Beer and surf – the perfect pairing?

[WARNING: This blog post contains images of booze bloggers wearing wetsuits!!!]

beer and surf muizenberg

There was some serious sucking-in of bellies for this photo. I hope you appreciate it.

There aren’t many things that could get me into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter. In fact, other than my son wandering into the path of a shark, or some large lottery-style pay-off, I can safely say that the only way you could entice me into icy waters occasionally inhabited by Great Whites is the promise of lunch and a couple of good beers afterwards.

I hate being cold. I sometimes even wear gloves for drinking beer in winter, ’cause I can’t bear having cold hands, so the idea of an hour or so in the water for a beginner’s surf lesson was fairly daunting. After a brief ‘here’s how you stand up on a board’ talk on the beach, we – particularly Anel of Spit or Swallow fame and myself – discovered that the type of upper body strength we posses is more suited to raising a pint to your mouth than pushing yourself up to a standing position on a surfboard. And are wetsuits really restrictive or am I just really old? It didn’t bode well, the whole struggling to stand even without the added hindrances of cold water/waves thing.

Yeay! Now we get to drink some beer!

Yeay! Now we get to drink some beer!

As I dragged my colossal longboard into the sea, I felt surprisingly un-frozen. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t feel my feet after about four minutes, but I wasn’t shivering and miserable. I was pretty scared, despite the waves being described by a fellow writer (who surfs) as needing a magnifying glass to see them. I could see them just fine as they smashed in my face over and over, totally taking my mind off the sharks and the cold – and even the beer.

Despite my handicaps – a lack of upper body strength, a lack of lower body strength and apparently a lack of balance – I actually managed to stand on the board within the hour – and remain upright (albeit in an ungainly stance) for about three seconds. Three exhilarating ‘I might take this up as a hobby’ seconds. This is clearly a testament to our instructor, Josh of Lifestyle Surf Shop, who helped us catch each suitable wave and cheered us on as we ignored everything he’d taught us about how to stand up on a surfboard.

riot beer

Riot’s golden ale is the perfect post-surf pint

I had thought that I’d be more in the mood for hot chocolate than beer after an hour in icy waves, but in fact the idea of washing out the 15 gallons of salt water from my throat with a dose of malt and hops trumped any desire for a hot beverage, and Marc Fourie of Riot Beer was on hand to present his brews at Tiger’s Milk, right on the Muizenberg beachfront. After talking us through his Session (golden ale) and Valve (IPA), we replaced all the calories and then some with a plate of bone marrow (not usually my favourite part of the cow, but got to say it was pretty good – if insanely rich) and a round of pizzas to share.

Deon Bing, better known for surf than hops, was on hand to introduce his beer, an English Pale Ale known simply as Bing’s Bru. It paired mighty well with Tiger’s Bunny Chow (not a dish for someone without an appetite and definitely not a banter’s friend). I’ve been to Tiger’s Milk a few times and with just the right about of spice for lunchtime, the mutton Bunny is my new favourite dish.

Beer. Curry. An entire loaf of bread. What more could you need?

Beer. Curry. An entire loaf of bread. What more could you need?

Often, when bloggers get together and are treated to a day like this, I don’t know what to write afterwards. The media get schmoozed with experiences that sometimes aren’t for sale and no-one wants to read a ‘hey, look what I got to do that you never will’ type blog post. Yes, this was a media treat, but the wonderful thing about it is that anyone can recreate the day. A surf lesson at Lifestyle will set you back less than R200 – and if you’re braver/in better shape than I am, you can keep the board for the day to practice what you’ve learned. Then head up to Tiger’s Milk for lunch and beers – Marc probably won’t be on hand to introduce his beers, but if you come with a copy of Beer Safari in hand (shameless self-promotion alert: available from Penguin Random House from November), you can read all about the Riot guys. And if you’re lucky, while you’re sipping a glass of his bru, Deon might drop in to deliver a keg after his morning surf…

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  1. Beer Review: Bing's Bru English Pale Ale - The Brewmistress - […] I am definitely going to buy a bottle. No, not because I’m a surf fanatic (though I did give…

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