A HOMEGROWN brewery has announced plans to open 20 pubs over the next five years.

Dark Star will open the doors of its third pub within the next four to six months to compliment existing boozers the Evening Star in Brighton and the Partridge next to its base in Partridge Green.

After that, the brewery will look to roll out 19 more in quick succession, with Burgess Hill, Crawley, Haywards Heath and Brighton all targeted as potential destinations.

Paul Reed, owner and director of Dark Star, said: “There will be a big range of beers, but the pubs themselves will be relatively small.

“We’re not looking for massive venues that can hold 300 people.

“The pubs will fit in with the environment of the local community that’s already there.

“Some of them might be community pubs, some might be close to train stations looking at the commuter market and some might be event-led music venues.

“We love town pubs, and that’s nothing against country pubs because I absolutely love them personally, but town pubs is what works for us.

“They are what we know – traditional ale houses.

“You’ve got Brighton, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Crawley – all great towns that would benefit from our ale houses.

“The new pubs will have a slightly different feel to them and the first ones we’ll be looking to open in the next four to six months, and the rest will follow quite quickly after that.”

Dark Star started from the humble beginnings in the cellar of the Evening Star in Surrey Street, and has gone on to became one of the most highly-respected brewers in the UK.

The brewery, which has been ahead of the curve when it comes to the craft beer boom, had to move out of the cellar because it was too small.

Mr Reed said: “It’s a tiny pub and an even smaller cellar.

“We moved out of there in 2001 because, to be honest, we couldn’t make enough beer to sell.

“Five years ago we moved to Partridge Green and that central Sussex corridor around the A23 has now become our homeland.

“But our spiritual home will always be Brighton, and the majority of our workforce is from there."

Asked if another Dark Star pub in the city was likely, Mr Reed added: “Brighton is a big enough city for two of our pubs. Everyone loves a night out and everyone loves their beer.”