The Brewers Arms, Lewes

This High Street free house is very much a pub of two halves. The front room is a cosy, carpeted affair, with the servery opposite the entrance and the welcome sight of a lit fireplace to the right hand side. There is a decent amount of banquette and low stool seating especially along the front wall and the dark wood fittings and muted lighting help to create a nice ambiance. In sharp contrast, the rear room has a public bar feel to it and despite also being carpeted, had little in common with the front bar. The most notable difference was the loud music that was blaring out to the appreciably younger clientele. Whilst the front bar had board games to entertain the customers, the public bar has a pool table, several slot machines and a plasma screen TV. There are a few old pictures on the wall as well as some photo collages and the corridor that connects the two rooms is worth stopping off in to admire the tap and spile display or the list of amusing quotes overheard at the bar. On the bar, there were three beers from Harvey’s – Best, Old Ale and Bonfire Boy – plus Beachy Head South Downs Ale and Dark Star Green Hopped IPA. I gave the Beachy Head a try and whilst it was certainly well kept, I can’t say it’s a beer I’ll be on the lookout for in the future. A cider from Biddendens was also available and a couple of the hand pumps had turned clips, suggesting that the ale range might be even wider at certain times. Whilst the public bar had a bit of a generic town centre pub feel to it, I thought the front bar was a really nice place to relax over a pint or two and would happily stop off here for a drink again in the future.