What’s brewing: The top 10 new UK breweries to watch out for this summer.

As the weather warms up, there’s no better time to revisit your beer offering, refreshing it with some of the hottest new names in brewing from across the UK.

Admittedly, times are tough for the country’s brewing scene, with breweries closing faster than they’re opening at the moment, because of a variety of factors. All the more reason to support these up-and-coming producers, all of which have a focus on supplying trade in the UK.

This year Imbibe Live are partnering with SIBA to bring you some of the finest and most unique beers and ciders the UK has to offer from independent breweries. Pop by the Indie Beer Bar at Imbibe Live 2024 to meet the brewers and sample some top-notch beers.

For more on the latest beer trends, join the tasting room session at Imbibe Live this year by SIBA’s Neil Walker titled: Next big thing in beer: Ensure your business is ahead of the latest beer trend.

With a tagline of ‘proper sound beer’, this music-inspired brewery in Liverpool began operations earlier this year, and already has a full complement of beers in its portfolio – everything from hazy pale Overture to West Coast IPA Forte, via a dry Irish stout entitled Legato, and gose Accent. The pair behind Colbier bring extensive experience from local breweries and beer bars.

Being mavericks means making a difference for this Hampshire brewery, particularly when it comes to its local community. The beers produced at Maverick are contemporary in style – everything from crisp West Coast IPAs to hazy pales, as well as their own takes on traditional styles like Koln lager and farmhouse kveik. The tap room is worth stopping by too, with experimental brewery exclusives, weekend food trucks and more. And if you’re looking to learn more about brewing, they offer a monthly educational brewery tour.

Building on their Windsor and Maidenhead craft beer business A Hoppy Place, co-founders Naomi and Dave Hayward opened Indie Rabble brewery in May last year. Launching with eight collaboration brews produced with local producers and some from further afield, the brewery now produces a diverse range, including double IPA Big Stick Energy, and New England IPA Crabricorn, launched earlier this year. Music is a core component here too – Naomi sings in a local band, and the brewery, which is located on the Windsor beer mile, has a stage featuring regular gigs.

Wiltshire Distilling consists of both a distillery, Witchmark, and a brewery, Stone Daisy, which makes sense, given that the brewery produces the wash for the distillery’s new make spirit, and beers of its own too. Taking a relatively traditional approach, Stone Daisy produces cask conditioned beers which are increasingly available in pubs in the surrounding area. Ingredients are all sourced from the Fonthill Estate where the brewery and distillery are located, used to produce beers such as Cow Down, a ‘social pale ale’ at 3.8% ABV, and best bitter Snail Creep Hanging (4.2% ABV).

Based in Gosport, Powder Monkey microbrewery began brewing in 2021, located in a historic naval gunpowder store – hence the name. The focus here is on reinventing traditional beer styles in modern ways, leading to a varied selection. There’s Drunken Sailor, for example, a breakfast stout, and a brut IPA entitled Bubbleheads, all the way to Weiss Weiss Baby, a raspberry Berliner Weiss, and Cutlass Black Forest Gateau Stout. 

The craft brewing scene in California is world famous, so it’s only fitting that its namesake village in Scotland make its mark on the beer world too. The two Czech brewers behind Not That California use hops from their home country together with local malts to create an interesting range of beers including a New England IPA entitled Bubble Gum, and Black is the New Gold, a black lager. More experimental releases include red grape juice-infused Dirty Sally, and rice lager Mochi. As a link to local whisky production, Not That California offers 60L barrels that formerly contained scotch that have been filled with beer.

Among the more established brewers on this list, Hackney Church Brew Co was established in 2018, in collaboration with St John's Church in Hackney. A brewery, taproom and events space located on vibrant Bohemia Place a couple minutes from Hackney Central station, Hackney Church is well worth a visit. Core beers in the portfolio include Ascension, a Kölsch style lager, and St Clements, a new take on traditional hefeweizen. The brewery also adopts a local charity every quarter, nominated by staff.

While much of the craft beer world is focused on session beers and lower-ABVs, Southampton’s Breakbeat Brewing goes its own way, focusing on full-flavoured, strong beers. Beers that are seasonal, limited editions such as imperial stouts are core to the offering here, such as Strictly Social, a 10.2% ABV mocha imperial pastry stout, and The Angels Fell, a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout clocking in at 10.5% ABV. These are currently only available to trade via the brewery’s website.

Moot, located in the Kent Downs, on a regenerative arable farm, has a focus on sustainability, using local ingredients and ensuring that all of its waste products are reused or recycled. The brewing team’s fine-dining backgrounds give them a good understanding of what bars and restaurants need when it comes to beer. There’s a full core range covering everything from pale ale to stout, via bitter and double IPA, as well as interesting collabs such as the one with Lazy Scientist Hot Sauces, resulting in pastry stout Utinni. And if you’re in the area, the tap room is open Thursday to Sunday, with ten taps and a large selection of local beers.

Scotland’s Uile-bheist is both a scotch whisky distiller and brewer, the first distillery to be set up in Inverness in 130 years. While we’ll have to wait a while for the whisky to be ready, beer is already available from the low-carbon craft producer, made from local malted barley and oats, as well as water from the river Ness. The range includes Forest Dweller, a west coast-style IPA at 5.6% ABV, and Dark Horse Highland Stout, at 5% ABV.