Newcastle upon Tyne craft beer venues
Bacchus
42–48 High Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6BX
Big Sir John Fitzgerald pub just off Grey Street with an ocean-liner theme and a long bar of cask ales and craft keg, a regular in the Good Beer Guide. Open Monday to Thursday 11:30am–11pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30am–midnight, Sunday noon–10:30pm.
Brinkburn St Brewery, Bar & Kitchen
Unit 1A, Ford Street, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1NW
Ouseburn brewery founded in 2015, with a quirky taphouse and kitchen beside the microbrewery. Usually 15 or more of its own beers on cask and keg, such as Tyne Titans session IPA and Byker Brown Ale, plus monthly six-beer flights and brewery tours. Open Monday noon–9pm, Tuesday and Wednesday noon–10pm, Thursday noon–11pm, Friday and Saturday 11am–midnight, Sunday noon–8pm.
Crown Posada
31 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3JE
Narrow 1880 Victorian pub with a nationally important historic interior: Pre-Raphaelite stained glass, mahogany panelling, an ornate ceiling and a record player on the bar. Good on local cask ales. Open Sunday to Thursday 11am–midnight, Friday and Saturday 11am–2am.
Donzoko Brewery & Taproom
Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2NP
Reece Hugill's German-inspired lager brewery, best known for Northern Helles and its foamy kellerbiers, which got its own Ouseburn brewery and taproom in 2024. Long wooden bar and church-style seating among the tanks. Open Thursday and Friday 5pm–10:30pm, Saturday noon–10:30pm, Sunday noon–9pm.
Mean-Eyed Cat
1 St Thomas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LE
Tiny, colourful micropub in a former newsagent's opposite Haymarket bus station, opened in 2018 and named after the Johnny Cash song. Six cask and eight keg lines of local, national and international beers, with a rear terrace. Open Monday to Wednesday noon–10pm, Thursday to Saturday noon–10:30pm, Sunday 1pm–10pm.
The Bridge Tavern
7 Akenside Hill, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3UF
Brewpub tucked directly beneath the Tyne Bridge, with a small in-house brewery (partnered with Wylam, whose Tavern Gold is the house cask), a library room and a rooftop terrace looking up at the bridge. Open Monday to Thursday noon–midnight, Friday and Saturday noon–1am, Sunday 11am–11pm.
The Cumberland Arms
James Place Street (off Byker Bank), Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1LD
Little-changed hilltop free house, rebuilt over a century ago, looking down over the Ouseburn. Seven handpulls and four keg lines, house beers brewed by Allendale, and a multiple-award-winning cider and perry range of up to eight. Home of Newcastle's folk scene, with sessions in the back bar most nights. Open every day noon–11pm.
The Free Trade Inn
12 St Lawrence Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1AP
Fiercely independent free house with probably the best view in Newcastle: the Tyne bridges stacked up to the west from its tiered beer garden. Up to nine changing cask and keg beers, five ciders and a big fridge of imported bottles; CAMRA Tyneside Pub of the Year 2013 and 2017. Open every day 11am–11pm.
The Ship Inn
Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2PW
One of the oldest pubs in the Ouseburn (early 1800s), now loved for its all-vegan kitchen, real ales and cask ciders, board games and dogs. Open Monday to Thursday noon–11pm, Friday and Saturday noon–midnight, Sunday noon–10pm.
The Tyne Bar
1 Maling Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1LP
Ouseburn original since 1994, where the Ouseburn meets the Tyne, with a famous beer garden sheltered under the arch of a road bridge. Always at least three Wylam beers alongside other cask and craft, food daily noon–9pm and free live blues every Sunday from 4pm. Open Monday to Thursday noon–11pm, Friday and Saturday noon–midnight, Sunday noon–10:30pm.
Town Mouse Ale House
Basement, 11 St Mary's Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7PG
Five-time Newcastle CAMRA Pub of the Year (most recently 2024): a Belgian-inspired basement ale house for about 50 people, focused on the best North East cask and keg beers, British ciders and locally made bar snacks. Open Monday to Thursday 2pm–10pm, Friday and Saturday noon–11pm, Sunday 2pm–9pm.
Wylam Brewery at the Palace of Arts
Palace of Arts, Exhibition Park, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4PZ
One of the most spectacular brewery settings in Britain: a 30-barrel brewery and taproom inside the Grade II-listed Palace of Arts, the last building left from the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition, beside the lake in Exhibition Park. Full Wylam range including flagship Jakehead IPA and up to four cask beers, plus a big terrace. Taproom open Friday 3pm–11pm, Saturday noon–11pm, Sunday noon–7pm.