Brighton Bier is closing its Freehaus pub on October 17

Brighton Bier, one of the leading lights (if not THE leading light) of Brighton’s beer revival over the past 10 years is sadly closing it’s Hanover Freehaus site.

It is a story heard far too many times in the pub game at present. The horrendous impact of the Covid pandemic coupled with soaring operating costs has made a British pub unsustainable.

The Freehaus was a little gem tucked away in the Hanover’s rabbit warren of streets, proudly serving up the most diverse beer range in the area, and some top notch food courtesy of Happy Go Souvlaki. Yet, in these horrible times, even that is sometimes not enough.

In better news, all staff from the Freehaus are being retained under the Brighton Bier umbrella, which in these rough times is a class touch.

The official statement from Brighton Bier is below, and make sure you get down to the Freehaus somet time before October 17 to give it a right proper send off.

“Dear All,

Firstly we would like to say a big thank you to our loyal and local customers who have supported the Freehaus since we first opened our doors in March 2019, and to our incredible staff for their hard work and positive attitude whatever the challenge.

We are sorry to announce that we will be closing the Freehaus on Sunday 17th October.

New proposed terms on the Freehaus pub lease and the challenges of the Covid pandemic have given us the opportunity to take stock and review our future plans for the Brighton Bier brewery and all of our pub venues. Given the ongoing uncertainty in the hospitality and leisure environment, we are committed to always investing our efforts where we believe we can best serve our customers and build long term success.

We have been overwhelmed at the local support and what we’ve been able to achieve at the Freehaus in the last few years, restoring it to a buzzing community pub. This is thanks to our incredible team of staff, fantastic food partnerships (including our good friends Happy Go Souvlaki), and the support of our landlords.

For much of the period since opening we have either been operating under partial restrictions or closed due to lockdowns. Our landlords throughout the pandemic have been incredibly helpful and supportive of us under the most difficult of circumstances, and for that we are very grateful.

We have been given first refusal on a new lease with significantly increased rental terms that reflect the rising value of real estate in Brighton. After much consideration we have sadly concluded that we are unable to confidently operate the Freehaus on these new terms. Hopefully new tenants can be found and we wish them every success in the future as the pub continues its journey.

Happily we can confirm that all our fantastic Freehaus team will be retained within Brighton Bier and you will be able to see their familiar faces, along with your favourite beers and drinks at our other sites.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the Freehaus in the final few weeks and hope you will come along and be part of the exciting next chapter for Brighton Bier at both the brewery and our pubs.

Love from all at Brighton Bier”