THREE brewers have opened a new craft beer bar in the centre of the city.

Dave Seward, Leigh Pearce and Ben Hucker have all been brewing beer together for about a year and have sought a space to serve their brews.

The three friends opened The Cloak Room in 81-82 St James’s Street, which used to be tapas restaurant La Vendimia, just last week.

Leigh said: “We have had a really good response so far.

“It’s great to have a place in town where we can actually serve the different beers that we make to people.”

The trio, all from Brighton, brew beer at their Cloak and Dagger brewery in Ringmer and supply some Brighton restaurants including The Salt Room in Kings Road and the several Curry Leaf Cafes.

He said: “There are a lot of great breweries and it’s fantastic to be part of the brewing community in Brighton.”

Leigh, who also runs Lolly Studio in Kemp Street, has created artwork to decorate their new bar.

He said: “We have different paintings which we will auction off every three months or so and give the money to charity.

“There has been a lot of help from family and friends in getting this together, and we are excited about teaming up with others in the industry.”

Lost Boys Chicken, a popular pop-up kitchen in Preston Road, are currently creating a new menus for The Cloak Room under the name Rufio’s.

Their tasty bites to go with the beer will be coming soon.

Dave said: “We produce about 6,000 pints of beer a month, so we are a small brewery.

“But we support other local businesses and serve their beers as well.

“We always aim to have a good variety on tap for everyone.

“We have about seven of our own beers which we alternate between.

“They are anything between IPAs to chocolate and pistachio ice cream stout.”

The Cloak and Dagger range includes Electric Mayhem pineapple sour, Never Dug Disco Super Fly-PA and Brass Monkey, a fruity IPA.

Ben said: “We all have a shared passion for beer and we are good friends with lots of people in and around Brighton who have their own breweries or craft beer bars.

“It’s such a friendly group and everyone has been really nice in the build up to us opening.

“We are really excited to be working with Rufio’s and to be serving food soon.”