Five strictly South African beers

I was going to go down the braai route for the  September 24th public holiday, offering beer ‘n’ braai food pairings and asking for your favourite beers to sip with skilpadjies, boerewors and burgers. Then I remembered that September 24th is actually Heritage Day, a time to celebrate this fine country’s varied cultures and traditions and I thought – hey! What better way to celebrate than with a list of boozy beverages!?! So here are five suggestions of beverages to sip on September 24th and if anyone asks, you can use the excuse that you’re only drinking to connect with South Africa’s history.

1) Mead

It’s the earliest known alcoholic beverage and was drunk – if not deliberately made – by South Africa’s first inhabitants. Mead is a honey-based beverage more similar to wine than beer in its alcohol strength and make-up (it’s generally still rather than sparkling and served in wine-sized portions). Honey is entirely fermentable, so the drink is usually back-sweetened (more honey is added after fermentation) to add a little honey sweetness and flavour to an otherwise dry beverage. The mead-maker par excellence is Dr Garth Cambray of the Makana Meadery in Grahamstown, where a range of flavoured meads is available. You can also sample mead at Solms Delta in Franschhoek and Faraway Fields in Piket-Bo-Berg.

Do you know of any other mead makers that I’ve missed? If so, please share their details in the comments section below.

Sorghum brewing in Zululand

2) Sorghum beer

It’s lumpy, it’s opaque, it’s low in alcohol and sour in flavour, but if you’ve never sampled sorghum beer, make this Heritage Day the day that you give it a try. For most it will be an acquired taste (it’s one that I am yet to acquire), but you never know – perhaps the pinkish-grey beverage that has an air of watery porridge about it will actually hit the spot for you. Whether you sample a mass-produced version from a milk carton-style container, sip it on a township tour or are lucky enough to taste freshly made umqombothi/uTshwala besi Zulu/joala from a traditional ukhamba, it’s generally a communal drinking experience (and much more pleasurable from a bucket or clay pot than from a soggy milk carton passed around a shebeen). If you’re in Jo’burg and just want a single sip, it’s worth joining the SAB World of Beer tour, where R65 gets you a sorghum sample, two pints of your choosing and the cheesiest tour this side of Disney World.

3) Castle Lager

I think I can hear some of you sneering at the very idea, but Castle is South Africa’s longest-established ‘clear beer’ and a crucial part of the country’s boozy history. Africa’s first lager was launched in Johannesburg in 1898 and essentially marked the launch of the brewing giant today known as SAB Miller. The recipe has doubtless changed plenty over the years, but Castle has stood the test of time, seeing off competitors like Lion Lager and Ohlsson’s. If you happen to be somewhere warm this Heritage Day and are celebrating with a braai, Castle Lager will likely be making an appearance somehow. And if you’re still turning your nose up at the idea, how about grabbing a few bottles of craft lager and setting up a blind tasting alongside Castle, just to check if you’re the beer snob you think you are…

4) Some homebrew

Happiness is a homebrewed beer

Ever since Jan van Riebeek landed on these shores and realised he’d left behind a rather crucial ingredient for his Cape refreshment station, South Africans have been brewing beer at home (well, much longer if you include sorghum beer). What better way to get back to your roots than with a beer brewed by your own hand – or at least the hand of a hop-loving friend. It’s a little late to be brewing a batch for this year’s Heritage Day, but with a bit of luck someone you know has a homebrewed ale you can sip on to tenuously connect with your forefathers. Then read my quick guide on how to get started in homebrewing to make sure that next year, you’ll be the one providing the beer.

5) Buchu beer

OK, so adding buchu to a beer isn’t exactly an age-old tradition, but the pungent herb is strictly South African and it has been used in brewed beverages for centuries. Today you can still drink it as a tea, but if you fancy a little freshness in your beer, there are a few breweries offering buchu-infused ales. Dog and Fig in Parys and Triggerfish in Somerset West have year-round versions available, while Anvil Ale in Dullstroom brews a seasonal offering of this most South African of all craft beers.

This post was first published on The Craft Beer Project.

4 Comments

  1. Deon

    I live in Plettenburgbay next to the Outeniqua mountains which is a Koi-San word for “poeple with honey’. In 2013 one of our local honey produces won the Black Jar competition in the USA as the best tasting honey in the world. More still is that our “Buchu” has similar properties as the ‘Manku” in New Zealand but with more superior medicinal properties. Any way I am brewing 400 liters of Mead made from all the honey comb capings which contain pollen, propolis and all the health benefits you would expect in world class honey. Even though I would love to drink it all my self, its by far to much, so let me know if I can send U some.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Hi Deon
      This sounds fabulous – would love to taste. But how am I going to get hold of some… Please message me through the Contact page so we can chat!

      Reply
  2. Russell

    You forgot to mention The Ale House in Broederstroom. They have the best Buchu beer!!!

    Reply

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