Table of contents for Spring issue 3, September 2024 in On Tap

South Africa's beer industry is a significant contributor to the economy with 1 in 66 jobs in South Africa related to the industry. The industry has the potential to unlock immense growth and employment, but a complex regulatory framework makes it hard for breweries to plan. At the heart of this challenges lies excise duty, a tax levied on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages including beer. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) levies this tax – also called “sin tax” – on only certain products, such as alcohol. For alcohol, excise duties vary based on the type of alcohol or beer, with traditional African beer and commercial beers attracting different rates. But significantly, SARS does not distinguish between large commercial brewers and small craft brewers – and the…

Newlands Spring complies with all ABInBev established policies, including their four 2025 Sustainability Goals. One is “smart agriculture,” which Warren explains is essentially ensuring that the farmers with whom they work are as knowledgeable, skilled and efficient as possible, maximizing yield while minimizing impact on the environment. Another is “circular packaging,” where the emphasis is on reusing and recycling materials. As Warren points out, Newlands Spring packaging is either glass or cardboard. And then there's “climate action,” which dictates that all electricity eventually come from renewable sources. As an example, Warren points to the fact that all the wastewater they produce on site goes through a biological treatment system which, among other things, generates methane. That methane gets harvested and used in a steam boiler, in turn significantly reducing their…

The verb distil means “to extract the essential meaning of something.” Since ancient times, there has been a quest to distil the “living spirit” of plants. Naturalists came to associate essential oils as a vital force that clearly identifies the intangibility of the aroma that emanates from them. The story of how Preserve Botanica Hop Oils came about, revolves around the same need for exploration of the unknown. Originating from outside the hop industry and being involved in engineering and medicine has proven to be valuable experience for the two founders Wanda du Plessis and Jaco de la Rouviere. Although change is somewhat uncomfortable to suggest, a fresh approach is needed in most industries to ensure progress. The hop industry is no different. The enthusiasm of an entrepreneur is best…

AGAINST THE GRAIN As the author of “Passion for Pairing”, an internationally awarded reference book on food pairing, as well as the current title-holder of “Best Sommelier in South Africa”, I have dedicated a lot of my time over the years to matching food with beverages. Food pairing has become a buzzword in the culinary world, with many restaurants, breweries, and wineries offering bespoke pairing experiences. Yet, the term often hides behind its own ambiguity. How do we ensure that a pairing truly works? The main statement is that there is more than one good pairing, sometimes many ideal pairings. However, bad pairings are unforgiving and should be avoided at all costs. To truly understand food pairing, we must first grasp the difference between taste and flavour. Taste is a…

So, at this point, if you have been following my baptism into brewing, you will have read about my brewing antics and bottling nightmare (as well as everything in between). But like a true sucker that has been bit by the bug of brewing and everything that encompasses it, I am now progressing onto kegging. There is no fun to be had in cleaning bottles… But, let us be honest for a bit; getting kegging equipment is not cheap either. After a bit of research, I found a relatively cheap way to learn the kegging processes while still leaving some money for brewing a beer after. With some insight from my home brewing club, Onderste Brew, I was advised to go for the 8 litres PET Oxebar keg with the…

SEPTEMBER Midvaal Vinyl Fair Swagga Breweries - 11:00am A unique event offering a wide selection of vinyl records and vintage music items for sale, while enjoying award-winning craft beer and artisanal pub food. Belgian Beer Day Afro Caribbean Brewing Company @ Banana Jam Café WP Cup Homebrew Beer Festival Triggerfish Brewing - 1:00pm Come taste some of the best homebrewed beers in the Western Cape. Tickets available on Quicket. Agars Brewery Unit 2A, Kya North Park, 28 Bernie Street, Kya Sand 11th annual Bottomless Heritage Day celebration, live music, full range of beer and cider on tap. (Early tickets available online, R300 at the door.) Heritage Day 4 Degrees Brewery & Taphouse Collab with Nolz African Hot Pot & Imiso Pottery & Ceramics studio. Quiz night 4 Degrees Brewery &…

