The South Downs Beer & Cider Festival, better known as the Lewes Beer Festival, is the major event of the Brighton & South Downs branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). It’s a popular event and draws in large crowds of happy, real-ale (and real cider) loving punters each year.

It’s held every year in the splendid setting of Lewes’s Old Town Hall and Assembly Rooms, and runs for two days, usually in June. This year it took place of 20th and 21st of June.

Entry is a little complicated: £2.50 on the door on Friday during the day; £5 on Friday evening and £4 on Saturday by advance purchase only (venues and postal application details on the website); and free entry after 17h on the Saturday.

Entry tickets include the cost of a souvenir half pint glass and a festival programme and beer list. You buy sheets of beer ‘tokens’ at the beginning of the evening, and hand over the appropriate number of tokens to buy your half pint.

There is also a small stand selling basic pub style food, eg pasties, burgers, salads, hot-dogs and chips, all at reasonable prices - you can fill up easily for less than a fiver!

We spent a very jolly evening on the Friday, when it was also very busy.

So why only four stars? Well, at the end of the evening, last orders is called at 22.20, they finish serving at 22.30 and then they try to clear the rooms by 22.40. This leaves ten minutes’ drinking-up time which, even with halves, is daft. Matters were not helped by having a particularly zealous steward trying to ‘encourage’ us rather artlessly on our way.

Allowing more drinking up time or coming to some other arrangement would be much more civilised, as would training stewards in more appropriate behaviour. But that was only the last few minutes, so we didn’t let it spoil the evening.

That all said, some of the beers were really great - my favourites included some lovely, hoppy, golden ales, including Elland’s ‘Beyond the Pale’, Dark Star’s ‘Summer meltdown’ and Bath Ales’ ‘Spa’. The full list follows.

Cheers!

1648
Hop Pocket (3.7 ABV)
Signature (4.4% ABV)
Triple Champion (4.0%)

ADUR BREWERY
Merry Andrew (6.2% ABV)

ARRAN
Dark (4.3% ABV)

ARUNDEL
Summer Daze (4.7% ABV)

B&T
Shefford Pale Ale (4.5% ABV)

BATEMAN
Dark Mild (3.0% ABV)

BATH ALES
Spa (3.7% ABV)

BEARTOWN
Ginger Bear (4.0% ABV)

BURTON BRIDGE
Thomas Sykes (10% ABV)

CASTLE ROCK
Sparrowhawk (5.0% ABV)

COTSWOLD SPRING
Old English Rose (4.0%ABV)

CROUCH VALE
Blackwater Mild (3.7% ABV)
First Gold (4.7% ABV)

DARK STAR
Hophead (3.8% ABV)
Festival (5.0% ABV)
Summer Meltdown (4.8% ABV)
Summer Solstice (4.1% ABV)

DORSET
Chesil (4.1% ABV)

ELLAND
1872 Porter (6.5% ABV)
Beyond the Pale (4.2% ABV)

FILO
Ginger Tom (4.4% ABV)

GREAT ORME
Welsh Black (4.0% ABV)

HAMMERPOT
Martlet (3.5% ABV)
Vinery Mild 2008 (3.4% ABV)

HAMPSHIRE
Pride of Romsey (5.0% ABV)

HARVEYS
Armada Ale (4.5% ABV)
Copperwheat (4.8% ABV)
Hadlow Bitter (3.5% ABV)
Tom Paine (5.5% ABV)

HEPWORTH
Traditional Sussex Bitter (3.6% ABV)
Pullman First Class Ale (4.2% ABV)
Summer Ale (3.4% ABV)

HIGH HOUSE
Maften Magic (4.8% ABV)

HOBSONS
Mild (3.2% ABV)

KEMPTOWN
Ye Olde Trout (4.5% ABV)

KING
Ace of Ales (4.3% ABV)
Horsham Best Bitter (3.8% ABV)

LEEDS
Midnight Bell (4.8% ABV)

NAILSWORTH
Alestock (3.6% ABV)

O’HANLON’S
Dry Stout (4.2% ABV)

OAKLEAF
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Bitter (4.9% ABV)

ORKNEY
Dark Island (4.6% ABV)

RAMSBURY
Spring Barley (3.7% ABV)

RECTORY
Bitter (4.2% ABV)
Rector’s Light Relief (4.4% ABV)

RED SQUIRREL
Springfield IPA (5.4% ABV)

SALOPIAN - Lemon Dream (4.5% ABV)

SARAH HUGHES - Dark Ruby (6.0% ABV)

SEVERN VALE - Session (3.4% ABV)

STROUD
Teasel (4.2% ABV)

SURREY HILLS
Hammer Mild (3.8% ABV)
Gilt Complex (4.6% ABV)
Ranmore Ale (3.8% ABV)

TIMOTHY TAYLOR
Dark Mild (3.5% ABV)
Landlord (4.3% ABV)

WELTONS
Export Stout (4.7% ABV)
Heat Wave (4.6% ABV)

WESTERHAM
Grasshopper Kentish Bitter (3.8% ABV)
William Wilberforce Freedom Ale (4.3% ABV)

Ciders

CHIDDINGSTONE – Kent
Medium Sweet (7.5% ABV)

CROSSMANS - Somerset
Sweet Cider (6.0% ABV)

JOHN BATCHELDOR – West Sussex
JB Dry (7.5% ABV)
JB Medium (7.5% ABV)

NEW FOREST – Hampshire
Snakecatcher Medium (7.5% ABV)

PORTSLADE – Portslade
Wild Thing (7.2% ABV)

WINKLEIGH – Somerset
Sam’s Sweet (6.0% ABV)

Perries

GWAKTIN – Herefordshire
Oldfield Medium (7.5% ABV)

GWYNT Y DDRAIG - Monmouthshire
Two Trees Medium-Dry (5.5% ABV)

NEWTONS – Herefordshire
Sweet (7.2% ABV)

OAKWOOD – Sussex
Medium (6.0% ABV)