The addition to this village’s thriving business community is East Hoathly’s very own Village Brewery. The King’s Head, situated in the centre of the village, is the primary outlet for the beer produced by the 1648 Brewing Company. Whilst the old stable buildings ( formerly belonging to The King’s Head) have been used for this new venture, the brewery itself can be found at the start of Mill Lane, just to the left of the pub. The Old Forge opposite in Mill Lane has now been added as a cold conditioning room, to keep it at an even temperature and ensure its quality.
The idea for the brewery was conceived one day in March day in 2002. A year later the research had been completed, the equipment sourced, and the plan was ready to come together. Six months of building preparation, plumbing, electrics and equipment installation later the first brew flowed from the fermenting vessel into the casks – 18 months from conception to product. Not the quickest, but then you can’t hurry quality.
Soon it was sampled, and three weeks later 90 gallons had been consumed – since named 1648 Original 3.9% abv. More brewing was undertaken, and with the word spreading the beer has traveled to some of the surrounding local pubs – their support being very much appreciated and welcomed.
Join us for this years East Hoathly Carnival Night. No excuse needed for you and your familly to visit us and try some of our great 1648 beer and watch the night go up in a bang for one of the best nights of the year. This years procession starts at 19:00 and flickers late into the night. Visit www.thekingshead.org for more details.
History of 1648… whats happening next?
November 2003 – A new golden brew – Warrant 4.8% abv.
January 2004 – A new brew for the Hove Cider and Beer festival – Signature 4.4% abv
March 2004 – Sue Kinnear and a film crew arrive to record a feature for the Country Ways programme to be shown on Meridian Tonight on April 15th.
May 2004 – 1648 Signature wins Silver (Best Bitter Category) in the SIBA S.E. Regional competition at the Reading Beer Festival 29th April – 2nd May 2004.
June 2004 – 1648 Signature wins Silver (Dual Hop Varietal category) in the NHA ‘Beauty of Hops’ Competition held at The White Horse, Parsons Green 9th June 2004
August 2004 – Invited to the Great British Beer Festival. An honor to be invited as new breweries are not usually featured until they have been established for 18 months to 2 years.
0ctober 2004 – New brew ‘Armistice Ale’ 4.2% abv was made using local hops from Burwash. A donation of 10p per pint was made to The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
January 2005 – New recipe Winter Warrant 4.8% abv – Dark rich pint, deep roasted flavour. Goes down well with the regulars.
February 2005 – Three Threads tasting – a mild style beer with good body and a pleasing light fruity/hoppy edge.
April 2005- New recipe being developed for the Honey Beer – and a name chosen at last!. Bee Head 4.6% will be brewed ready for the summer.
August 2005 – Lammas Ale brewed specially for the Eastbourne Lammas Festival.
November 2005 – Experimental brew combining smoked malted barley and fresh root ginger gets its first tasting. It was a great success and its subtle smokey/gingery flavour was much enjoyed (by those who liked ginger). Named Ginger Nol 4.7% and available until the end of March.
At the request of many local Hay-fever sufferers more Honey Beer is produced to alleviate their symptoms. It is said that eating the locally produced honey will help to ease the effects of Hay-Fever. The beer was named Bee-Head.
February 2006 – New brew named Saint George 4.5%. All local ingredients, Sussex hops with a mix of Maris Otter barley also from Sussex.
December 2006 – Trial of new beer, Gold Angel 5.0%, golden hoppy beer.
September 2007 – The 1st SIBA Beer Festival at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood awards Three Threads 4.3% Silver in the ‘Milds’ category
March 2008 – Brewery expansion. Bigger cold room built for the stock and two additional fermentors installed to double the output of the brewery.
August 2008 – The 2nd SIBA Beer Festival at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood awards Gold Angel 5.0% Bronze in the ‘Premium Bitters’ category.
September 2008 – A custom brew is produced for the Chiddingly Festival 30th anniversay. 3.8% Festivalale is a light coloured ale, brewed with elder flower, giving it an wonderful floral hop taste.
June 2009 – Bee-Head 4.6% wins Beer of the Festival at the South Downs Beer and Cider Festival.
July 2009 – Three Threads 4.3% wins another Silver Medal in the ‘Milds, Stouts & Porters’ category at the 3rd SIBA South East of England Beer Festival, Tonbridge.
October 2010 – Bee-Head 4.6% wins Best Sussex Brewer award at Eastbourne Beer Festival.
December 2011 – David Seabrook, co-founder, makes the difficult decision to leave the brewery to concentrate on other business interests. Yannick Vuillemey, former chef at the King’s Head, takes over as head brewer after working under David for a six month period.
May 2012 – Yannick’s first recipe as head brewer, Laughing Frog, a French style beer is brewed to much acclaim.
June 2012 – Royal Jubilee wins the CAMRA South Down Beer Festival beer of the festival award.
July 2012 – 1648 renamed it’s Award CAMRA Winning ‘Jubilee ale’ to ‘Britannia Ale 3.8%’. This ale offers a pale gold colour with a refreshing malty flavour, lightly hopped with a appealing spicy aroma.
November 2013- The Brewery brought out two new bottled beers, the Spiced Frog 5.2% (a spicy addition to the incredibly popular Laughing frog from our French Head brewer, Yannick.) And the Black Velvet 5.6% 1648’s extra Oatmeal Stout.
July 2013 – 1648 supplied the beer again for the Eastbourne Lammas Festival completing it with their ‘Lammas Ale 4.2%’ and also introducing a new beer the Sacred solstice 4.3%, Golden spicy ale with a hint of ginger and an elderflower aroma.
September 2014 – a new beer released Jack Cade, 4.5%. Jack Cade offers you a lighter golden finish with its lasting unique tangerine aroma.
October 2014 – 1648 had another great year at the beer festivals not only across Sussex with events and festivals like Chiddingly, steampunk, Lammas, Eastbourne Beer festival and bonfire societies but also throughout UK appearing as far as Nottingham beer festival and Olympia are just amongst a few.
December 2014 – with the help of Flying Firkin it allows 1648 to branch its beer wider allowing pubs and drinkers to share our unique Sussex taste,
July 2015- 1648 refurbished its brewery in 2015 to compete with the up growing demand for its beer, upgrading and updating the brewery fermenting equipment and also refurbishing the floor allowing to produce greater amounts keeping the same high standards quality.
August 2015 – The kings head and the 1648 Brewing Co. supported the East Hoathly 5K canter again in 2015 offering Free Beer to all runners. Another way that we support our village neighbours and local events.
December 2015 – 1648 released its new range of condiments including: Chutneys, Mustards and Christmas puddings with the support of The Great British Food Company allowing you to now Eat our beer! Keep your eyes peeled for 1648 jams and marmalade coming soon!
February 2016- Already this year 1648 have appeared at multiple beer festivals arranging beer from the county to take across the country to supply Festivals.
June 2016 – 1648 this year have secured Wolverhampton beer festival where we will be supplying a range of beers to upkeep their demand.