What Is a Free House? What It Means and Why Pubs Say It

A free house is a British pub that isn't tied to a brewery or pub company, so it's free to buy and sell whatever beers, ciders and ales it likes. The opposite is a tied house, which has to stock its owner's drinks. We're a free house ourselves: The Rising Sun Inn at Portmellon, on the Cornish coast near Mevagissey.

What does "free house" mean on a pub sign?

It tells you the pub chooses its own drinks. Nobody upstream decides what goes on the bar, so a free house can stock local breweries, change its guest ales when it fancies, and pour whatever its regulars actually want to drink.

And no, sadly, it doesn't mean the beer is free.

Why are pubs called free houses?

From the 1700s onwards, breweries bought up pubs to guarantee somewhere to sell their beer. The landlord of a brewery-owned pub had to sell that brewery's beer and nobody else's. That arrangement is called the tie.

A pub that stayed independent was "free of the tie", and putting "Free House" on the sign told drinkers they'd find something different inside. In 1989 the government made the biggest brewers sell or free thousands of their pubs. Many passed to pub companies, which often run a tie of their own, so the phrase still matters today.

Free house vs public house: what's the difference?

"Public house" is simply the full name for a pub: a building licensed to sell alcohol to the public to drink on the premises. "Free house" describes who controls what that pub sells.

So every free house is a public house, but not every public house is a free house.

Free house vs tied house

A tied house is owned by, or leased from, a brewery or pub company, and has to buy its beer from them. A free house buys from whoever it likes. For the drinker, that usually means a wider and more local choice at a free house.

Is Wetherspoons a free house?

By the usual definition, yes. Wetherspoon isn't owned by a brewery, buys from lots of them, and many of its pubs say "Free House" on the sign. It's a national chain though, so it isn't what most people picture when they hear the phrase.

What being a free house means at our bar

It means we pick every drink ourselves. On draught you'll find Cornish beers like Tribute and Korev next to Verdant's Lightbulb and Krombacher from Germany, and we change things when we find something we love.

The Rising Sun is a Grade II listed pub right on the beach at Portmellon. Have a look at what we're serving on our Eat & Drink page, book a table, or stay the night in one of our rooms.

First time in a British pub?

Do I order at the table or at the bar?

At the bar, in almost every traditional pub. You order, pay, and carry your drinks back to your table. Food is sometimes ordered at the bar too, so ask if you're not sure.

Do I need to tip?

Not at the bar. Offering the bartender a drink ("and one for yourself") is the traditional thank-you, and entirely optional. If you've had table service for a meal, around 10% is appreciated but rarely expected.

What should I order if I've never had British ale?

Real ale is served cooler than room temperature but warmer than lager, with a fuller, less fizzy character. Tell the bar staff what you normally drink and ask for a taster before you commit to a pint. A "session ale" is a lower-strength beer, usually around 4% or under, made for a long, sociable sitting.