It’s Craft Beer Fest Time Baby!
As most people in the Jozi beer fraternity know, we are entering into a couple of weekends of unparalleled beer bliss! The Jozi Craft Beer Fest and the Solstice Festival are featuring on the 26 May and 2 June respectively.
Visit the websites, grab your tickets, clear the diary, and harden those livers, because this is what we are in for:
2 Beer Festivals
2 Consecutive Weekends
25 Breweries (and counting…)
90+ Beers
This, together with an assortment of top bands and some great food, is sure to be rather epic. A summary of the micro breweries that will serving their craft brews are as follows:
Bring.
It.
On.
Jozi Craft Beer Hangouts
Real beer drinkers want a taste of different. The problem is getting opportunities to do this, particularly in Jozi. Just like connoisseurs of whisky and wine, craft beer drinkers want this to taste different variations of the craft. We want a trip to a restaurant, or a normal trip to the local pub, to have a range of stocked beverages that deserve our consumption. The opportunities to do this are unfortunately a bit thin on the ground.
Only a very select few establishments (at this stage anyway) offer bottled and kegged craft beer. These establishments must be applauded, as the typical safe route of serving only SAB beers and so-called ‘imported’ beers is by far easier, and logistically less complicated.
Restaurant patrons are always offered a wine list when they are seated…where is the craft beer list goddamit!?!
So next time you consider going out for a meal or a drink, get creative and choose an establishment that serves craft! Here is the list so far Jozi, named and famed:
The locations of the above establishments are google-mapped below. The address and list of beers served is listed in the map info:
View Larger Map
*If there are any establishments that need to be added to the list, drop me a line
Beer Enlightenment in Clarens
I have been meaning to post these pics for a while from the Clarens Craft Beer Festival, held on the 25th February 2012. As a craft beer enthusiast this was a proverbial Garden of Eden. So many good beers, and so much enthusiasm being generated for the South African craft beer scene. There were approximately 90 different beers on offer from about 23 or so micro-breweries.
My only regret: Getting to taste less than half of the beers on offer! My advice to the organisers for next year would be to spread the festival over 2 days.
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PS: Thanks to Grant York for the pics (Twitter @GrantYork77)
Brewing Zulu Blonde in Scotland!
Check out this great video of Richard Chennells, brewmaster at the Zululand Brewing Co, brewing South Africa’s very own Zulu Blonde at the Caledonian Brewery, one of the oldest breweries in Scotland situated in Edinburgh. This is all for the JD Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival 2012. As mentioned in a previous post, Zulu Blonde took the prize for the best ale in the 2010 version of the festival. The beer will roll out to 900 pubs in time for the festival which starts on 14March 2012.
Of 42 breweries that used to be in Edinburgh, the Caledonian Brewery is the last brewery standing in the city and they are famous for brewing their Deuchars IPA.
In Richard’s own words the experience was awesome, “Brewing on their modern AND old school equipment was a great experience. Very cool people in Edinburgh too. I reckon this brew is going to be the best yet.”
Three Skulls – Craft Beer Served Rock
Raw. In your Face. Rock ‘n Roll.
That’s what hits you when you are exposed to the branding of the newest microbrewery in Joburg. The social media blogosphere has been abuzz with the build up to the Clarens Beer Festival this weekend, and one of the big talking points has been the much anticipated launch of Three Skulls Brew Works.
I spoke to the head honcho at the Skulls to find out more about why their beer will change the world.
Firstly, who is behind Three Skulls Brew Works?
My name is Jonathan Nel, and I am the owner, brewer, packer and taster at Three Skulls Brew Works. There might only be one pair of hands, but each time I brew there are a few billion yeast cells making sure we make the best beer we possibly can. When it comes to people being involved in the brewery there are already far too many to name as the adventure has called on the collective skills and talents of several generous and downright genius people. The brewery is now my full time occupation since I left SAB last year to chase the dream of craft beer.
Your brewery name is pretty rock ‘n roll! How did you come up with it?
