Dark Star Brewing
Partridge Green, West Sussex, United Kingdom · Est. 1994
Tally's Take
Why this matters
The pioneer of modern hoppy session ales in the UK, whose original Sussex brewery was brutally closed by Asahi.
The Museum
Timeline
- 2019To Asahi with Fuller's
Fuller's bought Dark Star in 2018; when Asahi acquired Fuller's beer business in 2019, the Sussex brewery went with it. Sold twice in two years without ever being the thing on sale.
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
- 2019To Asahi with Fuller's
Fuller's bought Dark Star in 2018; when Asahi acquired Fuller's beer business in 2019, the Sussex brewery went with it. Sold twice in two years without ever being the thing on 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 reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-05Reviewed 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. Fuller's bought Dark Star in 2018; when Asahi acquired Fuller's beer business in 2019, the Sussex brewery went with it. Sold twice in two years without ever being the thing on sale.
- Is Dark Star Brewing still open?
- No. Dark Star Brewing has closed. Pioneered modern hoppy session ales in the UK. Bought by Fuller's, inherited by Asahi, who closed the original Sussex brewery.
- When was Dark Star Brewing founded?
- Dark Star Brewing was founded in 1994 in Partridge Green, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
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