A Vibrant Afternoon in Lyndhurst

Craft beer is now more than well established in the U.K. Aficionados will travel long distances to try a new venue or award winning bars and pubs. One of the essential ingredients of these venues success is exceptional beer.

Located on the edge of The New Forest national park is a small craft brewery who produce a wide variety of beer styles from IPA’s and sours through to hearty stouts and many more in between. Vibrant Forest Brewery based in Hardley only produce unpasteurised, unfiltered beers making everything they produce vegan friendly.

The History

Back in 2011 Kevin Robinson started brewing part-time in his garage making enough beer to supply 4 casks at a time for local pubs and beer festivals. By October the same year Kevin had won his first CAMRA award. More awards followed in 2012, still while only brewing in the evenings and at weekends.

Further expansion took place in 2013 and 2014 moving into Lymington. Since 2019 the brewing has been done out of Hardley. With a team of 7 they operate out of 4 modern day industrial units. Happy with the current size they now are more interested in experimentation than further expansion.

The Vibrant Tap

Inspired by the success of the tap room at the brewery, Vibrant Forest Brewery decided to open a brand new tap room in the New Forest town of Lyndhurst. Named The Vibrant Tap and located in the high street in Lyndhurst, you can sample a wide selection of Vibrant Forest Brewery’s different beers. Food is available in collaboration with Nova Forest Kitchen who source ingredients from in and around the New Forest.

With 16 taps of craft beer and cider, fridges full of canned beer, plus a selection of wines and spirits there is a wide variety of choice. Outside there is a garden perfect for warm sunny days, they have cycle stands and are dog friendly.

Nova Tap Kitchen

If you are hungry The Nova Tap Kitchen provide a menu with a generous range of mixed tray platters, burgers, sides and desserts. We sampled the Carnivorous Tray which included maple glazed pork belly, slow Cooked BBQ short rib, flamed grilled flat iron steak, grilled pineapple, smoked sausage, slaw, garlic and herb butter, corn ribs, onion rings and mac & cheese.

The Black and Blue Burger made up of two Hampshire beef smashed patties, Dorset blue cheese, bacon jam, NFK burger sauce, tomato, lettuce, gherkin was served with fries. Everything was quite simply delicious, the cookery of the meat on the tray was exceptional and it is one of the best burgers I have had in a long time.

All the staff were very friendly and visiting The Vibrant Tap is a fantastic excuse to visit Lyndhurst for the day.

Visited as guests of The Vibrant Tap but all content is my own.

The Vibrant Tap, 16 High Street, Lyndhurst SO43 7BD