The name was one of the first things I chose, as I wanted to really stand out from the crowd and make sure my intention of not being ordinary was obvious from the get go. The brands motto is “Why Not”, which I feel really sums up the attitude and the way the brand sees the world. Everything that comes out of the Three Skulls Brew Works will be slightly crazy, wholly inspired and hopefully change the way beer drinkers thing about hops, flavours, colour or even a beer glass. The logo was created by the wunderkind Andy Dippenaar and his team at Pump Brand Ideas in Fourways. Together we wanted to break all the staid rules of beer, to try and offer a fresh perspective on how beer can act and be portrayed. I think we’re doing that if you look at the logo, website and manifesto.
What is the inspiration to start up Three Skulls?
I was an employee at The South African Breweries for the last 6 years in Brand Marketing and Innovation, so I have had a fair amount of experience in launching, stimulating, repackaging, reformulating and discontinuing brands. Over the years I was exposed to everything from the manufacturing process to finance and distribution while I secretly yearned to one day brew, package, market and sell my own beer. Last year the opportunity presented itself to take the step and open the company and its been a manic process of licensing, purchasing brewery equipment, finding premises and building and designing a world class beer brand. To be honest, my wife is probably most to blame as she bought me my first Coopers kit, and she bought me my first all-grain setup…a glorious wife indeed.
Three Skulls Beers are like a young Jim Morrison or Roger Waters, a crazy Hemmingway or a beautiful Van Gogh; wholly unconventional yet full of promise and intensity
Which microbreweries, local and international, do you admire?
As I expect most young micro brewers do, I was inspired by the Dogfish Head story, and watched the Brew Masters series on Discovery as well as reading his great book Brewing up a Business. I’ve come to really admire a lot of the Trappist breweries as well as the non conventional brewers like the Brouwerij Huyghe who make Delirium Tremens, the 3 Floyds from Chicago, Deschutes Brewery in Oregon and of course the heavenly nectar that comes from Duvel. I try and take the best out of each brewer and brand; be it in their attitude, consistency or carbonation, I try learn as much as I can about the reason behind the choice to do what they do. Everyone that makes beer wants to make sure the person that opens their wallet for our product gets the very best experience each and every time they take a sip. I guess we’re all in the happiness business.
If your beers had a personality, what would they be?
I imagine the Three Skulls Beers are like a young Jim Morrison or Roger Waters, a crazy Hemmingway or a beautiful Van Gogh; wholly unconventional yet full of promise and intensity. It is one of my goals to make sure that each of the beers has its own personality and they aren’t just ” Lite” variants or beers based on a European Heritage no one really understands. A beer should give you a reason to love it and share it which has nothing to do with price or marketing budget, but the way it makes you feel. I really want to make beers one can love to drink, share and talk about.
What are your views on the big commercial brewery vs microbrewery debate? Do you view it as an “us versus them” scenario?
Microbreweries are just as commercial as SAB or Heineken albeit on a microscopically small scale. We’re all fighting for the same thing, the throat of a consumer who wants to spend their money on our product, and hopefully continues to do so. At the end of the day we all really have the same thing in mind, and that’s to sell beer so that we can make more beer to sell. I will admit that is does feel strange to have my logo underneath SAB’s logo on the Clarens Breweries Menu considering I can’t produce in a year what SAB sells a year of their smallest brand if I brew 5 times a week. Economies of scale aside, if SAB feels the need to be present at Craft Beer festivals then the same festivals can only benefit from the cheque book and marketing provided by SAB. When all is said and done the craft beer drinkers will decide who gets their hard earned cash and respect, and my money’s obviously on the little guy.
Women are part of the driving force behind the explosion in the popularity of craft
If you have a theme song for your beer / brewery, what would it be?
Excellent question! No brew is complete at the Skulls brewery without the Ipod on shuffle and the docking station on full blast. Just last week I mashed in to Incubus, sparged to Led Zeppelin and threw in the last hops to the sounds of Muse. There was a small moment of panic when the Ipod chose Josh Groban but it was only on for about 12 seconds, and I reckon the beer will be fine. No need to panic.
You’re launching at the Clarens Beer Festival. Describe the beers that you will be serving?
