Beak Brewery Taproom, Lewes

This is a fairly uninviting example of an industrial estate unit brewery taproom, located on a small estate on the road out of Lewes, around a 25-minute walk from the town centre. The unit has barely been altered in any attempt to make it a more appealing place to drink in, with the usual bare walls, metal ceiling and concrete floor all as you might expect, and a low effort servery to the rear. The bar has a super basic counter that looks like it might’ve been knocked out in a GCSE woodwork class, and a plain bar back hosting all of the keg taps. A board next to the entrance helpfully outlines the full range, so you can make your choice before heading to the bar. Seating inside was quite limited, with most options positioned outside, in the form of picnic benches, but I understand it’s not always arranged like this and sometimes, seating is brought indoors, which presumably requires moving some of the brewing kit that dominates the room. There was a food truck parked outside on the loading apron, which is handy for anyone planning to stay for a session, as food options are very limited out in this part of the town. Any thoughts of décor or anything beyond the most basic of facilities has been put to one side and the place very much feels like somewhere to brew beer rather than drink it. There were ten home brews on keg dispense plus a cider option and an unused handpull on the bar. I tried a pint of the Hum, which I believe is one of their flagship beers but poured very cloudy and was a real chore to get through. Other members of our group sampled the IPA and the cider, with only the latter getting any positive comments. Despite the inconvenient location, a steady flow of punters came and went during our time here, although it could never be described as having been busy at any point. This was a great disappointment, as it’s never good to drink beer at the source and find it verging on undrinkable. It was a long walk to get out here and back into town again to resume our crawl and I can honestly say it was not worth the effort. It’s a grim place to spend time as it is, but when supping a poor pint, the instinct was to just give up and go elsewhere. Lewes is full of great watering holes, so this can easily be skipped without any regrets. Date of visit - 12th October 2024

Easily walkable from the town centre, Beak Brewery Tap is basic, in fact it’s just a few long tables and a Toad-in-the-Hole table in a warehouse separated from the brewery at the rear by an old counter. There is some nicer seating out the front, including some fire heaters, and during my visit late on Saturday afternoon there was a pizza van. There was also some bluesy and folksy background music playing to the ten or so people spread across inside and out. Obviously the full Beak Brewery range was available, 13 craft keg products that range from Lulla Pale at 3.4% to Beacons Impy Stout at 11%, ouch. Having seen it earlier in the Depot I decided to have a pint of mid-range 6% Parade IPA which was good for a hazy fruity pint. I also sampled the pizza which was very good, and can be made very spicy with chillis if requested. The staff were also very friendly, however I’m not a huge fan of these trading estate brewery taps, I love a bit of carpet so I find them uncomfortable. Now I’ve been I think I’ll stick to drinking Beak beers in the local pubs.

It's a long (20-25-minute) walk from the station to the Beak Brewery Taproom, which can be found in a trading estate and nestled beneath the chalk cliffs to the eastern end of town. Unfortunately, our walk was in vain. Who would have thought that a brewery taproom would be closed for the whole day for a wedding reception! As we trudged back into the town, we did spot an advertising board for the brewery, which did highlight that it would be closed for the day. Unfortunately, we'd completely missed that. Hopefully we can visit some other day, if it is open.

Official site of Beak Brewery Taproom - beakbrewery.com