Welsh Beer and Brewing Stays Strong

As the stockist of the largest range of Welsh beer anywhere, Beer Park keeps a close eye on new breweries, unfortunate closures, and the ever-changing rankings on Untappd. With a few notable developments in early 2025, we thought it was time for a fresh blog update.

How Many Breweries Are There in Wales?

Beer Park maintains a (vaguely reliable!) list of Welsh breweries for our customers and as an enthusiastic drinker of Welsh beer I’ve been keeping tabs on the scene for many years.

Over recent years, we’ve recorded nearly 150 commercial breweries. Many of these have come and gone in a flash. Some gained strong followings before the brewers stepped back rather than scaling up, while others were consolidated or sadly brought down by COVID and rising costs.

Today, our best estimate is 92 active Welsh breweries, counting those that produce multiple brands as one. Of these, 79 are bottling or canning their beers.

If you’d like to see the full list, click here for our Welsh Breweries Check List. And if you know of a brewery we’ve missed—or one that’s closed—please let us know. We love getting updates from fellow beer fans.

Is Welsh Brewing Growing or Shrinking?

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) released its annual report in February 2025, confirming the loss of 100 UK breweries in 2024. Just one region bucked the trend: Wales, which grew by exactly one brewery.

Since the pandemic, we’ve said goodbye to some notable names—Boss Brewing in Swansea, Bullmastiff and Caffle, and more recently, Vale of Glamorgan Brewery.

But the losses have been offset by exciting new arrivals, including:

• Dark Elements and Cold Shelter – both from Caerphilly

• Macho Mango – Aberdare

• Two Rivers – Aberystwyth

• Antur Brewing – Crickhowell (founded by a Utopian ex-pat)

• Sobremesa – Talgarth (founded by a Spanish ex-pat)

What’s the Highest-Rated Welsh Brewery?

There’s no definitive answer—but Untappd gives us a good snapshot. The app combines ratings of individual beers to generate an overall brewery score.

Keep in mind: the system favours certain styles. IPAs, stouts, and sours typically rate higher than bitters or lagers. Newer breweries with fewer reviews can also climb the rankings quickly.

That said, Polly’s Brew Co. in Mold has sat at the top for six years, thanks to their endless stream of well-loved pale ales and IPAs. They’ve racked up over 760,000 reviews, with an impressive average score of 3.94/5.

Recently, however, they’ve been matched by a new challenger: Dark Elements, launched in February 2024 by Tom Kendall (ex-Tiny Rebel). With a similar focus on hop-forward styles, they’ve reached the same 3.94 average, from just under 8,000 reviews.

Here’s the current top 10 on Untappd:

With just 0.15 points separating the top 10, and many breweries still gaining traction, these rankings are likely to shift. Still, the preferences of Untappd users are clear—eight of the top 10 specialise in hop-forward beers like pale ales and IPAs.

Where Can I Find Welsh Beers?

Sadly, the huge variety of Welsh beers still isn’t reflected in most of our pubs or licensed venues, which are typically dominated by products from the six global beer giants.

But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.

At Beer Park, we stock a rotating range of over 200 Welsh beers, all available to drink in, take away, or order online for UK-wide delivery.  Click here to browse the range.

We also run regular Welsh beer tasting events, where you’ll sample seven styles and learn about the development of brewing across Wales. We can host a private tasting for you, or you can join one of our scheduled events—click here for our Events

For the adventurous, try our Welsh Challenge Subscription. Each month you’ll receive eight different beers, with no repeats, so you can continue discovering new breweries as the scene evolves. Click here to secure your subscription.

Here’s to the continued strength and innovation of Welsh brewing in 2025 and beyond.

Dave Timbrell-Hill. May 2025