British Brewing Stars’ Utopian Oktoberfest Set to Take Over Devon’s Best Bar
Mayor of Exeter to officially ‘tap’ open a nine-day journey of Oktoberfest happenings at Exeter’s Arcadia (Best Bar 2025/2026 in the Food Drink Devon Awards)
Exeter’s Arcadia is set to transform into Devon’s own Oktoberfest beer hall this autumn, as local, sustainability-driven brewery Utopian takes over the venue for a nine-day celebration of ‘seriously good, award-winning British lager’ with a distinctly Bavarian twist and a Devonian attitude.
From 25 September to 3 October, Arcadia's Oktoberfest takeover will bring steins, beer flights, Bavarian-inspired food and entertainment, head-brewer chats and likely some lederhosen, to the epicentre of Exeter. The nine-day beer festival will be built around two special Oktoberfest Utopian beers, created to mark the 2026 occasion by Head Brewer Jeremy Swainson, who trained in Munich.
Jeremy’s limited-edition brews feature a ‘Fest Mȁrzen’, the historic Oktoberfest amber style beer, alongside the ‘Festbier’ style now more commonly associated with the famous Munich festival.
Both the beers, and the festival will be officially opened in a barrel tapping ceremony led by the Lord Mayor of Exeter, Councillor Gemma Rolstone and Councillor Gordon Czapiewski, Chairman of Mid Devon Council, at the Utopian brewery on the afternoon of Friday 25th September. In doing so, the Mayor and the Leader will be following in the footsteps of the many officials who have tapped-open the Munich Oktoberfest since 1950.
Utopian Brewing is the Devon-based craft brewery on a mission to create world-class premium British lagers, brewed sustainably using 100% British-grown malt and hops in every pint. Founded in 2018 by passionate and visionary beer enthusiast Richard Archer, and backed by over 200 local crowdfund investors, Utopian brews from a repurposed farm building at Clannaborough Barton near Crediton.
The company was recently heralded by leading beer critic Adrian Tierney-Jones as one of his 10 ‘British brewing stars’ and ‘one of the most impressive of the new wave of lager makers.’ In the just-announced 2026 World Beer Awards Utopian took an impressive four accolades including; England Country Winner for their Bohemian Lager and the Silver medal for their Alcohol-Free Pilsner in the No and Low Alcohol Lager category.
Arcadia is Utopian Brewing's flagship bar and eatery in Exeter, housed in a once-empty historic building on Northernhay Place recently reborn as a relaxed, community-focused taproom and kitchen. Alongside Utopian's full range of British-brewed beers, Arcadia serves a small-plates menu drawing on global flavours and fresh, local ingredients, plus an independent wine list and a Sunday roast.
A beer and food pairing dining evening on Friday 25th September, will see a set menu of small plates offering Bavarian-themed food matched with the Festival beers which will also be available in ‘Steins.’ Further Oktoberfest events include a Meet the Brewer Guided Beer Tasting with Utopian’s Head Brewer Jeremy Swainson on Tuesday 29th September. Alongside five different beer tastings with light snacks, Jeremy will take attendees on a journey through the history of Oktoberfest, his time in Munich, how he uses his German knowledge in his everyday Devon brewing techniques and the beer styles included in the tasters for the evening. Saturday 3rd offers a BBQ featuring the legendary Bratwurst sausage and events come to a close on Saturday 3rd October with Oktoberfest After-dark DJ set and a party.
Utopian Founder and CEO Richard Archer says, “In the same way that Oktoberfest brings an enviable global attention to the style and highest quality brewing standards in the original ‘beer-land’ of Bavaria, we’re adopting the German festival ethos – but in a Devonian Utopian Arcadian way. We’re taking this opportunity to showcase our philosophy, commitment and of course, our delicious, award-winning premium lagers and beers of all styles, educating as we enjoy it all.”
Richard continues, “Our Head Brewer Jeremy has created our limited-edition festival brews as our homage to two of the world’s favourite beer styles and we can’t wait to share them and take our Exeter locals and supporters on this beerland adventure with us.”
Tickets are available for the different Oktoberfest at Arcadia events via these hyperlinks:
Full weblinks are available here:
About Utopian
Utopian Brewing is a premium drinks brand, dedicated to brewing high-quality, environmentally sustainable lagers and more recently ales. The brand established itself 7 years ago in 10,000 square feet of former farm buildings in picturesque mid Devon and interprets classic styles of brewing using only 100% British grown ingredients. All Utopian’s lagers are naturally brewed using only the highest quality, ingredients, no additives and no compromise.
All their lagers are cold conditioned for a minimum of 28 days and many for much longer. Over its first 7 years of operation Utopian has grown revenues every year and won numerous awards for their lagers despite the hiatus of covid and the cost of living challenges. In the last calendar year they produced over 8,500 Hectolitres (around 1.6m pints).
With strong sustainability credentials and a long-term ambition to become carbon neutral, the brewhouse itself is lit by movement-sensing LED lighting and a large heat exchanger recovers 70%+ of the heat from the previous brew for the next. In 2023 Utopian commissioned a Dalum CO2 capture unit which harvests the CO2 produced in brewery fermentation, then dries and cleans it for re use and are now self-sufficient in production CO2. At the end of the year, they also commissioned their 6 figure investment in a waste water processing plant that will ultimately process all of their waste water on site.
The brewery uses only FSC cardboard in its packaging and does not use any single-use plastic. Lager fans can find Utopian lagers and ales across the UK in selected pubs, restaurants, bottle shops, food halls, independent retailers and via Utopian’s online store.
Utopian Brewing has been named Country Winner at the World Beer Awards for both its Bohemian British Lager (2023) and Premium British Lager (2024), struck double gold at SIBA BeerX, and was crowned South-West Champion at the inaugural Indie Beer Awards 2025. In the 2026 World Beer awards, Utopian Premium lager won a Silver in the Lager Helles/Münchner category and Rainbock seasonal lager won an England Bronze in the Maibock/Hellerbock category.
Notes to editors
High-resolution images from the brewery, the brewday and Arcadia are also available on request, as are interview, tasting and brewery tour opportunities with Richard Archer and Jeremy Swainson.
Images:
For further information please contact Rhona Gardiner via Rhona@excess-energy.co.uk.
Third-party news items are published as received for informational purposes. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Guild. Please use the contact details within the post for any enquiries.
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