Harvey's Brewery Reviews

kwik-lime	3.2 Harvey's Pilsner Prussian Keg at the John Harvey Tavern. Sweet, biscuity malt, decent hop character, clean pils. Sunday, April 14, 2024
kwik-lime	3.4 Harvey's Georgian Dragon (Cask) Cask at the John Harvey Tavern. Sweet malt, caramel, light earthy hop, fairly full body. Nice. Sunday, April 14, 2024
Rune	3.3 Harvey's Easter Ale 6.8% Cask (2023) Half-pint, gravicask, shared with Finn at The International Brewing & Cider Festival 2024. Crystal clear amber body, filmy layer, clingy lacing. Caramel-fruity nose, inviting. Balanced taste character of apricot, bread, yeasty fruitiness, and caramel malts. Drying close, fine bodied. Like it. (Manchester, 23.03.2024). Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Rune	3.5 Harvey's Bonfire Boy (Cask) Half-pint, gravicask, shared with Finn at The International Brewing & Cider Festival 2024. Deep copper coloured body, low beige head, fair lacing. Inviting aromas with toasted malts with scent of caramel, lightly roasted. Fine balanced taste of caramel malts and dried fruits. Earthy malts to the ending, lightly roasted. Fine depth to it. Like it. (Manchester, 23.03.2024). Wednesday, April 10, 2024
jjsint	3.5 Harvey's Porter (Bottle) 550ml bottle purchased from the Offie, Leicester, and drunk at home. Lovely colour, almost liquorice black with a good ring on khaki head. Roast malt, ash, some plummy character on the nose. Bittersweet with burnt malty character holding back the sweetness. Bitterness increases nearing the end of the sip with a slightly drying finish. Medium body, carbonation is low. Too low. All in all it’s a pretty lovely porter, and nice to bump up my low Harvey’s rates. Sunday, April 7, 2024
moleha4	3.1 Harvey's Georgian Dragon (Cask) Cask, 1 pint at The Royal Oak, Borough. 06.4.24 Appearance is clear ruby brown. Mouthfeel is medium plus. Aroma is of mixed malts and somewhat fruity. Taste is similarly fruity and with mixed malts. Slightly sweet. Sunday, April 7, 2024
Martinsh	4 Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4%) Cask at Three Fishes, Shrewsbury. Pours “bitter brown” with a small off-white head and good lacing. The aroma has malts and caramel and just a hint of bread crusts. In the mouth it is slightly sweet and quite juicy. Malts are the mainstay of the flavour, plus traces of traditional hops, oranges and marmalade. Some bitterness in the finish. This is excellent – what a bitter should be like. Sunday, March 31, 2024
EdKing	3.9 Harvey's Elizabethan Ale - Sparkling Barley Wine 750ml from the Harvey’s Brewery Shop. Slightly hazed rusty orange ale with a large off white foamy head. Nose is marmalade, orange peel, toffee, orange liqueur, barley sugar. Perhaps a champagne yeast rather than classic Harvey’s yeast strain as there’s none of the rhubarb and funk . Taste is sweet, bitter, marmalade, orange peel, fruity, toffee, barley sugar sweets, dry-ish yeast, apricot, mineral crispness. Nice lingering bitterness on the finish. Saturday, March 30, 2024
EdKing	4.1 Harvey's Easter Ale 5.6% Cask (2024) Cask in Royal Oak, Borough. Clear rich golden, thin white golden head. Nose is sweet, honey, sweet tropical fruit, apricot, sticky fruit, orange peel, dried tropical fruit, pineapple cube sweets. Taste is sweet, pineapple cubes, tropical, touch of menthol, rhubarb, apricot dried fruit, sticky fruit. Saturday, March 30, 2024
Parmenion777	3.7 Harvey's Prince of Denmark Pours black with a small, thin, frothy tan head. The aroma is light roasted malts, liquorice, dried fruit, and dark berries. A moderately sweet and roasted taste, sweet roasted malts, prunes, figs, liquorice, and sweet dried fruit flavours, light chocolate notes and a sweet roasted and dark fruity bitter finish. Very nice! Thursday, March 28, 2024
GuideDogSaint	3.5 Harvey's Easter Ale 5.6% Cask (2024) Cask pint at the Royal Oak, Tabard Street at 5.6%. Pours clear amber with a white head. Aroma of malt and hops. Sweet taste and finish. Wednesday, March 27, 2024
