For the first time ever, this Easter Weekend (Thursday 9th – Monday 13th April), Brighton will host a weekend-long gathering of over 60 breweries and cideries operating across Sussex, with the inaugural Sussex Brewers Festival – www.sussexbrewerfestival.com.
Entry to the five-day long festival is FREE, with pints starting from £3.80. Limited edition “Discount Wristbands” are available to buy now at BRIGHTON BIERHAUS, FREEHAUS and HAUS ON THE HILL, where the event will be held. Valid for the duration of the festival weekend, they are just £5 each and give you 20% discount on all beers over the 5-days, meaning a pint of cask ale will be just £3.00 (yes, they can add up, but charging £3.04 is just daft isn’t it).
Staggeringly, in 2017 breweries in East and West Sussex were estimated to have contributed £40million to the economy with over 60 breweries employing 375 workers between them*. The county has always enjoyed a hearty relationship with ale since medieval times. An irresistible setting for richly embroidered tales of coastline smugglers, from ghostly brewers haunting its ancient pubs and Dickensian literary libations to the modern day surge of love for independent and craft producers.
This unique festival is being organised by Brighton Bier (www.brightonbier.com). Stephen Whitehurst (Head of Operations) said: “like all good ideas it started in the pub over a beer(s) with some fellow brewers, we were marvelling at the wealth of breweries in Sussex now and started trying to name them all. A quick google search showed we hadn’t scratched the surface and we discovered some producers we embarrassingly hadn’t even heard of. The beer scene is hugely exciting at the moment and there’s some great beers being produced on our doorsteps.”
“Our ambition is to source and showcase a beer from every registered brewery that is located and brews commercially in East and West Sussex. This is an opportunity to champion the great diversity of beers (and ciders) that are being produced in Sussex and importantly the people brewing them. It’s a chance to discover new breweries people may not have heard of, heritage breweries they may have forgotten about and everything in between!”, commented Gary Sillence (Head Brewer at Brighton Bier).
The Sussex Brewers Festival will be held across Brighton Bier’s three pubs in the Kemptown and Hanover districts of Brighton (Brighton Bierhaus, Freehaus and Haus on the Hill), all of which are close to the city centre. Brighton Bierhaus was voted Pub of the Year 2019, by Brighton & South Downs CAMRA, and along with the Haus on the Hill can be found in the Good Pub Guide. With over 60 taps available across the three pubs, they have an ideal platform to shine a light on other local breweries and the Sussex brewing scene. Ollie Fisher (Head of Pubs) said, “we have the taps, we have the space, and we have the love of brewing, so we wanted to bring them all together in one big party…selfishly so we could try them all ourselves and celebrate all that Sussex has to offer!”
As well as established favourites such as Harveys, Dark Star and Burning Sky, beer-lovers can expect to make new discoveries, meeting the brewers and tasting the cask ales, craft beers and ciders from the likes of Little Monster, Silver Rocket, UnBarred, Cloak and Dagger, and dozens more. A full list of participating breweries can be found on the website: www.sussexbrewersfestival.com.
*The Argus, April 4 2017
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For more information contact:
Ollie FIsher
07525 438 486
Stephen Whitehurst
07515 956 976
NOTES
Brighton Bier was founded by Gary Sillence in 2012, originally brewing at the Hand in Hand pub in Kemp Town before establishing a purpose-built 15-barrel brewery producing around ½ million pints a year.
Its beers include flagship pale ale Brighton Bier, South Coast IPA, West Pier Pale Ale, Freshman Vermont IPA, Old Skool IPA, Cyclops Eyedrops Strong Pale Ale, Downtown Charlie Brown American Brown Stout and Viscous Rumour Imperial Oatmeal Stout.
The brewery runs 3 pubs in Brighton, Brighton Bierhaus (www.brightonbierhaus.com), Haus on the Hill (www.hausonthehill.pub) and Free Haus (www.freehaus.pub).
The brewery has picked up many prestigious awards including:
2019 International Brewing Awards Bronze Medal Imperial Freshman
2019 International Brewing Awards Bronze Medal Brighton Bier
2018 Berlin International Gold Medal Mabiera
2018 Berlin International UK Brewery of the Year Brighton Bier
2018 Frankfurt International Gold Medal Mabiera
2017 International Beer Cup Silver Medal Brighton Bier
2017 World Beer Awards UK Best Black IPA Lucky Boy
2017 World Beer Awards Gold Medal Old Skool
2017 International Beer Challenge Bronze Medal Lucky Boy
2017 International Beer Challenge Bronze Medal Old Skool
2016 World Beer Awards UK Best Experimental Beer Downtown Charlie Brown
2016 International Beer Challenge Brewery Rising Stars Brighton Bier
2016 International Beer Challenge Gold Medal Downtown Charlie Brown
2016 International Beer Challenge Gold Medal Cyclops Eyedrops
2016 International Beer Challenge Bronze Medal Choccywoccybrew-ha
2015 International Beer Challenge Gold Medal Brighton Bier