A love letter to the South African craft beer community

Beer love. That is all.

I am guilty of sometimes focusing on the negative when it comes to the South African craft beer industry. I have moaned about brewers not wanting to invest in training or equipment, grumbled about lazy contract brewing and rambled on and on about the perils of screwing up bottle conditioning. These posts are really meant to be constructive – they’re not written out of spite but out of frustration. Well I can happily say today’s post is not written out of frustration . It is Valentine’s Day, so here is my heartfelt love letter to the people of the South African craft beer industry, written out of admiration.

This is a young industry; young in every sense really. Craft beer has only been a thing in SA for eight or nine years and we are still finding our feet. It’s also an industry filled with young players: 20-somethings looking for a cool way to use their newly-acquired chemistry degrees, 30-somethings investing their life savings and their future kids’ varsity fund in their brewing venture, 40-somethings (yes, they’re young too) lucky enough to have the kind of partners who not only have great jobs, but don’t mind using their hard-earned salaries to fund their loved ones’ dreams. And a shout out of course to all the 50, 60 and 70-somethings who party harder than the 20-year-olds….

PASSION BEFORE PROFIT

It is an industry driven not by profit, but by passion, and as soon as you get out to a brewery, a beer event or best of all, a festival, you can sense that passion as soon as a brewer opens their mouth to speak. It’s no secret among my friends that I have been partying fairly hard of late. I’m about to turn 40 (told you 40-somethings were super young) and I guess it is in part kind of a mid-life crisis thing. But lately I’ve been feeling such a sense of pride and passion, of positivity and – I don’t know how to describe it – zest?? from the people of the beer industry that I just kinda want to hang out with them all the time. They’re awesome. You’re awesome.

Beer and laughter: the absolute best pairing

Of course, gatherings tend to get merrier when there’s booze involved and there have been some very merry gatherings of late (CTFOB, the Southyeasters xmas bash, Soul Barrel’s Super Powered party and the Beer Country book launch spring instantly to mind). But it’s more than the cheery banter of a bunch of drunk mates. There is this wonderful sense of taking pleasure in other people’s accomplishments: “Shit my brewery hasn’t turned a profit in months, but here I am at the opening of your second successful taproom and I am truly, genuinely happy for you.” These are often people that haven’t even known each other for long, but the industry is a welcoming one and new arrivals quickly feel like they’ve been a part of it forever. At least, that’s how I hope it feels. (Industry newcomers – please confirm or contradict in the comments section).

In 2018, the doomsayers were readily sounding the death knell for SA’s craft beer industry. And I suppose they had some grounds for doing so. The torrent of new breweries slowed to a trickle, the number of closures gradually rose and there was an air of nervousness and negativity that I hadn’t sensed before. Then December arrived, bringing with it that December-like sense of goodwill and happiness – and that December-like sense of partying, of celebrating and just generally being magnificent.

THIS IS DECEMBRUARY

Let December live on

Suddenly, spirits lifted and they seem to have stayed that way through January and into a month I like to call Decembruary. Some call it the month of love, but I prefer to think of it as the month of beer. It kicked off in superb style with South African National Beer Day. I don’t know about you , but in the lead up to that day – and of course on the day itself – I felt an excitement, an energy usually reserved for those aged under 10 a week before Christmas. Beer lovers came together to laugh and drink beer and support each other’s small businesses and it was wonderful.

So let’s keep the Decembruary spirit going. Get out there and visit a new brewery, try a new beer. Go talk to a brewer, high-five a server, go hug a beer writer or send a cheery social media message to someone who has brightened your day with a good beer, whether they brewed it, served it to you or simply went to the bar and bought it for you. Let’s keep the beer love going this year and show those doomsayers that their death knells are of no use here.

12 Comments

  1. Murray Slater

    Bravo – we will prevail and have a lot of cries and laughter along the way.Cheers.

    Reply
  2. Troye

    [slow clap]

    Reply
  3. Buurman

    Choking up here. Dammit Lucy, you know how to pluck our “beer strings.” We love You and we love everyone in our community. Long may it last, this thing that has been created and that we are so very fortunate to be a part of. For Beer!

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Making brewers cry for a different reason this time…feels good!!

      Reply
  4. Frans

    Feeling the beer love all the way to Toronto ?

    Reply
  5. Eben

    Cheers and much love Lucy

    Reply
  6. Paddy B

    Couldn’t agree more. While there are obvious teething problems within our young industry, I reckon passion will win the day. The next ten years are going to be very interesting.

    Reply
  7. Brent

    Damn, half way through sending my comment and load shedding switched off my router. If there are two versions of this please delete one.
    I was saying…..
    Just a big thank you to you yourself Lucy.
    Your unceasingly, energetic and selfless work in our small local craft beer industry does more good than you credit yourself.
    I’m sure I can speak for many, ( especially the “home brewing fringe lurkers” like myself), in saying a big thank you and offering my deepest respect for all you are doing.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Aw, thanks Brent, that’s really very kind of you to say. I decided to keep the version with the loadshedding reference because it’s topical 😉

      Reply
  8. Nik

    Well said Lucy! If I think back to when I first moved to Cape Town in 2010 it’s amazing how far the craft beer community has come in such a short space of time. I can remember my craft beer buying expeditions to get Darling Brew Slow Beer from the Oude Libertas market as one of the few non SAB options! Fun times like learning to make a mash tun out of a cooler box in the kitchen of a house in Newlands that was about to call itself Beerguevara. The Russian roulette excitement of opening a local bottle and not knowing whether it would blow your mind or blow up in your face. The quality and choice available now is a different world – and what’s even more encouraging is that there seems to be a real passion for exploring different styles. It’s a fun time to be a beer drinker – and thanks for always keeping us informed, enlightened and entertained!

    Reply

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