Strange Brew

Strange Brew is an independent music venue, bar and exhibition space at 10–12 Fairfax Street in central Bristol. It occupies the street level of a multi-storey car park, a site that had been vacant for about a decade when the team secured it in 2019. Members of Bristol party collective Dirtytalk developed the venue; Leigh Dennis, Kerry Patterson, Shaun Tennant and Robert Needham became its co-directors.

Plans for the 330-capacity venue included two performance spaces, a bar, café, gallery and record shop. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed its intended nightclub use, and it began operating in September 2020 as a lower-capacity listening bar. A virtual launch took place in August, followed by its first in-person event the next month. The venue has since hosted live music, club nights, exhibitions and other arts events.

One room is arranged for bands and funkier or jazzier electronic music; the other, which has no windows, is used for harder sounds. The main room has a D&B Audiotechnik system developed with Bristol sound-engineering company Amber Audio. Its programming ranges across alternative and underground electronic music, alongside live performances. Health & Beauty and The Probe have staged events there, and the venue works with Bristol organisations including Mix Nights and Black Acre. Artists to have played there include Lynne, Bored Lord, DJ Ammi and Carrier.