Caroline of Brunswick Brighton

Caroline of Brunswick Brighton

The last real rock pub in Brighton, and not bad for cask options

A giant Cerberus greeting you at the door of the Caroline of Brunswick could be considered menacing or reassuring depending on your outlook – and perhaps that’s exactly the point.

If you’re here for a grungy rock bar then you’ll see beyond the simple and worn-in environment and just enjoy Brighton’s last refuge for rockers, metallers and goths. But the pub is still pretty welcoming if you’re not, all the same.

The central bar area has loads of space for sitting at tables, perching at the bar or moshing the night away. Then there are benches out front, as well as a covered rear patio with benches often filled with smokers. For entertainment there’s a pool table, which is free during happy hour.

There are some good cask options – Hobgoblin on our visit – and plenty of lager taps, but not many keg ale or craft options. For good or ill, usually the latter, it’s the one place it feels tolerated, if not expected, to relive student days and chug down a snake-bite and black.

The small upstairs theatre space is home to a variety of events and the Caroline of Brunswick Brighton is well known for hosting comedy events.