Understead

Buy local · Understead

Drinks, Brewing & Distilling across the UK

Cider from real apples, beer from an independent brewery, gin from local botanicals, cordials from real fruit, a good drink is a drink of place, made by someone near you who cares what goes in it. Real cider is pressed apples and time, not concentrate and sugar; a craft beer is brewed by people, not a marketing department. Alcoholic or not, the good stuff comes from a maker near you.

We map 350 makers across the UK, 45 around Devon.

Search by postcode and buy direct: no commission between you and them.

Find drinks, brewing & distilling near you

We'll show the closest makers and where to buy from them.

The directory

Makers across the UK

Showing 24 of 350: the region links above and the postcode search reach every one.

Good to know

What to know about drinks, brewing & distilling

What local makers make

Local drink makers cover more than you'd think:

  • Cider and perry: pressed from real apples and pears, often heritage varieties, fermented like wine.
  • Beer and ale: from independent breweries, fresh and full of flavour, not brewed to a mass-market formula.
  • Wine and mead: local vineyards and meaderies making a drink that tastes of where it grew.
  • Spirits: small-batch gin, whisky and rum, often built on local botanicals or grain.
  • Soft drinks and cordials: real-fruit cordials, craft sodas and alcohol-free options, a long way from sugar and syrup.

The best makers tell you exactly what's in the bottle and where it came from.

How to choose it

With cider, the words to look for are "100% juice" or "not from concentrate", ideally with the apple varieties named, much cheap "cider" is concentrate, water and sugar, with as little as a third real juice. With beer, look for an independent brewery; a lot of "craft" branding sits on beer owned by the global giants. With spirits and soft drinks, read the ingredients, real botanicals and real fruit beat flavourings every time. A maker who names their apples, grain or fruit is proud of them for a reason.

How to keep and serve it

Some of the best local beer and cider is "live", still fermenting gently, unpasteurised, so it's freshest young and best kept cool; drink it while it's in condition rather than storing it for years. Bottled spirits keep more or less forever; wine and stronger ciders can improve with a little age. Serve each at the temperature that suits it, most cider and beer are happiest cool but not ice-cold, where the flavour hides.

Why buy it local

A drink made near you tastes of somewhere, cider pressed from real apples in autumn, beer brewed fresh by the people who own the place, a gin built on local botanicals, a cordial from real fruit. Half the joy is the makers themselves: independent, proud, usually delighted to tell you how it's made, and often happy to have you visit. The big drinks companies own most of what's on the shelf (and a fair few "craft" labels too), so the genuinely independent makers are the ones to seek out and raise a glass to. A drink that tastes of somewhere, made by people you could actually go and visit.

Written by Oliver Kellie, founder of Understead and owner of Grow Sow Greener, a UK seed and inputs supplier serving commercial microgreen growers. He grew commercially for four years, two years running aquaponics in Australia and two years producing microgreens at commercial scale in Spain, and built Understead to help people find and buy from the small local producers on pages like this one.

Oliver Kellie on LinkedIn

Quick answers

How many drinks makers are there in the UK?

350 drinks makers currently list on Understead, and more are added each week. Around 45 are near Devon. Search by postcode to find the makers closest to you and buy from them directly.

What's the difference between real cider and supermarket cider?

Real cider is fermented from fresh-pressed apple juice, often from cider-apple varieties, and little else, the way wine is made from grapes. Much mass-market "cider" is made from apple concentrate mixed with water and sugar, with as little as a third real juice, plus flavourings and sweeteners. The first tastes of apples and place; the second tastes of sweetness. Look for "100% juice" or "not from concentrate".

What does "craft" or "independent" beer actually mean?

"Craft" has no legal definition, so big brewers use it freely, several well-known "craft" brands are owned by the global drinks giants. What matters more is "independent": beer made by a small brewery that owns itself, usually fresher, unpasteurised and more flavourful than the industrial version. If it matters to you, look for an independent brewers' mark, or just ask who owns the brewery.

Are there good local drinks if I don't drink alcohol?

Plenty. The same small makers turn out real-fruit cordials, craft sodas, kombucha and alcohol-free beers and ciders that taste of something, rather than the sugar and syrup of the mass-market versions. A cordial pressed from real fruit is as much a drink of place as any cider. Look under soft drinks and cordials, or just ask the maker what they do without alcohol.

How can I tell if a drink is really made locally?

Read the label and ask. A genuine local maker will name where the drink was pressed, brewed or distilled, and often the specific apples, grain or botanicals used. Vague "produced for" wording, no named place, and a long list of concentrates and flavourings point the other way. The more a maker tells you about where it came from, the more likely it's the real thing.

What is perry?

Perry is to pears what cider is to apples, fermented from the fresh-pressed juice of perry pears. It's an old drink that very nearly died out, kept going by a handful of makers, and it's worth seeking out: delicate, floral and quite different from cider. Finding a real one is a small way of keeping a rare tradition alive.

Updated 4 Nov 2026, counts refresh from live listings.