thejackpacker	3.4 Harvey's Southdown Harvest Ale (Bottle) Bottle from the brewery most likely. Transported to Sweden. A mixed aroma but mostly sweet vibes. Lovely caramel colour. Creamy finish with good bitterness. A real taste of home. Probably a generous rating because of that. Sunday, March 24, 2024
Finn	3.4 Harvey's Easter Ale 6.8% Cask (2023) Som «Bridge House Easter Ale» delt med Rune på The International Brewing & Cider Festival 2024, Manchester. Amber. Luftig filmskum. Aroma av sirup. Smaken brent sukker & tørket frukt. Annerledes. Tørr, lett bitter avslutning. Saturday, March 23, 2024
Finn	3 Harvey's Porter (Cask) Som «Bridge House 1859 Porter» Delt med Rune på The International Brewing & Cider Festival 2024, Manchester. Luftig filmskum med litt farge. Aroma av søt lakris & svisker. Smaken skarpbrent malt. Knekk. Tørr avslutning. Saturday, March 23, 2024
Finn	3.4 Harvey's Bonfire Boy (Cask) Delt med Rune på The International Brewing & Cider Festival 2024, Manchester. Mørk amber. Mokkafarget skumring. Aroma av røstete nøtter. Smaken krydder & karamell. Tørr bitter avslutning. Saturday, March 23, 2024
BBHansen	3.2 Harvey's Imperial Extra Double Stout Bottle @ Friends/Dr Yeast. Appearance: pours clear black with ok tan soapy head and lacing. Aroma/taste: barley, bread, caramel, molasses, chocolate, licorice , light alcohol, hay, light dried fruit, wood, leather and funky notes. Palette: strong roasted malty and medium yeasty aroma, average carbonation, medium body, medium sweetness, somewhat unbalanced by a medium to notable bitterness and acidity, average duration, dry finish and on oily texture. Overall: Strange sour imp stout Monday, March 18, 2024
kaziopiwosz	3.5 Harvey's Prince of Denmark W aromacie słód, kakao. Barwa czarna, piany brak. W smaku kakao, gorzka czekolada, nuty wiśniowe, wyraźna goryczka w posmaku, alkohol dobrze ukryty. Dobre piwo. Sunday, March 17, 2024
Mr_Pink_152	3.2 Harvey's Armada Ale (Bottle) Bottle at Crowne Plaza, Heathrow T4. Deep golden colour with a white head. Aroma and taste are light sweet malty and light caramel. Medium body. Saturday, March 16, 2024
Mr_Pink_152	3.3 Harvey's Old Ale (Bottle) Bottle at the Crowne Plaza, T4 Heathrow. Dark ruby colour with an off white head. Aroma and taste are malty caramel sweet. Light sweet finish and a light body. Saturday, March 16, 2024
Mr_Pink_152	3.3 Harvey's India Pale Ale (IPA) (Bottle) Bottle at the Crowne Plaza, Heathrow T4. Golden colour with a white head. Aroma and taste are malty light fruity and slightly sweet. Light body. Saturday, March 16, 2024
harrisoni	3.8 Harvey's Easter Ale 6.8% Cask (2023) Cask handpull at Royal Oak. Has a sourness that us surprising. Brett sourness. Reminds me of Orval. Sweeter version. Definitely. Residual sugar. Some sweet malt some dryness on finish. But Definitely brett. Odd but interesting. Thursday, March 7, 2024
weirdbeered	4 Harvey's Armada Ale (Bottle) Gold with a thin white head, sweet fruity aroma. Taste, honey, dried fruits, spice, bitter note to finish. Nice balanced golden ale. Monday, March 4, 2024
simontomlinson	2.8 Harvey's Bill's Beer Thin beige head on a pale amber coloured body. No aroma. Medium bodied, soft with a lively back. Light malt, berry, biscuit & light hop tastes. Lacking. Thursday, February 29, 2024
SilkTork	2.8 Harvey's Bill's Beer Feb 2024. Small bottle, filtered, from LCB. Best before Nov this year. This is a beer which is brewed for a cafe/restaurant in Lewes called Bill's. It was originally described as a Golden Ale, and is now described as a Light Lager. Given that this is well within date and Bill's is still in business, I wonder why this ended up with LCB who normally buy out of date or bankrupt stock. Perhaps Bill's gave up its alcohol license, or decided that this beer is no longer for them. I also wonder if it's a rebadge of an existing Harvey's beer, as I don't think they have the capacity for small brew runs. Anyway, the beer? It's soft ant tasty. A tad more body than would be expected from a lager. Quite modest, but certainly tasty enough. I like it. [2.8] Monday, February 12, 2024