Kamini Dickie With over 20 years in the global brewing and beverage world… in beer, wine, cider, kombucha, hard seltzer, botanicals…Kamini established Cleverfish Consulting to help companies create innovative cross-category drinks. Kamini specialises in the technical development and commercialisation of beverages. Her career spans new product development, sensory science, strategic marketing, technical sales, and global key account management. Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is a Brewmaster with over 15 years of practical brewing experience in both micro and macro breweries throughout Africa. She is also an internationally recognised beer judge and the founder of Tolokazi Beer and the Brewsters Academy. Byron Lombard Byron Lombard started his beer journey on social media in 2017 and has since become well known as The Beer Bruh. Blogging, reviewing and celebrating Craft Beer has become…

BELGIAN BEER COMPANY TASTING AND BEER PAIRING AT WATERFRONT A “new” beer and food pairing has been introduced into the Cape Town foodie scene by the Belgian Beer Company, Kerston Foods and Wild Peacock Food Merchants. This is to highlight the often-forgotten perfect pairing of Belgian Beer with thoughtful food ingredients and dishes. The event took place at Den anker in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront on the 6th of June and contained some excellent pairings, such as seared tuna with Vedett, Crayfish roasted tomato and Lobster bisque velouté with La Chouffe or Vedett Extra White, and Duck Liver Brulé with La Chouffe. https://www.belgianbeercompany.co.za/ https://kerstonfoods.com/ https://wildpeacock.co.za/ THE ANNUAL WORT HOG BREWERS WINTERFEST TOOK PLACE AT DYNAMITE DISTILLING CO IN MODDERFONTEIN ON SATURDAY 6TH OF JULY There were 30 beers to…

Given enough time virtually all but the most un-flocculant yeasts will sediment out and other colloidal particles will either succumb to gravity or be taken out of suspension by the sinking yeast, leaving a clear ‘bright’ - and well-matured - beer, in good condition, ready to package. However, any brewer enjoying the luxury of this method of beer clarification, will, in all probability, face sceptical shareholders objecting to such luxuries. Since time is money brewers, therefore, have to use their ingenuity to accelerate the sedimentation and clarification process and create a shelf-stable beer. Filtration offers speedy solutions but requires capital investment and all filter materials are costly and create waste. So, what are the options for other forms of ‘natural’ clarification without filtration? LOOKING OUT TO SEA For most of…

In a suburb in West London known as Chiswick, nestled between Chiswick Lane and St Nicholas Church in Church Lane, the Fuller's Griffin Brewery stands as a witness to the past, to a time when beer was part of the very fabric of British society. The area I described above is known as the Chiswick Mall, which is a waterfront street situated on the north bank of the River Thames. This is the oldest part of Chiswick and the houses date back to the Georgian and Victorian eras. Many of these houses overlook the Chiswick Eyot, some have gardens on the other side of the Chiswick Mall, thus detached from their houses, adding to the beauty and serenity of the Mall, a block or two away from the very busy…

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 at On Tap have made some changes to our Brew Reviews section. We have established a panel, currently consisting of eight individuals, who will be our go-to beer reviewers, and who all have demonstrated experience reviewing or judging beers. Panel members will not necessarily review a beer for every issue, but all names will be listed regardless. Also, if any brewery would like a beer of theirs to be reviewed, they will need to contact On Tap editors directly (editor@ontapmagazine.com). 2 DUCK BLONDE ALE | 5% ABV BREWHOGS BREWING COMPANY Knowing full well that Brewhogs won gold at the African Beer Cup, I decided to review…

Durban Homebrewers durbanhomebrewers.com Free State Fermenters (Bloemfontein) facebook.com/groups/305132382867636 Henley Hoppers facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564633587244 Helderberg Brewers https://helderberghome-brewclub.co.za/ Mother City Beer Project https://www.facebook.com/pro-file.php?id=100092948232498 Wijnland Homebrewers Club facebook.com/wijnlandhomebrewers North Yeasters Brou en Stook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090263914111 SouthYeasters (Cape Town) southyeasters.co.za Wort Hogs (Gauteng/North West) worthogbrewers.co.za Yeastern Cape Brew Club facebook.com/yeasterncape BREWCREW Cape Peninsula Scan to join the whatsapp group…

OT: WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BEER TROPHY COME FROM? WR: My Father is French and mother is Belgian. So obviously enjoying beer, wine and the ‘fun’ things has always been a part of my life growing up. In 2015 I was studying marine biology and had no real idea of what I wanted to do. My father understood my situation and approached me with an idea. He knew the Craft Beer culture in South Africa was still pretty young and saw an opportunity to create a competition that would cancel out the noise of a busy and experimental scene for a consumer that was yet to understand the beauties of craft beer. OT: PUTTING ON A COMPETITION IS NO EASY TASK; HOW DID YOU GO…

The Liesbeek River begins on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, just above the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. From there, it carves a meandering path north to where it eventually merges with Black River (or Swartriver). Further north still, the two eventually conjoin with the sea at Table Bay. This modest waterway, spanning just under nine kilometres, played a pivotal role in the history of beer in South Africa as it became the primary water source for the very first breweries in the country. In 1657, five years after Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape bringing “European beer” with him, Pieter Visage earned the first brewing license for his operation built on the banks of the Liesbeek River. For the next 150+ years, small farm breweries were…

FEATURE I often hear brewers ask, why brew a non-alcoholic beer? If you don't want to drink alcohol there are many soft drink options on the market. However, this view is selling a great beverage short. Beer is a very social drink and to be left out of the group because you are either driving, observing abstinence due to religious or health reasons or simply because the non-alcoholic beer options taste awful is becoming a thing of the past. Demand for NABLAB (Non-Alcohol Beer Low Alcohol Beer) styles are growing and Craft brewers are now brewing a variety of great tasting NABLAB styles which can hold their own and compete with the sensory profile of a traditional beer. Brewing a NABLAB style presents many challenges to the brewer not least…

WORLD OF BEER As a brewing consultant I am lucky enough to travel to breweries all over the world. My latest adventure was to Sri Lanaka to meet with Arno Matthee, the Brewmaster at Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC. Lion Brewery, the brewer of Lion Beer, is Sri Lanka's market leading brand. The Lion range of beers have a rich history and have been brewed since the 19th century, when the first brewery was built by the British explorer Sir Samuel Baker. The story goes, that Baker was out hunting game in Nuwara Eliya, the highlands of what was then known as Ceylon. During the hunt he happened upon a waterfall and natural spring, an encounter that led to him deciding to build a brewery in this location, to have access…

Everyone that knows me knows how passionate I am about brewing with sorghum grain, having produced a few beers myself using sorghum. The use of sorghum as a brewing grain is traditional across the African continent, where sorghum based alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages have been made on small homebrew scale for centuries. The use of sorghum in commercial beers is used in many African countries due to the tax breaks these companies receive when using locally sourced grains versus imported barley. Guinness stout, for instance, is made in Nigeria from a sorghum mash and malt extract. In South Africa, a good example of beer brewed with sorghum is Utywala, a Saison style beer by Ukhamba Beerworx. Before covering the brewing tips, let me first tell you about the sorghum grain.…

SEPTEMBER JoHogs Meeting - 6:30pm onwards at Hogshead Douglasdale Sep Meeting Henley Hoppers Meeting - 6:00pm at Swagga Brewery Monthly meeting Yeastern Cape Brew Club Competition - 6:00pm at German Club, Lorraine, Port Elizabeth APA club competition. Annual Club beer competition. APA will be judged to BJCB North Yeasters - Brou & Stook Competition - 6:30pm at Westcliff School of Skills WP Champs Qualifiers. The North Yeasters choose their top eight beers to represent them in the WP Home-brewing Champs. SouthYeasters Homebrew Club Competition - 6:30pm at Perseverance Tavern PC #4 WP Cup preparation British Beers. Mother City Beer Project Competition - From 12:00pm at Shackleton Brewery, Paarden Island UK and Irish Beer Challenge. 072 151 0190 WhatsApp for confirmation details. Selecting top 8 for WP CUP. Yeastern Cape Brew…

EASTERN CAPE BRIDGE STREET BREWERY Port Elizabeth Grant Davies +27 41 581 0361 grant@ingoodcompany.africa bridgestreet.co.za KRAFT ALCHEMY BREWHOUSE Port Alfred Adrian & Andre Wood +27 46 624 5705 sales@kraft-alchemy.co.za kraft-alchemy.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…

MASH OUT What is the perfect beer and music pairing? Tell us about your favourite song and what beer or style of beer pairs perfectly with it. So, I am an avid lover of music and have multiple favourites, however, top of the list would have to be Lisa se klavier by Koos Kombuis. This paired with the Big Red Ale by Saggystone is close to perfection. I would lean towards a Belgian Strong Ale as my beer choice. And the song to go with that would be an entire album really: Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. If I could really only pick one song on the album it would be, In the end. I would say sitting back with a good West Coast IPA and Radiohead playing in the background…