Andrew Kay fulfils a long held wish and gets to go behind the scenes at Harvey’s Brewery
Classic brew
I first tasted Harvey’s delicious beer when I was 21. A college friend invited us down to stay at her parents’ house in Lewes while they were abroad. It was November and she promised us we would love the Lewes Bonfire Night celebrations. Now I have a terrible fear of fireworks which started when I was a child. Someone lit a flare match, if like me you are ancient you might remember them, they glowed red or bright green. Anyway they lit it and threw it into the air where it made a pretty arc before dropping into the top of my wellington boot. There it managed to ignite the synthetic elements of my sock and burn my ankle. And that’s why to this day I’m no fan of bonfire night and fireworks.
Lewes bonfire night was exciting but, as you can imagine, terrifying. I pretty soon took refuge in a pub that was open and bought myself a pint of Harvey’s bitter.
It was calming pure gold and I had several more before rejoining my friends in the madding crowd.
After that I was hooked and every trip to Sussex required at least a few pints of the amber nectar, or a bottle or two of Blue Label. It was a love that lasts to this day, unlike so many other loves. Harvey’s beer is delicious but not only that, it is a constant, a reliable brew that never fails.
Real ale or beer, there is I believe a difference, is seeing a massive resurgence and lagers are taking a dip. Hoorah for that I say, except for those hot summer days when an icy cold lager does tick the boxes. I love that this is happening and I applaud the micro-breweries and makers of what are now being called craft ales. But my full applause goes to a brewery like Harvey’s who have been making fine beers since 1790, no mean feat!
On the 31st of October Her Majesty the Queen paid tribute to Harvey’s by dining there and going on a private tour as part of her visit to East Sussex. Lucky HRH I thought, I had wanted to do that tour for so many years and somehow never managed to get there. Then my foodie friend Mr M called to say that I was invited to go on a private tour the day following The Queen. Well, you can imagine the fun he had with that, until I pointed out that if I were the second queen to visit that week it made him my lady in waiting. He replied with a curt Ma’am.
So on the 1st of November I journeyed with him to Lewes where we met Miles Jenner and Edmond Jenner. Harvey’s do tours but it is very clearly not their intention to make their historic brewery into some kind of visitor heritage centre, and thank heavens for that. As a consequence they limit the number that they do, they take place after hours and there is currently a two-year waiting list.
Our tour was a private affair, I know, get me, and we met in the Brewery shop where, as well as selling their full range of beers, bottled and in a variety of other containers for larger quantities, they also sell a great range of wines and spirits. In fact they are excellent wine merchants as well as brewers and, as I was to learn on the tour, they are still licensed coal merchants.
The buildings are ancient and they have changed little over the years although we were soon to learn that at one point the Harvey’s brewery was absolutely state-of-the-art, fitted with the very latest and most scientific of equipment. It’s hard to believe as you walk around because in many ways it’s like taking a step back in time. Everywhere you look there are signs of a time gone by, steam engines, working but no longer in use, huge coppers, wooden floors and craftsmen made staircases, rooms that appear to have seen little change for well over a hundred years.
And the aromas, each room changing as you walk around, sweet malt, fruity hops, vibrant yeast and beer, delicious beer. By the time you reach the end of the tour having learned along the way how the basic ingredients are married, in a union that is little changed since man first made beer, you are simply craving a taste of the golden brew. The family buy most of the hops that are used from farms in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, with a small amount coming from the continent and the liquor, or water to you and I, is of course local.
I hope HRH was as spellbound by the place as I was. It more than lived up to my expectations and was by far the best brewery tour that I have ever made, and I have made many. Many of them walking you around static museum pieces that are no longer in use, their main production having been moved to modern and sterile industrial units. No such thing at Harvey’s, this is the real thing, and that no doubt qualifies them for being brewers and purveyors of what can legitimately be called a real ale.
We ended up in a store room where we found an amusing keg of beer marked with the legend ‘Please leave for HRH’, I hope they never wipe that off. We did however dutifully leave that and were treated to a glass of their seasonal Bonfire Boy, a hearty brew that comes in at 5.8% alcohol and on November the 5th it no doubt went a long way to fuelling the celebrations on the streets of Lewes. I have to say we loved it, warming and rich and with an undoubted kick. It was a good follow on to the pint of Wild Hop that we had indulged in before setting off on the tour, and formed a rather solid foundation to the excellent Poças Port tasting that we attended afterwards.
It was a marvellous experience and one that, with the clear dedication of the family, should continue to triumph for generations to come.
For full details of Harvey’s beers and tours visit www.harveys.org.uk
Follow me: latestandrew
