There's no shortage of beer festivals in South Africa but until now true beer geeks haven't had an expo, a conference they could call their own. Then along came Beer Boot Camp - set to be an annual addition to the country's beer calendar. The one-day indaba...
It has probably not escaped your attention that I have strong opinions when it comes to bottling beer. I have been known to rant about bottle-conditioning done badly. It's not that I hate the practice of bottle conditioning. Not at all. But bottle-conditioning is...
Over the past few years, many have tried putting together beer indabas in South Africa – I was most excited a year or so ago to receive an invite to speak at the same lectern as Stone Brewing’s founder Greg Koch. But alas, most of these conferences have ended up...
The first sip of beer I ever had was from my dad's can of Hemeling. I'd better not say how old I was, but I think that particular beer was discontinued in the mid 80s. I took a while for me to become a hophead (and I'm still trying to convert my dad to the joys of...
It's not an exaggeration to say that over the past five years, the craft beer scene in South Africa has exploded. Pints of ale have moved from the hands of bearded homebrewers to the hands of bearded hipsters and then into the hands of the not-necessarily-bearded...
As winter inches closer, beer geeks' fridges are being emptied of pilsners and witbiers then restocked with Russian imperial stouts, imperial IPAs and Belgian dubbels. If you're in Cape Town there are plenty of the latter at Den Anker, The Waterfront institution is...
Beer and dessert can be a superb match - and it's not just me that thinks so. Even Shakespeare wrote about 'cakes and ale' in the same sentence and if that's not a recommendation for drinking a pint with your pud, then I don't know what is. (Well OK, a half-pint -...
Sometimes I get a bit fed up with the whole 'girls don't drink beer' thing. How often do you read guff like 'ladies will love our fruit-based ciders' or 'bring the whole family to our beer fest - we are serving wine for the wives' or maybe see a photo of...
One of the things I'm always keen to do is to make people realise that beer can be a delicate beverage; that it's not just something to drink with a burger or a plate of fish and chips. So I was thrilled when Tanja Kruger, head chef at Majeka House's Makaron,...
