East Sussex brewery celebrates after being named champion at beer awards evening

Long Man Brewery, based in Litlington, took the tile of ‘Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition’ at SIBA South East for its ‘Best Bitter’ drink at the awards in London.

The competition sees breweries from across Greater London and South East England battle it out across a huge range of beer style categories and is organised by the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), taking place at the Big Penny Social in Walthamstow, London.

Halo by Hackney Church Brew Co took the other top award, being named Overall Champion in the separate Keg Beer Awards.

A spokesperson for Long Man Brewery said: “Our Best Bitter has always been a favourite, winning national and international awards since its first brew.

“Crafted with our own regeneratively grown wheat and barley and choice English hops, our Long Man Best Bitter has stood the test of time. The recipe remains nearly unchanged, proving that quality and tradition never go out of style.

“Special thanks go to our farmers who worked tirelessly throughout the summer, harvesting the crops we grow around the brewery, to be used in next year’s naturally excellent beer."

The Society of Independent Brewers’ Megan Brecken, who organised the Awards and was on hand to congratulate the winners said: “There were some great winners across the awards this year, so huge congratulations to everyone that took home a medal, particularly our Gold Medal winners and of course this year’s Overall Champions Longman and Hackney Church Brew Co.”

The SIBA Independent Beer Awards are judged by beer sommeliers, brewers and expert beer judges, across a diverse range of styles. Gold winners from the awards will now go forwards to the National Finals at BeerX in Liverpool, March 2025.

The awards took place at Big Penny Social in Walthamstow, London, with all of the beers from the judging available to the public as part of this year’s Big Penny Fest.

Hosted in the UK’s largest Beer Hall and featuring over beers from the best independent breweries in the South East, spirits and cocktails from selected London distilleries, live music, DJs and more.