cask
on 06 Jul 2006
at 13:56
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask handpull at County Hotel, JDW, Ashford. Black beer with beige head. Wonderful coffee aroma. Like opening a fresh jar of Maxwell House. Bit powdery in mouth, coffee everywhere with a dry powdery finish. Not exactly balanced. Enjoyable, but not subtle
Tried
from Cask
on 05 Jul 2006
at 09:50
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
(Cask at Oliver Twist, Stockholm) Colour is dark ruby, almost mahogany, with little head. Nose is malty and fruity, with hints of dried fruit, quite roasted. Taste starts malty with notes of dried fruit (raisins, figs, apricots), turns drier in the long bitter finish, with distinct hoppy, resiny notes and hints of caramel and toffee. Good stuff as expected, I’m hardly ever disappointed with brews from this brewery.
Tried
from Cask
on 04 Jul 2006
at 15:09
5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
(Bottle 50 cl) Pors black and opaque with a rough, beige head. Aroma is pure ashtray. Mediun body, very burned malts, ashy with distinct coffee notes. Very dry and burned, bitter finish. 110606
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jun 2006
at 14:52
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle picked up at SH Jones Bicester. Pours pale golden in colour, aroma is lemony and hoppy.Flavour is citric but also hoppy again and very, very nice a real summer beer. Nice bitterness and overall a great very flavoursome beer that slipped down a treat.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Jun 2006
at 01:10