Three beers are on the Three Skulls Brew Works beer menu for Clarens this year. The Golden Skull is an American Pale Ale made with imported American Simcoe and Cascade hops, toasted Pale Malt, a splash of wheat and some base malts to balance the immense hop aroma and flavour with a malty backbone to keep you coming back for more. Since we’re in the 50+ IBU range at 6.5% ABV, you really want to drink this beer around 2 – 4 degrees C unless you are a bona fide hop head as this one is off the charts on the citrus, grapefruit flavours one can expect from the American hops. This beer was also dry hopped with massive amounts of hops, so expect the brew to be slightly cloudy, with above average carbonation and a good white head.
The second beer is a Mango, Passion Fruit and Lavender Wheat beer which is light and refreshing at around 3.5% ABV. I used organic mangoes and passion fruit together with a Lavender tea to really bring the worlds of fruit and herbs together in a beer that is sweet on the nose but spicy on the palate. Fermented with a clean Belgian wheat beer strain, all the flavours in the beer are from the large wheat percentage of the grain bill and the fresh fruit and lavender.
The third is a beer I brewed to be tasted after our Mango wheat beer, and its another unlikely combination in the form of Peach and Rosemary Wheat Beer. This beer also uses organic peaches in secondary fermentation along with some homegrown Rosemary made into a tea and added right before crash cooling for kegging. The beer is also has the unmistakable aroma of peaches, but delivers a contradiction in tastes with a spicy and herbal combination which is light and pleasing. This beer is also around 3.5% and is light enough to be enjoyed all day without becoming cloying or tart.
Everything the Skulls stand for is rooted in imagination and innovation, a desire to deliver more than expected, to take it another level
Who are you trying to target with your beer?
It would be disingenuous for me to say I wasn’t after anyone and everyone with an eye for something special and a taste for the unconventional. I firmly believe that some of the women I have met have better palates than their male counterparts, and these fine women are part of the driving force behind the explosion in the popularity of craft beer. Male or Female, 21 or 75, if you’re after real flavour, the best ingredients and some rather less than ordinary ideas, then you’re the target market for the Three Skulls.
Which beers do you consider as your top 5 beers of all time?
In no particular order I am a massive fan of Duvel, Delirium Tremens, Westvleteren 8, Karmeliet Trippel and a stout called the Ace of Spades by home brewer and yeast whisperer Sean Watts.
Microbrewing is all about imagination and innovation. Is there an ingredient or style (apart from the norm) that you want to incorporate in your beers in future?
Everything the Skulls stand for is rooted in imagination and innovation, a desire to deliver more than expected, to take it another level. Everything we make will have a talking point be it ingredients, process, packaging or something as simple as the name. When beer drinkers see a skull, they should immediately know that its going to be something special.
How have you found starting up a microbrewery in South Africa? What are the obstacles facing budding microbrewers?
The provincial moratorium on liquor licenses has been a setback, and now everyone in Gauteng is patiently waiting for the MEC to make good on her promise of lifting the moratorium. The liquor board was however most helpful, and the requirements from departments like SARS and SAPS have been swiftly handled.
Where will we be able to get hold of your beer?
The Skulls will confirm all availability and distribution on our website (http://www.threeskulls.co.za) and Twitter (@threeskullsbeer) as they are confirmed. Right now, the only place to get any Three Skulls beer will be at Clarens on the 25th of February.
Finally, where do you want to see Three Skulls a year from now?
A year older, wiser and more driven to make beer that could change the world.
The Joburg Craft Beer Conundrum
For a Joburger, finding South African craft beer in our city is hard!
Joburg is big. From the Alberton area in the Souf, to the Fourways region in the North, from Boksburg and Benoni on the East Rand, to Krugersdorp in the West – it is a rather large piece of real estate. And for craft beer drinkers there is no Mecca, no Las Vegas strip, no Champs-Elysées of craft beer heaven on tap.
The craft breweries are dispersed across the outer limits of the city. Gilroys is situated in the marriage meander that is Muldersdrift. Draymans is in Pretoria. The Ale House is in Hartebeespoort. The Cockpit Brewpub is in Cullinan (90km). De Garve Brewery in Vanderbijlpark (80km).
Joburg Craft Breweries...Scattered!
