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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Elephant & Castle, Lewes
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Real Ale Ray left this review about Elephant & Castle
Very close to the Lewes Arms which is a good double header. The interior of this pub is on the large size, with two main rooms supported by a central bar. The lounge area on the right hand side had a tiled floor, pews and large ornate tables. I thought the wood carved panel around the main entrance to be an unusual antiquity [see photos]. My Big Hug Brewing Pave the Way was an excellent choice.
On 16th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3645 recommendations about 3645 pubs]
Bucking Fastard left this review about Elephant & Castle
A large street corner boozer ,the interior winds around the back of the central bar with a games room to the left with a sports flatscreen,pool table and table football and a BHA flag looking a little sad.The right side of the pub has some large tables and the food revolves around burgers but everyone inside was just drinking.
The ale selection on my trip was Thornbridge Wild Swan and Jaipur IPA (NBSS 4),Big Hug Pave the Way,Harvey's Sussex Best together with a Lilly's cider.I enjoyed the boozer atmosphere and would include it on any crawl around town.
On 14th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Moby Duck left this review about Elephant & Castle
Although the pub interior has been somewhat stripped out over the passing years it still retains some nice woodworkas well as some character. Six handpumps offered the beers listed by BF in the review below, I went for the Jaipur which is usually a reliable beer and was good.
Decent pub.
On 14th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
David Walton left this review about Elephant & Castle
Visited 03/10/24
This is a really good real ale pub in Lewes, better if you can deal with the excessive desire to show live sport here. There are five hand pumps, providing a strong Lilley's cider called Gladiator, Pilcrow Pale from the Dorking Brewery, Kelham Island Easy Rider, and two from locals, Rising Giant from Long Man and Sussex Best from Harvey's. Keg options were Thatchers Gold, Madri, Guinness, Wingman, Neck Oil, K1664, one I couldn’t correct my typo with any certainty in my notes and Inch's cider.
The venue is bare boarded apart from a ceramic tiled are to the right of the entrance, which has a fire grate against the far wall and regular tables and chairs, with a big screen in one of the corners at ceiling height. The servery is in the middle of the venue with the main serving area facing the front door. The area immediately to the left of the door provides tall stools at the bar and a large rectangular table in the window opposite the bar. Another TV resides here so you can watch the action seated at the bar, and can be pretty sure they will be showing something live from somewhere most times you visit! A fire burned at the end of the bar to the right of the arch that opened onto the larger seating area that also house the constantly in action pool table. The TV's in this room were switched off and a large Brighton flag was draped over the window in the far corner. Walls were half white and lower sage green boarding around the perimeter apart from the fire grates. Upper part of the walls were bedecked in miscellaneous pieces, including some Bonfire art.
On 7th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 631 recommendations about 631 pubs]
Danny O'Revey left this review about Elephant & Castle
Not much from the outside but neat and tidy inside, games area to the left and very large wooden table to the right. Feels like a proper drinking pub
On 31st August 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1542 recommendations about 1519 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Elephant & Castle
One that got away, unfortunately not open on a Wednsday afternoon when I was expecting it to be, maybe next time.
On 8th September 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Elephant & Castle
A good ale house, laid out with lots of space and plain wooden furniture including numerous pews. The large side room houses pool, darts and toad in the hole and there is a function room upstairs. On handpump were Hervey's Best, Hambleton Nightmare Porter, Langham Hip Hop and Derventio Spartan. Numerous craft beers were also available in can and bottle. Appeared to have a strong local following and definitively a pub for the serious drinker.
On 16th October 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3641 recommendations about 3576 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Elephant & Castle
This is a decent sized two room pub located to the rear of Lewes Castle. Despite the fact that the pub has been opened out quite a lot, there are still distinctly separate areas. The bar has a central position and can be accessed from three sides, although there were lots of people sat on high stools along the counter which meant I initially had some difficulty getting served. There is a bulls head above the bar and an unusual sculpture suspended from the ceiling whilst the walls display the odd bit of brewerania and some interesting posters. To the right of the bar there is a seating area which had been rearranged so that all of the chairs were facing the TV screen which was one of many throughout the pub showing the Man Utd vs Arsenal fixture. To the left of the servery, in what is essentially a second room, there is some more seating, mainly pews and standard chairs around scrubbed tables, as well as a dartboard, pool table and toad in the hole game. A fireplace in the middle of the end wall acts as a nice feature and is flanked by trophy cabinets and some mounted antlers. There is a first floor room available for private functions and an outdoor seating area to the rear of the building.
Three ales were on at the bar – the permanent choices of Harvey’s Best and Taylor Landlord plus a guest ale which was Harvey’s Bonfire Boy on my visit. Having opted for a pint of the latter, the barman rather considerately informed me that it was a 5.8% brew and offered me a taster not only of the Bonfire Boy but also of a mix of Bonfire Boy and Best which he said his customers tended to prefer when drinking earlier in the day. All very responsible I thought and the staff in general seemed like a really nice bunch. For the record, I thought the half and half was probably a bad idea and went for the Bonfire Boy regardless, which was a good choice as it was a lovely drop.
The pub was packed on my early afternoon visit, with plenty of Sussex based Man Utd fans cheering on their adopted team, but I didn’t mind that too much and thought it had a nice community feel to it. If I wanted to watch some televised sport in Lewes, this would be the first place I’d head to and there was enough about the place to recommend it in its own right as well.
On 24th November 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about Elephant & Castle
A sports pub with decent beer, great food and a pool table that you can actually play around. I ordered a pint of TT Landlord and a Brie & Bacon baguette. Both were superb and the 6 of us on the crawl settled in for a game of pool. The TV was showing footie and just as we arrived, they rolled up a large projection screen that had been showing an early match. Great locals sports bar, well worth a flying visit.
On 29th August 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Elephant & Castle
Situated on a junction, a number of attractive hanging and window baskets plus a previous GBG entry made me try my luck. Three ales (TT Landlord, Harveys Best, Flowers) plus a cider (Westons). My Landlord was fresh and went down very well. Quite a local’s local with a heavy slant towards sport (a muted TV was showing the football) with pool, dartboard and table football in the side room. Food is offered and sounded a bit above the average pub grub as the menu included red snapper - I would have tried some if I wasn’t on such a tight schedule. Plenty of interesting nik-naks inside. There’s a very ornate carved wooden archway by the entrance; a ‘flying’ halloween skeleton on the ceiling; a gigantic framed mock newspaper with some irreverent slants on the towns local issues; stuffed animal heads mounted on the walls; large posters from previous local events adorning the upper bar.
On the evidence of this somewhat flying visit I’d be happy to look in again next time I’m in Lewes.
On 4th September 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]