Tibbs Farm Hopfest 2025 – A Celebration of Sussex Hops
This year marks the Wheeler family’s 335th annual hop harvest. Following on from last year’s sell-out success, which even caught the attention of Channel 5 for an upcoming documentary on Sussex, Hopfest returns hoppier than ever.
At its heart, the festival is a celebration of English hops. Four Sussex breweries – Harvey’s, Longman, Brewing Brothers, and The Waterworks – will each be brewing a green-hopped beer with hops grown at Tibbs Farm and delivered straight from the gardens within 2 hours of picking. An official tasting session will take place at 4:30pm, with the head brewers from Harvey’s, Longman, and Brewing Brothers.
This year’s green hop pairings are: Harvey’s – Fuggle; Longman – Admiral; Brewing Brothers – Target; Waterworks – Goldings
Beyond the green-hopped specials, there will be a wide range of ales, lagers, and stouts brewed exclusively with English-grown hops.
The day also brings a lively music programme, with well known bands, alongside Morris dancers and a traditional hop wassail.
Hopfest is a day for the whole family. With entertainment for children to include giant lawn games, face painting, a free hop crown open workshop with Flossie Flowers, and plenty of photo opportunities all within the farm’s magical hop-draped setting overlooking the Tillingham Valley.
We’ll be serving up food to include meats homereared on the farm with our own hop sausages and salt beef brisket.
Getting there: A free shuttle bus will run from Rye train station to Tibbs Farm every 30 minutes through the day