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Craft Beer Expo Returns With its Biggest Food and Drink Line Up Yet

Craft Beer Expo will return to Black Lodge Brewery on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June 2026 with an expanded mix of food, drink and music across the Baltic Triangle site. 

The festival has been part of Liverpool’s independent scene for more than thirteen years and is recognised as the UK’s longest running craft beer event. Next year’s edition also sits within Black Lodge Brewery’s tenth birthday year, creating a natural moment to develop the weekend further.

What began as a small beer led gathering has grown steadily into a well-attended summer fixture that attracts visitors from across the region. For 2026, the team have broadened the drinks offer beyond beer, including independent cider, cocktails and summer serves, alongside an expanded brewery list and food offer. More space will be used across indoor and outdoor areas to give people more to explore across the two days.

Paul Seiffert, founder of Black Lodge Brewery, said: “We wanted the tenth year of the brewery to feel like an opportunity to add more to the weekend. The beer list remains central to what the Expo is about, and widening the food and drink side gives people more to enjoy throughout the session without changing the feel of the event.”

Black Lodge has hosted the Expo for the past five years and has become one of the Baltic Triangle’s most recognisable independents. The brewery is known for its collaborations, one off releases and the regular markets, pop ups and community events that take place alongside day-to-day brewing.

As part of its tenth anniversary, the brewery is hosting a birthday bash on Saturday 13th December 2025 from 1pm to 6pm. Tickets are £8, which include your first beer and a limited-edition birthday glass, marking the milestone ahead of a full year of celebrations. Tickets can be bought at www.blacklodgebrewing.co.uk 

More than thirty breweries feature in the first announcement for 2026, including Amity, Balance, Colbier, Courier, Dark Element, Duration, Farmyard, Firerock, Fell, Kirkstall, Lakes, Lark Hill, Only With Love, Pixie, Rigg and Furrow, Spookton, Talking Tides, Tartarus, Trig, Vaux, Vibrant Forest and Wylam. Additional breweries will be confirmed in the new year.

This will also be the most extensive food line up the Expo has hosted so far. Confirmed traders include Damn Fine Burger Co, Saffa Soul, Dough Bros Pizza, Aunty’s Kitchen and Burner Kitchen, all of which are known for their regular appearances at events across the North West. More traders will be announced as the festival approaches, alongside details of the DJ sets and live performances planned across the indoor and outdoor spaces.

Paul added: “We see a wide mix of visitors now. Some people come mainly for the beer, others prefer the food or the music, and many make a full afternoon or evening of it. The brewery’s tenth year gives us room to build on that without changing what people recognise.”

Tickets are now on sale, with four sessions available alongside day passes and a full weekend ticket. Prices start at £15 plus fees, and each ticket includes a limited-edition beer brewed for the event. Visitors are encouraged to book ahead if they have a preferred session, particularly on the Saturday.

Tickets are available at www.craftbeerexpo.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Oliver Thomas .