19/10/2026
Cardiff did you know...? when we think about b**r in Cardiff, a few household names immediately spring to mind. Brains Brewery is perhaps the most famous of them all, while older generations will also remember Hancocks, once another major name in the city's brewing story.
But Cardiff's relationship with brewing didn't disappear with the consolidation of the big breweries. In fact, in recent years a new generation of small, independent brewers has been carrying that tradition forward, producing b**r on a much smaller scale, experimenting with new styles and putting the brewery taproom back at the heart of local communities.
Brewing has deep roots here. The brewery on St Mary Street that eventually became the home of Brains had origins stretching back to the early 18th century. Samuel Arthur Brain and his uncle Joseph Benjamin Brain acquired the site in 1882, and Brains went on to become inseparable from Cardiff's identity.
Its famous SA was first brewed in 1958, the same year Cardiff hosted the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Today, Brains continues to brew in the city at its modern Dragon Brewery, keeping more than 140 years of Cardiff brewing history alive.
Hancocks has its own important place in the story. The company began brewing in Cardiff in 1883 and later developed its brewery site at Crawshay Street. Hancocks eventually became part of Bass, and when brewing there ended in 1999, Brains acquired the site and transferred production from St Mary Street, meaning one historic Cardiff brewing story effectively flowed into another.
And then came Cardiff's modern craft-b**r generation. Tucked away in King's Road Yard in Pontcanna, Pipes Brewery has been making handcrafted b**r since 2008. Its courtyard brewery and bar has become one of those distinctly Cardiff places where the brewery itself, independent businesses, markets and community life all sit side by side.
Over in west Cardiff, Crafty Devil Brewing Co. began in 2014, when friends Adam Edinborough and Rhys Watkins started brewing in a garden shed. It has since grown into a fully fledged Cardiff brewery, proudly embracing its roots as a local, independent producer.
Then there's Flowerhorn Brewery, another homegrown success story. Founded by friends Andrew and Arran after experimenting with a small homebrew kit, Flowerhorn has developed a reputation for colourful branding, pale ales, IPAs and more adventurous modern styles. From those modest beginnings, it has grown into one of the city's recognisable independent b**r names.
Mad Dog Brewery Co. has also become part of Cardiff's brewing landscape, operating as an independent family-run brewery and taproom and producing everything from traditional ales to pale ales, stout, l***r and modern IPAs.
Together, these breweries show just how much Cardiff's b**r culture has changed, while also proving how much has stayed the same.
Where the city once had large breweries employing hundreds and producing b**r on an industrial scale, today's brewing scene is increasingly built around small batches, independent ownership, local taprooms and experimentation. Perhaps that's the real Cardiff brewing tradition.
It isn't simply about one famous brewery or one familiar pint. It's a tradition of brewers starting small, experimenting, finding an audience and becoming part of the neighbourhood around them.
From the great brewery buildings of St Mary Street and Crawshay Street to garden sheds, industrial units and little courtyards in Pontcanna, Cardiff has repeatedly found new places in which to brew.
So next time you raise a locally brewed pint, remember that you're participating in a Cardiff tradition stretching back centuries, one that hasn't been consigned to history at all. It's still fermenting!
Image courtesy of the Cardiff Poster Co.
