Guest blog written by craft beer expert, Gareth, from Beer No Evil, Brighton Road
The weekend of 05-07 April will see Worthing’s third tap takeover, where independent venues will each champion an independent brewery from across Sussex and the UK.
It involves each venue choosing a brewery to work with to takeover at least 50% of their taps for the weekend. For a venue to be involved they must pour at least 50% independent breweries all year round, showing their commitment to indie beer.
This is the third year the event is taking place. It’s funny to think that this came from a chance catch up meeting between Beer No Evil, which I own and run with my wife Gemma, and Laurence and Richard from the Old Bike Store. It turned out that all of us had been talking about running a Townwide Tap Takeover and about working together on it after seeing the success of cities like Sheffield and towns like Hastings running similar things. So Gemma and I teamed up with Laurence and made it happen.
We contacted our Hastings industry friends at Eel and Bear, another Craft Beer Shop and Taproom who helped guide us on how to set one up. In turn we’re in discussions with another coastal town and helping advise them on set up. It’s good to be part of a wider community, especially during such challenging times.
We’ve put a bit of a twist on our town’s Tap Takeover by asking the participating venues to choose a different brewery to those who have been involved the last two years. The reason for this is to be able to keep on championing the less well-known alongside world-renowned breweries – all which must be independent. It challenges people to keep trying and supporting other breweries.
Worthing is an important destination for the craft beer scene, a bit of a hidden gem that is slowly becoming less hidden. It’s been amazing to see it grow and we’re excited to share the town’s vibrant beer scene with more and more people.
The last two year’s tap takeovers have been a huge success. Worthing’s independent community has a great collaborative spirit – and the tap takeover is one of the best examples of it.
The nature of the tap takeover means each venue can showcase their own, unique style – or try something completely new.
Beer lovers will find new takes on old favourites, and those embracing the weird and wonderful will have plenty to try too – from rich barrel-aged stouts, to Belgian-inspired ales and mouth-watering sours.
For more about this fantastic weekend, visit worthingtaptakeover.co.uk or follow @worthingtto on Instagram or Worthing Tap Takeover on Facebook.
