THE STORY SO FAR….

The Team

Bestens Brewery was founded by Paul Swaffield, with over 20 years experience as an amateur brewer he finally took the step up to commercial brewing. Having grown up in Mid-Sussex, Paul then spent years travelling, living & working overseas. Inspired by their travels and experiences abroad Paul & his wife Kristina set about building the brewery into what it is today. Paul is the Head Brewer, and in charge of turning the vision of Bestens into a reality. Kristina looks after the Community Fund and our charitable initiatives.

In 2019 James H. joined the Bestens team as an Assistant Brewer. A keen home-brewer for years, James brought a passion for all things beer and helped develop some of our most loved recipes.

August 2021 saw Chris S. join Bestens as part of the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, after that initial 6 month period ended in January 2022 he became a permanent member of Team Bestens as our Brewery Assistant. Chris is in charge of kegging and canning our beers, labelling up those kegs and cans as well as stock control.

December 2022 saw Camilla A. move from her role behind the bar at The Tap in Haywards Heath to the brewhouse at Bestens. Camila supports Paul in all areas of the business and is responsible for production operations and marketing. Camila has a degree in graphic design and has taken on all in-house design for us, creating all the stunning posters and promotional items we use. Camila has also designed some of our one-off beer labels, such as Albion, South Pacific & You Can Be My Wingman Anytime.

We have an unofficial team member in Ryan S. He is the incredibly talented chap that creates our stunning can art. It started with The Boy With X-Ray Specs, which just blew us away! We now ask Ryan to design all our core beer and returning special release beer labels. He is based in New Zealand, where he runs the artists studio, The Scribble Lounge.

In early 2023 it was sad times, as James H. decided to step down as our Assistant Brewer, but there were no tears as he will be continuing to work alongside Bestens as he moves his own brewery operation, North Garden Brewery, into Bestens HQ.

The Tiny Beginnings

In early 2017 a tiny brewery was assembled, housed in a picturesque barn loft in Cuckfield and comprising of a 1/2 barrel (80-litre) brewhouse with pro-specification fermentation and conditioning tanks so that Bestens beers could start to be perfected.

The Brewery

The summer of 2018 saw the move to Bestens HQ, housing our brewery, shop and taproom.  Nestled at the back of the Church Lane Estate in Lower Beeding, West Sussex, a 1 barrel brewhouse was being worked hard to share our beers across Sussex. Then in the Spring of 2020 the brewery capacity was increased to 4 barrels, allowing us to meet the rapidly growing demand.

In the Summer of 2022 we left our Lower Beeding home, to spread our wings and increase our brewing capacity. The beautiful countryside of Scaynes Hill on the edge of Haywards Heath is where we now craft our beers. This fantastic new space has allowed us to increase our production capacity by over 100% with the purchase of x2 extra 4 barrel unitanks.

We currently can and keg our beers on site, with deliveries going out across Sussex and the rest of the UK. 

The place to come get beers direct from the brewery is our online store, where we offer free local delivery and nationwide courier service.

Go check out our micropub, The Tap, on South Road in Haywards Heath. Here you’ll find a range of our beers on draught and in the fridge, plus an incredible selection of guest beers, wines & spirits!

The Vision

We believe that great beer can make great things happen, therefore, Bestens is more more than just a brewery. 

We will be working in partnership with local charities and community groups to organise events and fundraising initiatives to give something back. We will commit to making a donation from the profit of each beer sold to our community fund, this will then be shared amongst those projects and charities we have partnered with. 

By continually striving to make our beers the best they can be, we plan to grow and deliver our beers to more people so we can raise more money and make more of a difference to our communities.

The Future

Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do, so it was never in doubt that our next big step forward would be hand-in-hand with another amazing brewery, so into the future we go with our chum & former Assistant Brewer, James Harley, and his new-born, North Garden Brewery.

We will be sharing a brewhouse, a taproom and a future together.

Buckle up, things are gonna start moving at pace SOON!!