Harvey's has rebrewed a 7.7% Victorian strong ale from an 1890 journal found in the Beard's Brewery archive. Lost Brew No.156 went on sale on 26 October.

Harvey’s Brewery has brewed a beer in Lewes that was last made in 1890. The recipe came from a Victorian brewing journal that had sat among another Lewes brewery’s papers for more than a century.

The beer is called Lost Brew No.156. It is a 7.7% Victorian strong ale, and it went on sale on Monday 26 October in 440ml cans and on draught in selected pubs. Harvey’s announced it in a release on its website the same day.

How the journal turned up

The brewing historian Ron Pattinson found the journal in 2019. It was filed among the records of Beard’s Brewery, another Lewes brewery, which closed in 1984. But its pages carried the name “Harvey & Son, Bridge Wharf Brewery”.

Harvey’s believes it belonged to Henry John Barrett. He was the son of Henry Titlow Barrett, the brewery’s third head brewer. Henry John trained at Harvey’s under his father, then moved to Beard’s and took his notes with him.

In April 2026 Harvey’s staff went to The Keep, home of the East Sussex archives, where archive staff helped them scan the whole journal. The brewery now holds a digital copy.

What went into it

Head brewer Peter Yarlett’s team worked from the original entry. The beer was brewed in the Grade II listed tower brewery on Cliffe High Street, the building where the 1890 brew was made. Harvey’s says it used:

  • heritage British barley
  • Sussex Fuggles and Kent Goldings hops, as whole cones
  • open fermentation, as it does for its regular beers
  • a second five days of fermentation after the usual five, which the brewery believes is a first for it
A can of Harvey's Lost Brews No.156 beside a bar pump with a copper book-shaped pump clip marked No.156 Victorian Strong Ale 7.7%, and a pint of amber beer
The can and the book-shaped pump clip for Lost Brew No.156. Photo: supplied by Harvey's Brewery

“It’s not every day you get the chance to brew a beer from a recipe that’s been lost for over a century, particularly in the very brewery where it was first created,” Yarlett said in the release.

The journal holds five more recipes. Harvey’s says it hopes to brew those too, as a Lost Brews series.

What it means for you

  • Where to buy it: the Harvey’s online shop lists it at £30 for six cans or £60 for twelve.
  • On draught: Harvey’s has not named the pubs. It says it will post where to find the beer on its social media over the coming weeks.
  • How much there is: the brewery calls it limited, but gives no figure.
  • Strength: at 7.7%, it is almost twice as strong as Harvey’s Sussex Best, which is 4%.

The brewery is also turning its old offices above the Brewery Shop into eight guest rooms, the Bridge Wharf Inn.

Sources