Tuesday, December 02, 2014

The Cape Town Festival of Beer

A quick trip to Hamilton’s Rugby Club on the Green Point Common and a tasting of as many beers as we could manage. The growth in craft brewing locally is astounding, It was not crowded as we had expected, although we hear it got much busier later and over the weekend and there was a real enthusiastic and informed crowd while we were there. There were some really great beers, and just a couple that were not.
Yes, there was wine for sale at the Beer Festival. Not every friend or partner likes beer and they need to be catered for. Graham Beck came to the party
The League of Beers sells most of the beers shown at the festival
Jack Black is one of the craft beers that has been around for a while and many people know and love these beers www.jackblackbeer.com/
Lakeside beers with cheery faces, Cameron Doubell and Morne
Master brewer Wolfgang Koedel at CBC brewery, which is on Spice Route in Agter Paarl. He was the Master Brewer at the Paulaner brewery when it was operating in Cape Town and has thankfully stayed on in Cape Town which is now his and his wife’s home. capebrewing.co.za/
Pouring a good glass for John
With his Chinese wife, Li Xin
Red Sky brewery from Gordon’s Bay www.redskybrew.co.za/
Garagista Beers from Woodstock, CT
Good views on some stands, together with good beer
One of our favourite enthusiastic brewers. Rob Armstrong who runs the Ndlovu Brewery at his Franschhoek wine farm, Haut Espoir
The original Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic
Striped Horse beers from the Paardeberg area
Roger Burton ex Tierhoek winemaker, who now brews Bomb Shell beers, gives us a taste
There were a few food stands, not very exciting.
Happy friendly serving staff from Raith Gourmet, with German accented food
An impromptu picnic in front of the El Burro food truck
Soweto Gold seeking the market
Saggy Stone from the Nuy Valley was a fruit and wine farm and now produces beer, their flagship is a Californian style Steam Beer http://www.saggystone.co.za/
Gallows Hill Brewery has moved to Woodstock
And yes, we do have favourites. All the beers from Devil’s Peak Brewery are excellent but our absolute favourite, at the moment is the IPA Blockhouse full of orange and grapefruit flavours and very satisfying and thirst quenching. Shown to us by Operations manager Ernst van Rensburg
London Pride. Hmmmmm, should this be here?
The crowd getting larger as we leave at sunset
This year’s venue
Tuktuks laid on by the sponsors to take you to your car or perhaps even further. We did see them in Main Road Sea Point over the weekend. They were free but you could leave a tip
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

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