Industry Brewing Area served South East England Headquarters Lewes, United Kingdom Number of employees 73 | Founder John Harvey Products Beer Founded 1790 | |
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Harveys brewery introduction
Harveys Brewery is a brewery in Lewes, East Sussex, England.
Contents
Harvey's estate includes 48 tied houses, mostly in Sussex, and one in London, The Royal Oak, Southwark. It sells and distributes its main product, Sussex Best Bitter, to other pubs and social clubs in South East England.
John Harvey (1784–1862) established the Bridge Wharf Brewery on its present site by the River Ouse, overlooking Cliffe Bridge.
History
In 1880, part of the original Georgian brewery was rebuilt: the Tower and Brew House visible for example from Cliffe Bridge. This is an example of a country brewery with a facade in a rustic Neo-Gothic design of the Victorian era, a listed building at Grade II*. Behind it stands another half: the Georgian fermenting room, cellars and Vat House. The fermenting room, Brew House and cellars have not changed in layout and dimensions, although reinforced and their contents have evolved. The Vat House was converted and expanded into the modern bottling process.
In 1984, a second brewing line was completed doubling production capacity from 25,000 to 50,000 barrels a year. The building for this plant has been added in front of the Tower in a similar Gothic style, such as an arched ironwork window.
Harveys is an independent family company: Harvey & Son (Lewes) Ltd. The seventh generation of John Harvey's descendants are among directors.
Orthography
Although Harveys Brewery has traditionally omitted an apostrophe from its name and products, the newly designed pump badge (since 2010) for their Sussex Best Bitter includes one. At present this is the only known such usage.
Beers
Harveys produces both cask-conditioned and bottled ales. In both cases, there is a range which is always available ("all-year"), and then a selection of "seasonal" ales.
Awards
In 2005 and 2006, Harveys Best won the Best Bitter category at the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival.