Table of contents for Winter issue 2, June 2024 in On Tap

In February of this year, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana, announced in his 2024/25 Budget that excise duties, including those on beer, would see an above-inflation increase of between 6.7% and 7.2%. In the case of beer, this meant an increase of 14c per can of beer for 2024. Excise duties, or “sin taxes” as they are sometimes called in the media, is a mechanism the government can use to raise their revenue by targeting specific products. In South Africa these taxes are applied to alcohol, tobacco and other products. Producers and importers alike must apply the tax before the product reaches stores. This is above and beyond other tax measures, such as value added tax (VAT), currently at 15%. For the purposes of the tax, malt beer is defined…

Sean Harrison met one afternoon with a winemaker he knew and for whom he had done some branding work. On the table next to them sat a bottle of Shiraz and a bottle of Syrah, both made by this particular winemaker. Having tried both, Sean decided that the Syrah was a little “feminine” for his liking, and the Shiraz rather bold. He poured a bit of each into a glass, swirled it around, sipped it, and then announced, “I think this tastes better.” This revelation did not initially thrill the winemaker, but Sean's friend Marcel Hartman, who also happened to be there, agreed with him. The winemaker then made the blend for them, which they named “Somesay,” short for: “Some say Shiraz, some say Syrah.” Pleased with their experimental product,…

ALE TRAIL Cape Town is well known as a craft brewery hub. Over the last decade, several great spots have opened in the city and her surrounds, which have become firm favourites among both locals and tourists. Whether you are looking for award-winning breweries, or breweries that are jam-packed with variety, you should be able to find the tap room that suites your particular style of exploring. It is no accident that in recent years there has been a lot of beer tourism happening around this gorgeous city, a city that is not only made up of the city bowl, but extending into the suburbs, all falling under the Cape Town municipality. Our list in this edition is made up of a series of taprooms that should allow you to…

JUNE Mother City Beer Project Event - CPA Clone Challenge at Jack Black Brewery at 12:00pm Challenge to see who best clones Jack Black's CPA. Brewcrew - Cape Peninsula Event - Bottle share: Dark Beers at Woodstock Brewery at 7:00pm A friendly and sociable event to share and taste some dark brews. Come and see what BREWCREW are all about. Yeastern Cape Brew Club Meeting - Monthly Club Meeting at the German Club, Lorraine, PE at 6:30pm Monthly club meeting. Bring some homebrew to share! Wijnland Homebrew Club Meeting - Club meeting at CBC at 6:00pm Monthly club meeting. Helderberg Homebrew Club Meeting - “Water + Malt = Mash” at Triggerfish Brewing at 6:00pm Detailed chat with Hennie Groenewald on the importance of water. Wijnland Homebrew Club Meeting - Brew…

SEEN AT FOOLS & FANS 7 GREYTON 5-6 APRIL, 2024 23-25 MAY 2024 1st Lee Carpenter (Gauteng) 2nd Greg Harrowsmith (Cape Town) 3rd Carl Sparg (Eastern Cape) Bevplus, Fermentis and Charles Faram Homebrew Club Competition: 1st Helderberg Homebrew Club 2nd North Yeasters Brou en Stook 3rd Onderste Brew Best Rookie (less than 2 years experience): Brandon Carter (Cape Town) Charles Faram, Cactus Craft and Beerchamp's People's Choice: Emile Fouché (KwaZulu Natal) BASA Best Homebrew Stand: Yeastern Cape BASA Best Commercial Stand: Candy Cane Bevplus & Fermentis Individual Competition: BEEREX AFRICA 2024 The 23rd to 25th of May saw a return to BeerEx Africa. This time it was held in the Hilton Double Tree in Woodstock, Cape Town, with an Expo that allowed beer lovers to interact with malt, hops and yeast suppliers,…

Hester Bergh Hester Bergh is a full-time marketing manager and a part-time owner of Beerworks Brewery. With 10 years of experience in the beer industry, she is also an active member of the Craft Brewers Association of South Africa (CBASA) and a passionate braai enthusiast, born and raised in the Free State. For more information, visit www.craftbeerworks.co.za. Craig Claassen Craig started his journey in beer as a homebrewer in a London bedsit in 2004. He is a partner at Neelsie Travel and it was in 2017 that he fused his passion for tourism and craft beer to create the Beer Route, an organisation set up to promote craft beer tourism in South Africa. He is also the co-founder of Lunar Brew and current chairperson of the Helderberg Homebrew Club. Check…

INTERNATIONAL BREWING & CIDER AWARDS Winners from across the globe received their trophies for outstanding beers and ciders at the International Brewing & Cider Awards. The prestigious ceremony, held at the Guildhall, London crowned 13 trophy winners – ten beers and three ciders – from 115 medal winners in their respective categories. Of the 13 trophies awarded, six went to Europe, four awarded to Asia, two to North America, and one Australia. For the first time in the Awards’ 138year history, two brewers were crowned trophy winners in The Smallpack Ale competition. The 115 gold, silver and bronze medal winners were also in attendance to collect their awards at the luncheon. Ruth Evans MBE, Director of the International Brewing & Cider Awards, said: “We're thrilled to be able to continue…

Obakeng's grandmother is 87 years old. She is the one who taught Obakeng to make “traditional beer,” and when she passes away, it will be Obakeng who must take over that responsibility. Obakeng grew up in Jericho, in South Africa's northwest province, a village not far from a game park. When she was young, she dreamed of becoming a celebrity one day until a trusted cousin informed her such a line of work would never pay. She then decided she'd position herself behind the camera instead She went on to study TV production in Johannesburg at Boston Media House and about a year after graduating, came across a film training program called the “Big Fish School of Digital Film Making” also in Johannesburg. Over the course of her enrollment, Obakeng…

BEER MEETS FOOD At Beerworks, we believe in the magic of slow food done right. Our secret weapon? A trusty cast iron pot and the open fire. It's the kind of cooking that brings people together, creating unforgettable moments with every hearty bite. This Bunny Chow recipe, crafted by our own Hester Bergh, alongside friends nnuscha van den Heever and Shimaylan Singh, embodies that communal spirit. It's food and fire, together, just the way we love it. BUNNY CHOW: A CULINARY JOURNEY FROM OUR HERITAGE Bunny Chow is the epitome of South African street food, hailing from the vibrant city of Durban. Traditionally, it's a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with a rich, spicy curry. Our twist? Using pretzel rolls for a unique spin that pairs wonderfully with beer,…

JUNE Beer Launches / Brewing with Friends Event - Beerworks The Mystic Brewery and Tim Bugler's Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. Capital Craft Returns for its 11th Year Pretoria National Botanical Gardens Considered one of Pretoria's most spectacular and unforgettable social events, the Capital Craft Beer Festival celebrates the local beer industry while enhancing the flavour of good food, good times, and good friends. Where: Pretoria National Botanical Gardens When: June 15, 2024 Tickets: https://www.capitalcraft.co.za/beerfest/ Top Brewing Minds at Beer Boot Camp Brewers Symposium Returning in June 8:00am to 5:00pm at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park. Each year the CBASA's Beer Boot Camp brings together leading brewing specialists from around the world to present insightful and informative sessions to our delegates across the commercial and homebrew sections of the South African craft…

PANELISTS: Megan Gemmell, Brian Leopold, Troye May, Chris Roth, Michelle Seale, Olga de Smidt, Dion Van Huyssteen, and Chantell Van Niekerk. EDITOR'S NOTE: We have established a panel, consisting of eight experienced individuals, who review beers for the magazine. Panel members do not necessarily review a beer for every issue, but all names are listed regardless. Please note: if any brewery would like a beer of theirs to be reviewed, they will need to contact On Tap editors directly (editor@ontapmagazine.com). BREAK FREE GLUTEN FREE LAGER | 4.5% ABV DARLING BREW 4.0 I didn't know what to expect with a gluten-free beer, but boy was I surprised! This light refreshing and crisp lager is everything a lager should be. The good balance between the hop bitterness and the malt makes for…

MASH OUT If you could design a label for a beer can, what would it include (images, symbols, etc.) and for what beer? “I love that the Castle Light logo turns bright blue when the beer is cold. Instead of containing the thermochromatic paint to the logo, why not splash the whole can blue when it's at drinking temperature?” “I'm quite into my Lagers these days. My label would likely be a silhouette of a Baobab tree in a sunset backdrop. I think that would make the beer unmistakably African. The Baobab would symbolise the history of African brewing and the soul of African flavours. It would be called ‘Mohau’ which means ‘thirst’ in my language Sepedi.” “I brewed a NEPA inspired by Aegir, and named it “Hopzilla” purely due…

The biggest beer competition on the continent – the fifth African Beer Cup – took place in Cape Town over the last weekend in May. This year's winner of the “best beer in Africa” award was Soul Barrel Brewery, a microbrewery based in the Cape Winelands. The brewery specialises in barrel-aged beers and beers featuring South African ingredients. It is also the only brewery to win the accolade twice, previously in the 2022 competition. The winning beer, Ale of Origin, exemplifies Soul Barrel's brewing philosophy. The beer uses all South African ingredients, including local malt and wheat, hops from the Western Cape, Simonsberg mountain water and natural, wild yeast that floats in on the wind. “Ale of Origin was brewed according to the world-renowned and fiercely traditional Belgian Lambic methods:…

WORLD OF BEER Danie Odendal has been in the brewing industry for 25 years. He has an MSc in biochemistry and started his beer-career as an apprentice brewer with South African Breweries (SAB) in 1999. While there he obtained his Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) Diploma, and subsequently his Master Brewer qualification. During those two-and-a-half decades, he had the opportunity to work in SAB's day-today production for about 15 years, and otherwise had his hand in almost every aspect of the business, from new product development, to consumer science, innovation, raw materials, and equipment. For the last 10 years of his SAB experience, he became heavily involved in the homebrewing scene – even brewing at home himself. (This continues: he currently has three brewhouses at his home.) Roughly two…

You'd be forgiven for thinking that chocolate, marshmallow, pecan pie, blueberry cheesecake or peanut butter were flavours more associated with desserts than beer, but in the United States craft brewers have been pushing the creative envelope once more by developing a whole new style of beer more akin to liquid dessert in a glass. Termed Pastry Stouts (or Dessert Stouts), these typically sweet, lactoseheavy, usually high alcohol beers have even gained their own entry into the much-coveted Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines to “reflect the increased commercial availability of these beers.” WHAT EXACTLY IS A PASTRY STOUT AND HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN? It's difficult to pinpoint the exact genesis of the style but many credit Southern Tier's Blackwater Series in 2004 as one of the first examples. From the…

FEATURE The highs and lows of my first brew were massively highlighted during the second phase of my first homebrew. After cleaning nearly 100 bottles over two days like an absolute madman, I was ready. I had the plan played out in my head for weeks to get ready for the bottling of my beer. I did one final gravity check to ensure that my yeast had done its magic (I believe its magic okay?) and I was off to the races. The homebrewers WhatsApp group I belong to had amazing insights into getting the carbonation right without using carbonation tablets and for that, I am eternally grateful, however, it turns out that was the absolute least of my worries. My confidant, Martin Venter, joined me again as we headed…

Durban Homebrewers durbanhomebrewers.com North Yeasters Brou en Stook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090263914111 Free State Fermenters (Bloemfontein) facebook.com/groups/305132382867636 South Yeasters (Cape Town) southyeasters.co.za Helderberg Brewers https://helderberghome-brewclub.co.za/ Wort Hogs (Gauteng/North West) worthogbrewers.co.za Mother City Beer Project https://www.facebook.com/pro-file.php?id=100092948232498 Yeastern Cape Brew Club facebook.com/yeasterncape Wijnland Homebrewers Club facebook.com/wijnlandhomebrewers BREWCREW Cape Peninsula WhatsApp Group…

EASTERN CAPE BRIDGE STREET BREWERY Port Elizabeth Grant Davies +27 41 581 0361 grant@ingoodcompany.africa bridgestreet.co.za RICHMOND HILL BREWING CO. Port Elizabeth Niall Cook +27 78 396 5485 niall@richmondhillbrewing.com richmondhillbrewing.com TABLE 58 BREWING East London Paul de Klerk +27 43 748 2815 info@table58brewing.co.za table58brewing.co.za FREE STATE APPOINTMENT CRAFT BEER BREWERY Kroonstad Rudi & Coal +27 82 371 3794 rudi@regalhq.co.za EAST END BREWERY Bloemfontein Carel van Aswegen +27 61 535 3065 production@eastendbeverage.co eastendbeverage.co GAUTENG AGAR'S BREWERY Kya Sand Michael Agar +27 76 191 5331 michael@agarsbrewery.co.za agarsbrewery.co.za BREWHOGS Kyalami +27 11 466 0746 brewmaster@brewhogs.co.za brewhogs.co.za HAZELDEAN BREWING CO. Pretoria Marius Botha +27 71 379 0963 admin@hazeldeanbrewing.co.za hazeldeanbrewing.co.za SWAGGA BREWERIES Henley on Klip, Meyerton Justin Goetsch +27 10 109 0388 pub@swaggabrewery.co.za swaggabreweries.co.za KWAZULU-NATAL 1000 HILLS BREWING COMPANY Durban Trevor Maarschalk +27 83 625 3019…