Beer in Sussex
[1][2] Ale was known to have been brewed by monks at the Hallend roundabout Lewes Priory as the water was too contaminated to drink.
[5] The first recorded hopped beer in Sussex and one of the first in England arrived at Winchelsea from the Low Countries in 1400.
[6] At this time ale produced in the countryside was typically weak and flat and quickly deteriorated.
[7] By the 1490s records from the leet and rape courts show hopped beer was being sold at Brede (at the time near the coast), Alfriston (on the South Downs) and at Laughton and Waldron in the Weald.
[8] Henry Stanton was accused in Crawley in 1602 of stealing nutmeg and cinnamon, the spices are likely to have been to flavour hopped beer rather than unhopped ale.
[9] Sussex's oldest public houses date from the medieval period including the Rose & Crown at Fletching (c 1150, mostly rebuilt 17th century),[10] the Mermaid Inn at Rye (1156, rebuilt 1420), the George & Dragon at Houghton (1276),[11] the Olde Bell at Rye (1390), the George at Alfriston (first licensed 1397),[12] the Blackboys Inn at Blackboys in the parish of Framfield (14th century),[13] the Seven Stars, Robertsbridge (14th century), the Spread Eagle, Midhurst (c1435),[14] the Star (originally the Star of Bethlehem, Alfriston, c.
[18] During Cromwell's interregnum, Rye stood out as a Puritan 'Common Wealth', a centre of social experiment and rigorous public morality.
[19] The people of Rye seem in general to have ignored the strict sabbatarianism enforced by the constables, particularly where 'immoderate drinking' was concerned.
[19] One notable brew from the 18th century is a strong beer from Newhaven brewer Thomas Tipper known as Old Stingo which English king George IV was known to enjoy.
[21] Huckle-my-buff is a hot drink consisting of brandy, eggs, beer, sugar and nutmeg.
By the late 19th century people in Sussex each drank an average amount of 34 imperial gallons (150 litres) of beer per year.
They would then need to repeat the exercise with more drinks until completing the task while the group sung Turn The Cup Over, a song which begins "I've been to London, I've been to Dover...".
The take-over and closure of King and Barnes left a gap in the Sussex market which was a factor in the expansion of the Dark Star brewery.
[26] A rebranding in 2016 saw Harveys include the strapline We wunt be druv, the unofficial motto of the county of Sussex.
