Is there anyone here who likes hops? Read on.

Not living in the Cape Town area? You might want to look away now.

This is a hop. It’s bitter and delicious and smells fabulous.

Starting Thursday, March 17th at Banana Jam Cafe and Beerhouse on Long, two lesser-known hop strains will battle it out to see who is the queen of the lupulus (the hop plants used in beer are female, y’know). Last month Aegir Project and Devil’s Peak brewed up special batches of IPA. Sponsored by Simply Hops and Africa Hops, the idea is to get South African brewers – and drinkers – interested in new or less well-known hop varieties. And now you get to choose which variety is – OK, I can’t avoid saying it – top of the hops. (Sorry – that was cheesier than a bag of citra that’s been left out in the sun for six months…)

Get down to Banana Jam or Beerhouse and look for the mystery taps, simply marked A and B. Order a pint or half of each beer and pick your preferred hop profile. You’ll get a voting form to note down your preference – hand the form in to your server and wait for the results. Once the results are in, the taps will be relabelled with the brewery and hop names and you can head back and order pints of the one you picked. Or of both, if you prefer…

As if tasting brand new, limited edition beers and getting to sniff out your favourite hops isn’t awesome enough, if you fill in your details on the voting form, you also stand a chance of winning a special mixed case featuring beers from Aegir and Devil’s Peak.

I don’t know about you, but I love this sort of thing. It keeps the industry fresh and fun and relevant and keeps people interested in beer. So get down to one of the participating venues and join in the fun, while stocks last!