Archive record · Brewery
Dark Star Brewing
Partridge Green, West Sussex, United Kingdom
- Founded
- 1994
- Closed
- 2022
- Archive ID
- TB-7A4EWYB8
- Last checked
- 2026-09-10
Who owns this brewery?
The direct owner is recorded. No company is held above it.
- Dark Star BrewingThis brewery
- Asahi Group HoldingsConglomerate
From the record
Summary
Early champion of modern hoppy session ales; Hophead came from the 1996 Cascade-hop experiments. Fuller's acquired 100% of the company in Feb 2018; passed to Asahi with Fuller's beer business, completed 27 April 2019. Partridge Green brewery ceased trading 31 Dec 2022 (production to Meantime, then the Griffin Brewery, Chiswick, in 2024); The Dark Star Brewing Company Limited (03053142) dissolved 13 Dec 2022. The brand continues under Asahi UK.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
An early champion of the modern hoppy session ale — Hophead grew out of its 1996 Cascade experiments — whose Partridge Green brewery Asahi closed at the end of 2022. The brand outlived the brewhouse.
The Museum
Timeline
- 2019Fuller's, then Asahi
Ownership changed twice in little over a year: Fuller's acquired 100% of Dark Star Brewing in February 2018, and in April 2019 Dark Star passed to Asahi as part of Fuller's £250 million sale of its entire beer business — the second transfer was never a standalone Dark Star sale.
- 2022Partridge Green ceases trading
Asahi closed the Partridge Green brewery on 31 December 2022, moving Dark Star production to Meantime in Greenwich and, from 2024, to the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick. The Dark Star Brewing Company Limited was dissolved on 13 December 2022; the brand continues under Asahi UK.
The Beer Library
Beers
Hophead
Year-RoundEnglish Pale Ale
Enormous citrus aroma at under four percent, brewed since 1994. Hophead proved a beer could be hop-forward without being strong — a lesson the market took twenty years to learn.
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How it changed hands
1 recorded move- 1994Founded
- 2019Fuller's, then Asahi
Ownership changed twice in little over a year: Fuller's acquired 100% of Dark Star Brewing in February 2018, and in April 2019 Dark Star passed to Asahi as part of Fuller's £250 million sale of its entire beer business — the second transfer was never a standalone Dark Star sale.
Today the chain tops out at Asahi Group Holdings.
Show your working
Sources
- controlConfirmed
Dark Star Brewing is controlled by Public company.
Asahi Group Holdings — Stock Information · Asahi Group Holdings · 2025-12
BreweryHigh reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-05Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-08-05
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Dark Star Brewing
- Who owns Dark Star Brewing?
- Dark Star Brewing is owned by Asahi Group Holdings. Dark Star Brewing is based in Partridge Green, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
- Is Dark Star Brewing still independent?
- No. Dark Star Brewing is owned by Asahi Group Holdings and is no longer independent.
- When was Dark Star Brewing acquired?
- 2019. Ownership changed twice in little over a year: Fuller's acquired 100% of Dark Star Brewing in February 2018, and in April 2019 Dark Star passed to Asahi as part of Fuller's £250 million sale of its entire beer business — the second transfer was never a standalone Dark Star sale.
- Is Dark Star Brewing still open?
- No. Dark Star Brewing has closed (2022). Early champion of modern hoppy session ales; Hophead came from the 1996 Cascade-hop experiments. Fuller's acquired 100% of the company in Feb 2018; passed to Asahi with Fuller's beer business, completed 27 April 2019. Partridge Green brewery ceased trading 31 Dec 2022 (production to Meantime, then the Griffin Brewery, Chiswick, in 2024); The Dark Star Brewing Company Limited (03053142) dissolved 13 Dec 2022. The brand continues under Asahi UK.
- When was Dark Star Brewing founded?
- Dark Star Brewing was founded in 1994 in Partridge Green, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
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