Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Abyss Brewery Tap, Lewes
Lewes
BN7 2BF
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
A recent conversion, located in the former maltings building for the now defunct South Downs Brewery, this is a substantial industrial place, bang on trend with even a converted Airstream caravan as food outlet.
Perfectly described below, it would seem that there were cask options so my choice must have been gravity fed as there are no pumps.
I ended up with something called Cloud Island DDH Pale, a costly £3.25 a half, freezing cold as expected and ‘tropical’; I couldn’t finish it.
On 29th April 2025
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2208 recommendations about 2165 pubs]
Real Ale Ray left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
A good sized venue, which looked interesting along with the amount of beers and range. However all the beer names and type was displayed clearly across the back of the bar, but no pricing. I got stares of disgust from two staff members, for daring to ask the beer price. I found my beers to be non-descript and well overpriced. Back in the day a brewery tap was a place where you'd get a discount on the beers, obviously not here.
On 18th April 2025
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3645 recommendations about 3645 pubs]
Moby Duck left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
A fairly typical industrial unit setup with plenty of outside space, the inside area is a fair bit smaller and given its apparent popularity would prove cramped in poor weather, luckily not the case on our group visit. All beers were from Abyss with no guests that I could see, I quite like Abyss beers so not a problem for me but a bit more variety may be the way forward.
These type of venues are not for everyone but I don't mind one now and again, although I've been to better, this one was reasonably good.
On 14th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Bucking Fastard left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
The large courtyard outside with pic nic benches was packed with a younger crowd on my Friday early evening visit,the food van was proving popular too.It's a real sun trap in good weather.Inside past the brewing vessels the bar is to the left offering 11 Abyss indie beers on keg such as a rice lager,two pilsners,a helles lager,three IPA's ,three pales and a Rave sour which was refreshing but a lack of style variance sadly.There are a few inside benches if you need shelter from either sun or rain.
Tasting flights of 5 served on old skateboards was an option which I declined ,how many pale beers can you tolerate ?
On 12th April 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Graham Coombs left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
Typical industrial unit in a conversion of an old building, although it does have a fairly nice outdoor area with an Airstream food trailer. Inside there are a dozen or so high tables by the fermenters and a reasonably substantial bar counter with a wall of 12 keg taps and a couple of handpumps which were not in use, The beers seemed to be all their own and were disappointingly all IPAs, pales or lagers, apart from one sour. It was pretty busy on a sunny afternoon but I have been to much better brewery taps.
On 12th April 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3641 recommendations about 3576 pubs]
Pub SignMan left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
This is a large brewery and taproom located in an old industrial premises on the outskirts of the town centre. The operation comprises two main areas for the public – a large warehouse type room that contains the bar and lots of seating, plus the old parking area out the front which now acts as a beer garden of sorts and has the toilet and street food facilities. The main room is slightly more characterful that in most industrial unit taprooms, thanks to a high gabled ceiling and clear demarcation between the public and staff areas, with large shelving units full of brewing ingredients, partitioning drinkers from the factory operation. Long canteen style tables with lots of low stools provide ample seating options, beneath colourful bunting and with muted lighting, which all comes together quite nicely to make this a pleasant spot to settle down in. The servery is to the rear left and has a basic counter, white tiled bar back with the taps across it and a dark surround with the brewery name along the top. Moving outside, there is loads more seating, mostly in the form of rickety canteen-style benches, across a large tarmac area, with a food truck to one side knocking out tasty, if rather pricey, burgers. The place was doing a roaring trade early on a Saturday evening, with no seats to be found inside and plenty more punters filling up the beer garden area.
A board next to the bar listed the beers on the eight keg lines, but I forgot to make a note whilst making my choice, so I can’t recall what any of them were. I do know that I tried quite a pokey IPA, which I really enjoyed, and that the burger was excellent too and served by a friendly and chatty bloke. Despite the large crowd, the very first thing I saw when I first approached the bar, was a mouse scuttling between a load of totally oblivious people’s feet!
I thought this was a pretty good taproom, with some nicely put together seating areas, a solid keg range and a great Saturday night atmosphere. The place does a lot of the basics well and having enjoyed several of their beers in other pubs around Sussex in recent years, I’m confident that there will always be something worth trying on the bar. A nice place to add to any crawl around town, as it offers a good contrast to Lewes’ plethora of traditional boozers.
Date of visit - 12th October 2024
On 3rd January 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
David Walton left this review about Abyss Brewery Tap
This is indeed an industrial sized tap room and working brewery and I have to admit I enjoy more on a sunny (and warm) summer evening than a near October light fading damp evening. It is the most industrial you find in Lewes these days at least but at least there are a few places to park nearby. Wasn’t my plan this evening but my wife wanted somewhere to eat quickly ahead of an appointment in town. I wasn’t exactly complaint as I enjoy their beers. The Mexican food waggon of lockdown emerging summers was gone, but a decent burger and taco retailer has replaced in what felt like an overwhelmingly long airstream vehicle. There is ample outside seating around the food option but not surprisingly inside space was the place to be early evening. There is ample seating via benches some barrels and trestle tables inside around the periphery of the brewing equipment and a feature is the large psychadelic projection onto the large wall opposite the servers to the left hand side of the venue.
Posted a list of the beer options as a picture to showcase their (largely) range but I opted for the single cask offering of a pale ale from Deya. Some large beer fridges to the left of the servery provide a good range of take away options.
Whilst I like a good taproom, and this is perfectly fine, the ultra sleek Kernel taproom in SE10 visited for the first time yesterday afternoon (review, like many others of the last 6 weeks to come) shows what a modern taproom can look like with a little extra warmth and comfort. A good option in Lewes though if you prefer good craft beer than cask beer.
On 27th September 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 631 recommendations about 631 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about ABYSS Brewery Tap
I had real trouble finding the ABYSS Brewery Tap on a recent Thursday evening, I’m not sure if this was down to it being hidden away or because it was my last visit of an all-dayer. I thought it would be busier being a Thursday, but maybe the proximity of Christmas meant people were staying at home. I’m not a huge fan of the industrial ambience of trading estate brewery taps, I don’t find them very comfortable, and this place was no different. That said, the young women working behind the bar was very friendly and I was a big fan of the It Came From God stout, although a couple of pints at 6.5% at the end of the night made my journey home quite interesting, well according to my wife who greeted me when I got home. Now that I’ve been this isn’t somewhere I plan to revisit.
On 2nd January 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5965 recommendations about 5931 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about ABYSS Brewery Tap
A craft keg brewery taproom in a light industrial estate: imagine that! So here we are at Abyss Brewing with a big room next to the fermenting vessels plus a couple of outdoor spaces, one of which has the usual food truck in attendance. 2 handpumps adorn the bar, though all of today's 11 beers and one cider are dispensed from the keg taps behind the bar.
The beer is your usual new-world hopped, slightly hazy, Pale Ale varieties for the most part, with a Helles and a stout for variety, plus Hacker Pschorr as a guest. Prices are fairly reasonable for the styles and you get the full choice of measures from 1/3 up to a full pint.
If you're after something completely different to Harvey's, this is a good option, as long as you're not fixated on a comfortable armchair next to a roaring log fire, or a cosy pub garden supping a traditional best bitter.
On 20th September 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 554 recommendations about 516 pubs]