The newly opened Brighton BrewDog has followed its predecessors in falling foul of the council’s regulatory services – but this time it’s food hygiene not noise which has got the venue in trouble.
The craft brewers opened in Grand Parade in August, in a building formerly occupied by the Blind Tiger Club which said it was forced to close after the city council served a noise abatement notice on it.
And the new occupants have now also fallen foul of Brighton and Hove City Council inspectors, who have given it a hygiene rating of just one star.
The rating, published on the Scores on the Doors website, says it scored poor for hygiene and the inspector had little confidence in management, although its structural compliance was rated very good.
A spokesman for BrewDog said: “We are really working closely with the local authority to ensure we achieve a 5 star rating as soon as possible.”
The Blind Tiger Club said it was forced to close in May last year, after Brighton and Hove City Council served a noise abatement notice on it.
It started a petition calling for more protection for venues from people who move in next door to them, which was signed by thousands of people.
The council responded by saying complaints had been received from three streets away, and the noise was the worst its environmental officer had ever recorded.
No noise complaints have been received about BrewDog in its first few weeks of opening.
The Scottish brewery is no stranger to controversy, although it usually courts it with provocative marketing techniques, including selling a 55% strength beer in bottles encased by stuffed animals. Last month, it came under fire from the LGBT community for marketing a beer as “transgender”.
According to Wikipedia, BrewDog was challenged by UK drinks industry watchdog the Portman Group which claimed it was in breach of its code of practice, which BrewDog denied.
Eight months later, BrewDog was cleared and permitted to continue marketing their brands. Wikipedia say: “In protest to their targeting, BrewDog introduced “Speedball”, saying ‘…we thought we would give them something worth banning us for…’ . Speedball was promptly banned by Portman before being renamed as Dogma.”
And let’s be honest, they charge 5 star prices in that place and it’s a bugger to get served quickly.
Too cool for school bartenders don’t help. They may have fine facial hair and tattoos but we’d like a bit more alacrity with a perishing thirst.
Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson. You are my friend a blithering idiot. Staff are great, prices are fine if you don’t want to drink Carling or Fosters in some dank hole in town, your frightened of beards and tattoos and clearly too old to pass any comment about this pub. You belong in the Sussex with the oldies.
Jesus mate i’ve never heard anything so pompous and entitled. Dan is totally right in saying it takes a while to get served, and it does. Also, where prices are concerned, you can get ale and craft beers at many other places in Brighton for “normal” prices. Just because it’s Brewdog doesn’t mean they can do no wrong.
Everyone I know who has drunk there says it’s cramped, expensive, slow to get served and pretentious to the point of farce.
Comments like “your frightened of beards and tattoos and clearly too old to pass any comment about this pub. You belong in the Sussex with the oldies” go a long way to promote the view that only naïve hipsters (trend followers) will defend this type of venue.
WTF Evan? It’s staffed by Hipster twats, who think they are cool as fuck for working there. Prices are a pisstake. There is much cheaper (and frankly better) beers available elsewhere. Just because you’ve suddenly realised that there is more to beer than Carling or Fosters. don’t think you’re an expert.
This pretty much sums up Brewdog, and those who this it’s cool.
http://whiskysponge.com/2014/07/16/brewdog-to-take-a-break-from-re-packaging-their-three-beers/
I mean WTF Nathan, not Evan. Too many IPAs for me.
The staff are really nice, and really know their stuff about beer. I can see how people might think it’s expensive, but they’re all served in appropriate measures. It’s been busy at peak times since it’s opened, but what do you expect? They’re a pretty big brand. Go at lunchtime or during the week and there’s loads of space
If the local authority isn’t confident in management, they’re not going to get a 5 star rating ‘quickly’. Less time combing your beards, more time cleaning the kitchen, and get a proper pub manager to kick ass.
Nathan…getting a one-star rating makes it a dank hole in town.
Dan wrote ‘fine hair and tattoos’, that’s actually a compliment.
Which county do you think Brighton is in?
Oh and it’s ‘you’re’.
A 1 star rating doesn’t mean it was necessarily a filthy kitchen, it’s more likely the paperwork and record keeping was a shambles, which of course still means the head chef needs to sort their shit out. The comments about the staff and wait times are nonsense though. They have some of the most beer knowledgeable and friendly staff in Brighton. Even on the launch day when the place was rammed it only took me 5 mins to get a drink.
A 1 star rating is the second worst possible. It’s not a paperwork issue, it’s a fundamental failing.
1 star means “Major Improvements Necessary” and is normally achieved only by the worst of the grotty late night kebab houses. They obviously have no understanding of even basic cleanliness.
Idiots, arguing about idiots, who serve idiots, who then write about idiots like me.
I actually overheard some of the staff in the bar talking to what must have been a regular about this. Apparently they got such a low score as they were serving pink in the middle burgers which is a big no and their deliveries were coming too early meaning cheese and milk was left out for 2 hours, plus some paperwork issues.
In regard to the waiting times, I have waited a while to get served in there but it is very busy. In pubs of comparable size the wait time is similar – the mesmerist or the north laine for example
My question is – how come this newspaper has not written such an in depth article about any of the other businesses in Brighton with such a score?
There’s 4 with a ‘0’ rating and 84 with a ‘1’ in BN1 alone.
Hi Sarah,
We do regularly report on other eateries with low scores. Here are some of the zero score ratings reports:
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2015/08/04/brighton-restaurant-told-to-make-urgent-improvement-after-zero-star-rating/41347
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2015/11/25/brighton-takeaway-gets-zero-star-hygiene-rating-two-years-after-fine-for-rat-infestation/43798
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2015/04/02/brighton-curry-house-gets-zero-star-hygiene-rating/38838
We also report on one star ratings where the food hygiene specifically is rated as poor, but not when it’s rated fair, as it’s probably unfair to single out businesses which may have fallen down on paperwork, and the Scores on the Doors website, great as it is, doesn’t always make this clear.
Here’s a few one star reports (and others may be included at the bottom of the zero star reports):
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2015/03/06/hove-takeaway-slammed-for-poor-hygiene/37813
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2015/02/13/brighton-restaurant-dismisses-bad-hygiene-rating/37648
Thanks! I hadn’t seen those articles. Obviously BrewDog being a national chain makes a more interesting story for a lot of people.
I have been there once on a Monday at 7.00pm, place was very quiet therefore service was super quick. I love this place, as they have a 0.5% and 2.8% draught beers (unheard of anywhere else) ( i take medication that means i need to moderate alcohol intake) i normally end up drinking Becks Blue (yuk). Decor is cool and the selection of beers great. The staff were always going to look trendy it is a new trendy bar. Their beer knowledge was excellent. In my experience all bars in Brighton take a while to get served in at busy times its always been that way. Sort the hygiene out quick smart so we can talk about beer and not dirty kitchen
Too many hipsters working there who are in a bad mood , just because their application to work at the Apple Store was rejected
Try Hand in Hand sell better bee Brewed on premises or two miles away and lovely friendly staff so Stuff Em