MOST POPULAR - From the fourteen beers we tried the winner by a nose was the Dark Star Brewery Limited Edition American Pale Ale (extra happy, dry and crisp abv 4.7%).

It was closely followed by Beachy Head's Legless Rambler (Brambling Cross hops abv 5%). Weltons Brewery scored a double whammy with two very popular beers - Black Dragon (smoked malt Porter abv 6.2%) and Old Cocky (complex golden beer abv 4.3%), with the dark hoppy Autumn Old Ale from Arundel Brewery in hot pursuit.

All the beers were well tested with only a very small amount of wastage - the other nine were:

W.J. King, Horsham - Market Porter - Alcohol By Volume 5.0%. Deep dark brown and phenomenally complex. Liquorice aroma with some coffee notes. Autumn Mist - abv 4.1%. Quintessentially Autumnal with a lovely reddish hue and balanced hop and malt flavours. 

Dark Star – Partridge Green, Horsham. – born in the cellar of the Evening Star in Brighton - Original - abv 5% – former Champion beer of Britain, a dark strong bitter.

Arundel Brewery – W. Sussex - Trident - abv 5% . An amber-coloured strong beer with a citrus, fruity aroma. Clean and refreshing with a hoppy, fruity flavour and a pleasant dry bitter finish. Sussex Gold - abv 4.2%. Rich and golden with a hoppy citrus finish.

Filo Brewery, Hastings - Ginger Tom – a light coloured golden ale infused with organic ginger, abv 4.5%.

1648 Brewery – East Hoathly, nr Lewes - Signature – very pale, crisp and refreshing, abv 4.4%.

Westerham Brewery  - Grange Farm, Edenbridge, Kent - 1965 Bitter – a Special Bitter Ale, golden, fruity and malty with a dry finish, abv 4.8%.

Beachy Head – micro-brewery established in 2006 on a farm between East Dean and Birling Farm - South Downs Ale – a Pale Ale with a bitter-sweet bitterness, abv 4.4%.

SEE YOU AT NEXT YEAR'S BEER FESTIVAL - we're planning it already!