NordicV	3.3 Harvey's Sussex XXXX Old Ale Cask @ Charlies Köpenhamn Mörkt brun öl med ett beige skum. Doft och smak av rostad malt, lätt nötighet, karamell, torkad frukt, lätt jordighet och kryddighet. Saturday, February 10, 2024
Beese	2.6 Harvey's Porter (Bottle) 500ml bottle from the Harvey’s Brewery Shop, Lewes. Near black. Nose of toffee and coffee. Thinner body. Very strong liquorice flavour. Ok, but doesn’t bring back the memories of the cask version I had many years ago. Friday, February 9, 2024
Beese	2.8 Harvey's Wharf IPA (4.2%) 500ml bottle from Harvey’s Brewery Shop, Lewes. Clear mid golden. Nose of citrus and tinned fruit with pale malt. Gentle fruity flavours. A pretty good body for the ABV. Quaffable trad bottled beer. Friday, February 2, 2024
GuideDogSaint	3.5 Harvey's Tom Paine (Bottle) 500ml bottle at the Royal Osk, Borough. Pours golden amber with a white head. Aroma of malt and toffee. Bitter taste and finish. Wednesday, January 31, 2024
EdKing	3.7 Harvey's Royal Oak IPA Pretty certain this is the same as the IPA. Clear chestnut brown beer with a medium bright white foam head. Nose is fruity, plum, rhubarb, earthy, red current. Taste is dry, fruity, plummy, rhubarb, berry. Saturday, January 13, 2024
BeerViking	2.5 Harvey's Bill's Beer Light lager, says the label. Deep gold with a fast-settling foam and apple juice on the nose. Sweet at first and reminiscent of Eurolager, then an odd bitterness cuts in followed by hints of estery fruit on the finish. Meh. Tuesday, January 2, 2024
ResinousMaestro55	2.8 Harvey's Christmas Ale (Bottle) Bottle from Noble Green Wines, Hampton. Clear chestnut brown in colour, with a small cream head. Aromas are in the sweet side - candied sweets, caramel, honey. Smooth and spicy flavours with a long dry finish. Saturday, December 30, 2023
thejackpacker	3 Harvey's Southdown Harvest Ale (Cask) Cask at The Hurst Arms, Eastbourne. Interesting to see this. It had notes of wheat beer to it and it was rather sweet and rich tasting. Improved as you went through it after cloying start. Nice bright Amber gold. Saturday, December 23, 2023
thejackpacker	3.1 Harvey's India Pale Ale (IPA) (Bottle) Bottle at Rob Wick's. A rather harmless and somewhat tasteless ale that you could definitely drink many pints off in a session. Friday, December 22, 2023
thejackpacker	3.5 Harvey's Bonfire Boy (Bottle) Bottle at Rob Wick's. Lovely smooth and slightly sweet ale. Not getting much smoke but definitely a good glugger. Friday, December 22, 2023
HogTownHarry	4 Harvey's Royal Oak IPA September 9, 2022 at Royal Oak (Borough) on cask. Clear brassy refractive copper with a large lasting beige head, nice lacing. Light alcohol in the aroma, plenty of grain (hint of sour mash), light old world bitterness ... and the Harveys water/yeast character, iron/mineral bite for days - if pressed I'd say it was more a bitter/ESB, but hell, it's good. Taste follows - like Sussex Best blended 50/50 with a leafy/dry EPA; really dry and grainy. Solid chewy body, decent airy cask carbonation, lightly astringent and lightly funky - medium-quick non-coating finish, nice mineral/grain linger without any annoying sweetness. I hugely drinkable beer and it sadly looks like it was a one-off. Terrific first rating for my first England trip in 3 years. Saturday, December 16, 2023
EdKing	4.5 Harvey's Easter Ale 6.8% Cask (2023) On cask in Royal Oak, Borough. Clear golden amber with a thin bubbly off white head. Nose is pretty insane. Sweet, fruity, earthy, musty yeasty, citrusy, grapefruit peel, tangerine, apricot, tropical fruit. On the palate is sweet sticky fruit, tropical, citrus bitter, grapefruit, tangerine. Saturday, December 16, 2023
