Real ale has come a long way since the fusty stereotypes of old men with beards and sandals supping cloudy bitter.

Breweries have taken the initiative and brought the joy of hops and barley to a new generation of discerning drinkers.

As the Sussex Beer Festival gears up, Business editor FINN SCOTT-DELANY profiles the companies at the forefront of the ale explosion.

While the size of the Sussex Beer Festival has not changed in the last five years - its venue is restricted - the beer market certainly has.

IPA used to be one of several bland, mass-produced options available in city bars.

But since the hop explosion and the arrival of American pale ales beer preconceptions have been blown out of the water.

A city bar in Brighton and Hove is missing a trick if it does have at least a couple of real ale or craft beer options.

And drinkers are increasingly gravitating towards the wealth of Sussex brewed options.

Sussex Beer Festival, March 6-8 at Hove Town Hall will boast 240 beers, 70 bottles beers and 60 ciders.

Treasurer John Kirkland said: "Lots of breweries have been popping up.

"Occasionally they close but as long as they have a good product it will sell.

"In Brighton and Hove you've got more people with disposable incomes.

"The only problem is pubs closing an being taken over by supermarkets.

"We're trying to get the law changed so they can't just do something like that without planning permission.

"More should be done to protect them especially from owners.

"The opinion is they look at and think it's worth a lot more as a development of flats and run it down. There's no proof of that but its what we suspect.

"The worst thing for licensees is the taxation - the rents, rates, utilities, and the beers aren't getting any cheaper.

"The escalator taxes have been sorted but the price of raw materials keeps going up.

"You don't want to skimp on ingredients and end up with a flat uninteresting beer."

The Innovator 

Looming over the industry in Sussex for some 200 years is Harveys in Lewes.

The original Georgian brewery was built in 1880 on Cliffe Bridge by the river Ouse.

Founded by John Harvey, today Harveys remains an independent, family company-Harvey & Son (Lewes) Ltd-with a seventh generation of John Harvey's descendants involved.

One modern brewery with solid Brighton heritage is now in the position of being one of the bigger breweries in a wide field of micros.

Dark Star was famously set up at the Evening Star pub, on Surrey Street, and has since gone into win countless awards and be lavished with critical acclaim.

The company was well ahead of the curve with the hops explosion, with its classic session ale Hop Head well-established before craft pubs really took off.

And despite having plenty of younger competitors Dark Star, now based in Partridge Green, is always full of surprises, such as its coconut porter, Seville Spanish bitter orange and much-lauded expresso stout.

Marketing manager James Cuthbertson said: “It's a really great time for the industry.

“We've been really busy and I think most craft brewers in the county are.

“We're seeing customers' thirst for difference and innovation and people who really know their beers.

“Something we pride ourselves on is the fact we produce 20 different beers every year.

“It's about stretching the customer and we spend a disproportionate amount of time drinking other people's beer.

“We relish the idea of coming up with new stuff and give a lot time to experimenting and taking inspiration from other beers.”

“We were lucky that the hop explosion happened because we really liked that style already.”

 

The Newcomers

The Long Man Brewery takes its inspiration from the iconic Long Man of Wilmington and is based in a flint farm in the heart of the South Downs National Park.

Brewing goes back 100s if years at the site with a brew-house chamber thought to exist there in 1538.

Renovation of the disused barn began in 2011 with installation of a twenty-barrel brew plant along and three fermentation vessels completed by February 2012.

Each of the young brewery's six beers has won awards, with Spring Barley gorwn on the farm and almost everyting else sourced from the Cuckmere Valley.

“We're not trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to brewing great beer, but with every brew we make we endeavour to produce the consistent high quality that discerning drinkers expect from hand crafted, cask conditioned bitter.

“Our beers are inspired by our own desire to create the kind of ales that we want to drink ourselves, whether it's the light and highly drinkable Long Blonde or our punchy and robust American Pale.

“With our current capacity we can keep our customers in good supply, but rest assured that there's nothing.”

Brighton Bier was the result of four friends coming together with a combined passion for beer and an ambition to revive of the city's proud and independent brewing heritage.

To achieve its aims the company merged with another brewery Franklins and a wholesaler and distributor With Soul.

The modern company embraces the attitude, ingredients and flavour of progressive beers from Belgium, North America and beyond.

Another beer with a modern approach to generations of heritage is KingBeer.

Its roots go back to 1850 when James King started trading as a maltster and then King and Sons brewery.

Over the years the business prospered with the purchase of 60 pubs close enough for deliveries by horse and cart.

The last King family member to run the brewery was master brewer Bill King until the company was taken over in 2000.

After leaving the company he set up microbrewery WJ King and concentrated on quality cask ale.

In June 2010 Ian Burgess took over as head brewer and was joined by business partners Niki and Justin Deighton.

Building on the brewery's heritage KingBeer is producing exciting brews using the likes of coriander and juniper to meet modern tastes.

An assortment of seasonal beers and have been reissued alongside time-honoured ales giving Kings' 160 year heritage a modern twist.