Lay your head right here for the Green Hop Beer Fortnight

• Written by: Lorraine
• Written on: September 1, 2016
• Filed Under: 2016 Events, Activities, Days Out, Eating out, Local Area

We love it when visitors come and stay in our holiday lets in Broadstairs because they’re in the area for a particular event. The Green Hop Beer Fortnight is a particularly interesting one which always attracts great folk.

It takes place all over Kent which is a pretty large area, if you’re coming to the UK especially to enjoy all the green hop beers this September why not base yourself with us for all or part of the time. We’re in East Kent, right on the coast, there are lots of participating pubs and breweries within easy striking distance of our properties and you can plan to visit those that are further afield too, if you choose – we’re well connected by rail and road.

The Green Hop Beer Fortnight was conceived in 2011, to celebrate the beer harvest with the freshest beers in the world! Kent is renowned the world over for the quality of the hops grown here and our many independent brewers.  2016 will be the 5th annual event and each year the festival grows in popularity. Beer lovers flock from all over and it’s a great way to meet fellow beer enthusiasts and talk beer, endlessly, as well as to sample many different fresh brews made with the freshly harvested green hops.

In East Kent several brewers open their doors to the public for tours, music, morris dancing food and green hop beers in a special Open Day during the festival 8th October 2016. Participants have not been announced yet for this year but if you’re lucky you could have the chance to get behind the scenes at:

• Gadds’ Brewery
• Goody Ales
• Wantsum Brewery
• The Foundry Brewpub
• Canterbury Ales

The above named all took part in 2015.

Follow the Green Hop Beer Fortnight on Twitter for news of plans for 2016 as and when they’re announced @kentgreenhop or see their website.

You might also like to read an earlier blog post of ours where we identified many of the local micropubs and ale houses in our immediate area, many of whom will also be enthusiastically partaking of the Green Hop Fortnight.

New places are opening up all the time, one of the newest which didn’t exist when we wrote the above is The Two Halves (pictured above) right on the seafront at Margate run by professional Harry Redknapp lookalike Shaun Smethers and his wife Jacqui – who has designed and had built the worlds first and only gas lift still rack to cradle his lovingly conditioned selection of British Real Ales. Watch the sun go down over Margate Harbour Arm from the bar and have a sup of what Shaun is offering during Green Hop Fortnight.

By the time September rolls around the new Margate Brewery on Margate High Street may also be open, a very short stroll up the hill and we suggest checking out the London Tavern too, a little bit off the beaten track, next to Margate Theatre Royal but serving the full range of craft beers from Time and Tide all year round.

Thirty Nine Steps Ale House in Broadstairs is currently working towards becoming a Brew House and expanding into new premises a couple of doors along from the present site.

Other very local places you won’t want to miss include Ales of the Unexpected, The Hovelling Boat Inn and The Four Candles.

Kent’s Green Hop Beers are unique and can only be tasted in September when the hops are at their freshest. Once a cask is open the beer is only fresh for around 3 days and once it’s gone it’s gone so do check with venues before making a special trip and never assume that Green Hope Beer will definitely be available without checking first.

Usually launching at Canterbury Food and Drink Festival the Green Hop Fortnight then becomes less a beer festival and more of an opportunity to visit the county’s pubs and sample both their ambience and the unique brews only available at this time of year. If you love beer it’s a glorious experience not to be missed.

Our holiday homes are suitable for groups to stay together and rest your weary heads after a day or evening of beer exploration at the Green Hop Fortnight. Shall we see you at the Festival?

Green Hop Beer Fortnight 2016 is Friday 23rd September – Sunday 9th October.