Beese	2.3 Harvey's Star of Eastbourne (Bottle) 500ml bottle from The Royal Oak, Borough. Clear deep golden. Nose of grassy hops and damp malt. Lightly peppery bitterness. Gets a bit cloying after a bit. Monday, December 11, 2023
Beese	3.3 Harvey's Sussex XXXX Old Ale Cask at The Royal Oak, Borough. Near black. Nose of dried fruit and brown sugar. Some roasty bitterness, raisins and orange peal flavours. Monday, December 11, 2023
allmyvinyl	3.6 Harvey's Bill's Beer Bottle from the Low Cost Beer online shop. Pours clear golden with a thin white head. Aromas of light floral hops and citrus. Taste is more of the same. Light bitter finish. Wednesday, December 6, 2023
BeardedAvenger	3.3 Harvey's Star of Eastbourne (Cask) Cask at Royal Oak, Borough. Aroma is grainy, malty. Clear amber. Foamy white head. Grainy. Boozy. Followed by citrus. Sweet malty finish. Light-medium bodied. Slick. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long somewhat astringent finish. Tuesday, December 5, 2023
BeardedAvenger	3.4 Harvey's Old Ale (Bottle) Cask at Royal Oak, Borough. Aroma has malts and xream. Darkest brown. Opaque. Frothy foamy beige head. Malty. Cacao. Underlying creaminess. Berry edge. Develops chewy molasses. Light-medium bodied. Creamy. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long somewhat astringent finish. Slips down. Tuesday, December 5, 2023
GuideDogSaint	3.2 Harvey's Pilsner Prussian Tap pint at the Royal Oak, Borough. Pours clear golden with a white head. Aroma of malt and butterscotch. Similar taste. Bittersweet finish. Wednesday, November 29, 2023
trapped	3.6 Harvey's Christmas Ale (Bottle) Bottle @ Broadway Dive Bar, Manhattan (Mar 2023). Pours clear reddish brown with a large foamy beige head, caramel malt, honey, cloves aroma, low carbonation, initially sweet medium bitter caramel malt taste with nutmeg, faint cloves, thin body, long medium bitter finish. Smooth and spicy, a great winter warmer. Wednesday, November 29, 2023
EdKing	3 Harvey's Albion Ale Very slightly hazy chestnut brown ale with a thin bubbly off white head. Nose is malty, bread, earthy hop, Taste is earthy, bitter, autumnal leaves, dry, bread, red fruits, plum, biscuity. Saturday, November 11, 2023
kappldav123	3.1 Harvey's Old Ale - Low Alcohol Huge thanks to Erzengel for that one! Bottle looks simple but good. Beer in the glass dark brown, nice head. Mild malty roasty aroma. Starts mild, a bit washy, but still with some fine malty roasty notes. Some caramel, some woody hints, mild bitterness. Not bad! Friday, November 10, 2023
kappldav123	2.7 Harvey's Sussex Best Low Alcohol Huge thanks to Erzengel for that one! Bottle looks simple but good. Beer in the glass deep golden, small head. Mild malty aroma. Starts mild, malty, shy bitterness. Not as moldy as other low alcohol beers. Finish a bit washy, but still quite drinkable. Thursday, November 9, 2023
GuideDogSaint	3.7 Harvey's Prince of Denmark Cask half at the Royal Oak, Tabard Street. Pours black with a beige head. Aroma of roast malt and liquorice. Similar taste. Bitter finish. Saturday, November 4, 2023
dk101	2.7 Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4%) Wednesday, November 1, 2023
dragnet101	3.2 Harvey's Bill's Beer Unusual sized 275ml bottle from LCB, well in date. Clear gold, small white rather fizzy head, some retention. Aroma has some lemon, straw, light flora, basic malts. Taste has light floral and citric hops with a sweet honey flavour which elevates it. A crisp modest bitter bite also. Light bodied with some slickness. From the look and aroma I was expecting this to be dull as dishwater but to be fair its not bad at all. Tasty light gold if a touch basic. Wednesday, October 25, 2023
nybol	3.9 Harvey's Prince of Denmark Roasted aroma, tar, coffee and dark sugars. Medium bodied, medium carbonation. Semi dry, medium bitterness. Wednesday, October 18, 2023