New darts bar could open in Cains Brewery

A new darts bar could be moving into one of Liverpool’s landmark brewing buildings.

Cains Brewery has been synonymous with brewing in the city and has held a presence at various locations since 1850. It has become most known for the now multi-purpose Brewery Village on Stanhope Street.

After a short-lived attempt to bring back brewing to Cains, the venue may now be repurposed to host a specialist augmented reality darts venue.

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An application has been filed with Liverpool Council to rename the premises, formerly occupied by Cains as Hot Shots Darts Liverpool, with a number of changes made to the premises licence also proposed.

The brewery first opened in 1858, taking the name of its founder, Irish brewer Robert Cain. It has had many owners since its inception and was taken over by brothers Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj in 2002. St Helens business Mikhail Hotels & Leisure Group revived the brand as a brewer and in April 2022, the company announced plans to brew Cains beer, branded as 'Liverpool in a pint'.

Mikhail, who operate Irish bar Punch Tarmeys, The Brewery Tap and ArCains in the Baltic, promised multi-million pound investment that would see the new facility spread across three floors, creating 40 jobs. However, production came to a halt last March due to a royalty dispute with the brand owner.

Under the new plans, the site would offer food and drink at the previous Cains location. The new business would seek to remain open until 3am daily but would maintain current alcohol trading times until 2am on weekends.

An amendment is put forward to allow alcohol to be sold until 2am from Sunday to Thursdays. The business would also remove the commencement time of 7am provided for the Grand National festival.

Some additional amendments would also be made to the layout of the premises. A date has yet to be confirmed for the plans to be considered by Liverpool Council’s licensing department.

Earlier this year, English Heritage described Cains Brewery as one of the finest purpose-built breweries in Britain. It has been transformed into a mixed-use destination with a thriving and cosmopolitan retail, hospitality, cultural and local business ecosystem of over 300 vendors.

The ECHO contacted Mikhail Hotels & Leisure Group for comment.

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