Added to this is the inconsistent supply of craft beer across Joburg’s various franchise bottle stores. Very rarely can you find a bottle store with a decent stock of good craft beer, most of it is in fact international! So yes the life of a craft beer drinker in Joburg is not all roses. This is perhaps the reason why home brewing is exploding across the city. We want a taste of different, and if we cannot buy it, we will make it ourselves.
I look upon Cape Town in envy (rather jealousy) at the breweries on offer, and most of all the attainability of craft beer across the city. The craft beer and microbrewery culture is undergoing a revolution, and has been doing so for the last few years. Joburg is lagging behind the times and needs a bit of a kick up the gat.
There are glimmers of sunshine on the horizon though. The soon-to-be-newly-opened Copper Lake Brewery is situated in Lanseria just outside Fourways, and is probably the closest for most central and northern based Joburgers. They are still yet to open their tap room, although owner and brewmaster, Brendan Watcham, has invited me to the roof wetting which he says he will organise once he has “finished the final touches to his brewpub” – I cannot wait!
For now I will continue with my home brew, restless at the possibility of what the future holds in the Joburg craft beer scene. Next week I will be in Cape Town for a couple of days on a business excursion, and I can assure you that every spare minute that I have will be devoted to sampling some craft!
Zulu Blonde’s New Promo
World class. Awarding winning. International.
Not words you would typically associate with a brewery that is situated in the sleepy hamlet of Eshowe. But the Zululand Brewing Company is just that. Under the guidance of owner, brewmaster and entrepreneur, Richard Chennells, the once small microbrewery is now producing and distributing beer on a rather impressive scale.
Oh and did I mention international? Well the Zululand Brewery’s flagship beer Zulu Blonde was launched internationally where owner and brewmaster Richards Chennells brewed Zulu Blonde Export Ale at Marstons Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent in the UK to supply 800 pubs for the JDWetherspoons International Real Ale Festival in 2010. Out of 50 different ales Zulu Blonde was voted number 1 and sold out in the first week of the three week festival. Richard was invited back to the UK to brew another 120 000 pints of the golden nectar at Everards brewery in Leicester to supply the 800 odd pub chain in time for the World Cup 2010 Kick off. The Brewing Company will bottle their famous Zulu Blonde Beer in late 2012 and distribute it around the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and central Africa as Zulu Blonde Lager.
I have known Richard for a few years ever since I partook in one of his Golf and Beer Weekends. Needless to say there is not much of the weekend I remember (Richard follows you around the Eshowe Hills golf course in a Land Rover, aptly named “The Wandering Keg”, pouring pint-after-pint of cold, delicious Zulu Blonde Ale!). In fact, I cannot remember a time over the 4 day tour that I did not have a Zulu Blonde in my hand…but I digress.
I will be posting more about the brewery and Zulu Blonde in future entries, as there are exciting things coming around the corner, but for now have a look at their latest advertisement to promote their beer for the JDWetherspoons International Real Ale Festival this year. As usual, their marketing campaign combines a slick ad with a hilarious twist – Zululand Brewing Company – I salute you!
Geckoing and Craft Beer
Some things do not go well together. Amarula and lime juice. Diet Coke and Mentos. Donald Trump and the comb-over. Mampoer and…well lets be honest nothing goes well with Mampoer! Every now and then I stumble across a combo that is suprisingly enjoyable. This last weekend was one of those times, where I had the pleasure in partaking in a Geckoing and Craft Beer extravaganza.
I was down in the Lowveld (Mpumalanga) for a much needed mental recharge over the December break. After a couple of days of chilling on my folks’ farm, and indulging in some fish foot nibbling (see footnote) at the Sudwala Caves (seriously we did this – creepiness is), we decided to take this up a notch and get active. So after a quick search on the net, we booked ourselves in for a geckoing adventure with Induna Adventures just outside Hazyview. Much to our dismay we realised that it was an hours drive away. However after checking the map of microbreweries, I discovered that Perry’s Bridge Brewery is a mere 10km away in Hazyview. Well then geckoing and Craft Beer it would be! Perfect.
