Taking place from the 10th to the 19th April, Indie Beer Week will see meet the brewer events, tap takeovers, tastings, tours, beer festivals, and more taking place across the UK.
At Orbit Beers, we'll have an April Sours Launch night south of the river at The Old Justice Pub in Bermondsey. They'll be serving the new Dill Pickle Gose and Blood Orange Sour alongside Tzatziki Sour on Wednesday 15th April. Come down to say hello and try all three on tap.
If you're based north of the river, we'll be in Clapton Craft - Finsbury Park from 6pm on Friday 17th to try all three sours in bottles. Try before you buy, and chat to the team about the beers and the process.
We're finishing off the week on Saturday 18th at the Orbit Beers Taproom. Free brewery tours between 2pm - 4pm, prizes, games, tastings and more.
The national beer week was launched by the Indie Beer campaign last year as part of a drive to make it easier for consumers to identify beers from genuine independent breweries rather than global beer giants. promoting 'independent beer, pubs and people' via a string of events taking place in pubs, bars and brewery taprooms across the breadth of the UK.
Events are being run by breweries across the country, as well as venue supporters such as bottle shops, pubs and bars.
Neil Walker, Indie Beer Campaign, said:
"Indie Beer Week is a celebration of everything that is great about UK beer, with festivals, beer launches and beer events of all kinds taking place in all corners of the nation — wherever you are, there is a brewery near you which is part of the Indie Beer campaign, many of which are running some brilliant events over the next ten days. And if you're unsure if the 'craft beer' you're buying is the real deal, then use the brewery checker tool on our website and know for sure."
A central part of the Indie Beer campaign is to make it easier for consumers to find out whether the beer they're buying is independent, or actually owned by a global beer company, by offering a Brewery Checker tool via the IndieBeer.uk website. The Brewery Checker holds information about every known UK brewery and whether they are independent or actually owned by 'big beer'.
The campaign was launched at the end of 2024 in response to confusion amongst consumers over which beers were independent, after YouGov polling found 75% of people surveyed believe consumers are being misled when purchasing beer from once independent craft breweries, such as Beavertown, Camden, and Fullers that are now owned by global beer giants Heineken, Budweiser and Asahi respectively. The figure for beer drinkers surveyed was even higher, with 81% of beer drinkers believing consumers are being misled.