The votes have been counted, and we have a winner: the Beer of the Festival for Yapton Beerex 2010 is Ballard’s Anniversary Ale!

Second place went to Saltaire Triple Chocoholic, with Langham Hip Hop in third.

The Brewery of the Festival was also Ballard’s — looks like we should have a 21st anniversary more often! Saltaire came second and Thornbridge third.

We’ll be presenting Ballard’s with their awards at some point in the future; details will appear here nearer the time.

September 25–27 will see the first Festival of Sussex Tipples taking place at the Martlets Hall in Burgess Hill. It’s an all-Sussex event, featuring real ales from over ten Sussex breweries as well as ciders, perries and local wines.

Sessions are Friday (6–11:30pm), Saturday (12–5pm, 6–11:30pm) and Sunday (12–6pm) — evening sessions are £5 advance, £6 on the door, while lunchtime sessions are £4 advance, £5 on the door. There are only 300 tickets for each session, so advance booking’s recommended. Evening sessions have live music.

You can buy tickets from the Stand Up Inn in Lindfield, or at the Martlets Hall; you can also get them, and more information, from the Festival of Sussex Tipples website. The price includes a programme and a souvenir pint glass.

The Stag’s Head, Westbourne is having a beer festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend (that’s Aug 28–30 if you don’t have your diary handy) with up to 25 different beers and ciders. There’ll also be a hog roast, live music in the evenings, and a tug of war competition during the day, as well as limited over cricket and other activities.

Camping will also be available: handy since the nearest station is a fair walk away!

Contact Fred Gordon on 01243 372393 for more details.

The White Swan in Bosham closed earlier this year, but the locals aren’t taking it lying down: they have formed a campaign to buy the pub and run it as a community-owned facility. The meeting held last week was well-attended (and started half an hour earlier than the local paper said, so we missed most of it, alas) and showed strong support for the plan.

Details of the campaign to save the White Swan, Bosham are available at the Bosham Community website.

(The White Swan is a former branch pub of the year: another local example of a community-owned pub is the current branch pub of the year, the Duke of Cumberland Arms, Henley.)

The Olive Branch (formerly the Black Dog) in Yapton has been closed for a few months now, with occasional signs of work taking place. It has now opened again (on May 15, just in time for the Yapton Beerex!)

We’ve not had any reports so far (plenty of us in the area last weekend, but we were a tad busy) though it’s believed to be selling Greene King beers. (Update: last Sunday, the beer range was Greene King IPA, Fuller’s London Pride, and Courage Best, though the Best was turned around at the time.)

Down the road, the Shoulder Of Mutton And Cucumbers has an “under offer” sign outside. Whether the offer involves it staying as a pub is unknown…

Arundel Brewery did very well back in August last year at the Hop Farm, Kent, where its beers picked up three prizes at the South Eastern regional finals of the SIBA Brewing Competition, but they have now gone one better.

At the SIBA National Finals held in early March in Stratford-upon-Avon, Sussex Mild won a gold medal to become National Champion Beer in the mild category. It also just missed becoming Supreme Champion by one place, gaining the silver medal instead — a great result for an endangered beer style. Sussex Mild wins friends easily, and young drinkers who have tried it during brewery tours have been greatly impressed.

Generally, production and sales are going well, with the company’s products gaining plenty of new accounts, such as the Capital Pub Co in London. The beers have also been featured in Wetherspoon outlets from Fareham to Hastings, and northwards to Haslemere.

Article supplied by Jeff Vinter, Arundel Brewery Liaison Officer. Arundel’s Sussex Mild can be found regularly at the Four Chesnuts, Chichester.

The Stag’s Head in Westbourne is having a beer festival over the Easter weekend, starting at about 2 on Good Friday and going through until at least the Sunday evening (and possibly into the Monday if there’s any left!)

There’s a hog roast on Friday evening, and about 15 beers should be on sale — plus hopefully a few ciders, too…

The branch’s Pub of the Year is the Duke of Cumberland Arms in Henley.

This country pub has an unspoilt interior, beers (including Langham Hip Hop and Harveys Best) served on gravity, and some original gas lights. The large rolling gardens feature trout pools, and there’s a real log fire in the smoking area!

The food’s pretty good, too: the cod and chips was the approximate size of a whale…

The fascinating history of brewing and breadmaking will be explored during a special Focus Day at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton, near Chichester on Sunday September 14. The event will cover history, mysteries, and contemporary brewing and baking, with a chance to try some all-important samples!

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The Autumn 2008 edition of the Sussex Drinker is now out, and you can download it here.

Sussex Drinker, Autumn 2008

Printed copies should be appearing in a pub near you soon…