Geckoing
Cuts, scratches, bruised bum and raw feet…yes geckoing is not all glam. But damn its fun! Hurtling down the raging Sabie river in wearing a helmet and life jacket in a modified rafting tube is awesome. It reminded me of tube rides at the Valley of the Waves at the Lost City, just without the irritating queues and people (and with the fear of potentially taking a rock to the helmet). We also had to leap off a few cliffs into rock pools below. Now for a person like myself that finds heights, shall we say f***** scary, this was fairly challenging! The three jumps we did got progressively larger, 3m, 5m, and 10m (okay the last jump is 8m – pure sensationalism on my part).
Geckoing and k*king myself
Thankfully I completed all jumps, so I can safely say that my manhood has stayed intact for now (confidence). After a fantastic few hours of geckoing, and with levels adrenaline levels subsiding back down to exist mode, we hopped in the car to head to Perry’s Bridge Brewery. Ah yes, Craft Beer, my old friend.
Perry’s Bridge Brewery
Perrys Bridge Brewery - Entrance and Patio
From the outside, the patio area and entrance looks rather quaint and cottagey. However when you walk inside you find a stylish and fairly chic setup, with a very nicely laid out bar with modern decor. Perry’s Bridge Brewery opened in 2005 after the brewing tanks were brought from Firkin in Centurion.
The bar at Perrys Bridge Brewery
The history of Perry’s Bridge is rooted in the Corner Shop (a boutique curio shop next to the brewery). Perry’s Bridge, and most parts of central Hazyview, are built on the original tobacco farm of the Brotherton family. When the Department of Transport started building roads in the area, the demarcated area now known as Perry’s Bridge was cut off from the rest of the farm. After tobacco farming ceased in the area, a trading post was built on the farm in 1963 – today the well-known Corner Shop. A unique tourist element at the brewery and adjoining restaurant, is the Brotherton family history, depicted in black-and-white photographs. These line the walls, featuring the patriarchs and matriarchs of the family, the tobacco farm in its heyday and the original Perry’s Bridge with the trading post and farm stall as the only existing buildings.
Draught on tap at Perrys Bridge Brewery
There are two beers available on the menu, Lowveld Lager and Lowveld Ale. Eager to try both I asked for a Lowveld Ale to start, only to be told that their Ale is out of stock! So we were all served with pints of the Lowveld Lager on tap. It is a light and fairly fruity lager, not very hoppy but very easy drinking, and was a perfect thirst quencher after the earlier activity. We enquired about purchasing bottles of their beer to take home, only to be told they do not bottle their beer. Unthinkable really, considering how many tourists (local and foreign) pour through the town annually, who would just LOVE to sip on a cold one in the Kruger Park! C’mon PBB, raise your game, bottle your beer, make us proud!
After a couple of pints and bristling with testorone, we headed off back home. All in all, combining geckoing with a visit to a microbrewery is a cracking way to spend a day! I suggest you try it sometime.
Footnote: I am told the scientific name for “fish foot nibbling” is a “fish pedicure” – for obvious reasons I did not want to use the word “pedicure” in a beer blog – thankyou for your understanding.
Lift Off, Bru!
The Beer Bru - We Have Lift Off!!!
The Beer Bru has lift off!!!
After a concept that was mulled over and inspired by my beer drinking friends (with which we have a private drinking club called “The Beer Club” – how appropriate), The Beer Bru has finally launched on the 1st January 2012!
The Beer Bru is all about uncovering/ celebrating/ appreciating craft beer in Southern Africa. As our tagline states, brewing is both an art and a science, and each brewer has their own unique story to tell. The journey from brewing apprentice to brewmaster is often a long and deeply personal journey. I want to get to know the people behind the labels – their story, their inspiration, their breweries and their craft beer.
If you have a craft brewery, be it one that brews thousands of litres a month, or your own microbrewery in your garage, let me know and I will come and take a visit. I would love to hear your story.
The Beer Bru will be posting blogs as well as videos of the breweries and festivals that I attend, with the ultimate vision to become the go-to website for craft beer drinking in Southern Africa.
Creativity, passion and inspiration is what The Beer Bru stands for, which is ultimately what craft beer is all about.
Stay tuned for the journey folks.
Cheers, Bru!
