/">News From The CountryMan Inn

Over the Moon at The Countryman, West Sussex

We are pleased to announce that we will be selling a a new winter brew called ‘OVER THE MOON’ now being sold until end of February. It is brewed by the Dark Star brewery in Partridge Green.

A brief history on the Dark Star brewery

Dark Star was originally the name of a porter developed by Rob Jones when he was emoloyed by the Pitfield Brewery. The name ‘Dark Star’ comes from the Grateful Dead stong and was highly successful, being voted Champion Beer of Britain in 1987. Rob Jones took the ’secret’ recipe with him when he moved to the brewery based at the Evening Star. The beer itself is now known as Dark Star original.

The Dark Star Brewing Company was launched in 1994 in the cellar of The Evening Star Pub, Brighton. It became apparent that the brewery could not keep up with up with their customers, so in 2001 the brewery relocated to a new purpose-built brewery in near Haywards Heath, and finally, a third move to a 16,000 square foot site in Partridge Green, which makes the Dark Star Brewing Company our closest brewery.

Enjoy great ales at The Countryman pub in West Sussex

Over the Moon is 3.8 ABV so you can enjoy a few without falling over. Remember that The Countryman is in the CAMRA guide and is a popular pub in West Sussex with a wide range of good quality ales and great food.

Brookland White chickens served at The Countryman

We are pleased to announce that we are working with a new supplier called Brookland White Artisan Poulterers who are based in South Godstone.

Brookland White hold old fashioned values of high animal welfare, traditional outdoor rearing and low food miles. They raise and process all their birds (capons, ducks, chickens and turkeys) so you know exactly where the chickens have come from, and that they have had a good life. Brookland White chickens are not the normal ‘Free Range’ chickens that are being mass produced on large units. Instead, the chickens return to past times where traditional methods and home milled feed are used. All the food is GM free including wheat, peas, barley, oats and triticale are home grown on the farm, along with GM free soya, minerals, vitamins and spices to balance the ration. Unlike many other free range chicken producers, Brookland White do not routinely use antibiotics, instead they rely upon helping the birds to develop a healthy immune system.

Birds are naturally shy and if they have food and drink inside will often never venture out of the hut. To overcome this, the feeders and drinkers are outside to ensure that the birds spend as much time in the field as possible. In fact, the chickens have 24 hour access to the field and they are often grazing or sleeping in the moonlight. It almost sounds romantic!

When the birds are ready around about 12 weeks old (shed birds are killed at about 6 weeks) they are killed, plucked, dressed and wrapped on the farm. The birds are hung in the chiller for at least 3 days.

So when you eat chicken at The Countryman, you know that your chicken had the best life a chicken could have.

Call 01403 741383 to reserve your table, or you can click here to book a table through this website.