ER Beer Festivals
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We hold beer festivals at The Engine Room three times a year.
Spring hosts our Strong | Dark Beer Festival.
Summer hosts our Summer Beer Festival.
Late September hosts our Oktoberfest, where we have Germanic beers, with a scattering of other UK & Sussex producers.
As we know precise dates, we will post below.
If coming as a group & to ensure you have a seat, we recommend you contact The Engine Room to book a table.
If there isn't a formal beer festival on, you can create your own.
We always serve beers in small quantities. You can choose three of these served in a "flight" to enjoy the full range of styles we offer.
With thanks to Andy at Totally Steamed for supplying us with the flight holders.
Our Oktoberfest beer festival will be from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th September 2026.
Our version takes place in the traditional Oktoberfest period, which is from mid September to the first Sunday in October. Join us on our own Thereiesenwiese (i.e. the terrace outside the ER) for our celebrations & music.
We will also have "The Best of the Wurst" BBQ, where you'll find Sussex-style Bratwurst on offer, from Nick the Butcher in Hartfield.
Shown is our planned Oktoberfest beer lineup. Note for cask drinkers, we will also have our normal ever changing cask line up. We will show what the current beers are nearer the time in our beer listings.
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To hopefully help you choose the right ones for you ...
Pilsner & Helles are styles we’d probably know more as modern “lager” — i.e. pale lagers. Pilsner originated in Czechia and is crisp, dry & hop-forward. Helles is from Munich and is softer, with more emphasis on malt than hops.
Märzen means “March beer”. It’s darker, amber, maltier & a little stronger. Traditionally brewed in March and then lagered over the summer (before refrigeration), it was served at Oktoberfest. The higher alcohol and hopping also helped it keep fresh over the summer.
Festbier is a more modern, slightly stronger, golden beer designed specifically for Oktoberfest. It has gradually replaced Märzen as the style most associated with the festival.
Dunkel simply means “Dark” and is a traditional dark Munich lager, with rich, malty flavours.
Rauchbier means “Smoked beer”. It is an old style of beer made with malt dried over a wood fire, which naturally gives the malt, and therefore beer, a smoky flavour. Improved smoke-free kilns first appeared in the 17th century, gradually making smoked malt obsolete across brewing. One malt house in Bamberg (Bavaria) has kept the old tradition alive, still to this day drying the malt traditionally over wood fires, for use in beer making. Expect a smoke-forward taste to savour.
Playing in our own Thereiesenwiese (i.e. the terrace outside the ER) are a variety of music acts, with a bit more of a local Sussex feel.
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