An ode to the IPA
It's that time of year again. The day people look forward to all year, that makes grown men behave like kids and sees grown women having sleepless nights in anticipation. I speak, of course, about IPA Day! Last year I dedicated a whole week's worth of blog posts to...
Beer Review: Bing’s Bru English Pale Ale
When a beer says "Share the Stoke" on its label, I am definitely going to buy a bottle. No, not because I'm a surf fanatic (though I did give it a go recently and rather enjoyed it). It's because I am, in fact, from Stoke. So already this beer was winning - it's an...
Beer and surf – the perfect pairing?
[WARNING: This blog post contains images of booze bloggers wearing wetsuits!!!] 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...
Win Tickets to Hop ‘n Vine 2015
It's been a long-time coming but Hop 'n Vine is finally making a comeback. For those that don't remember (too much wine and beer perhaps). Hop 'n Vine is a beer-food-wine pairing fest featuring local breweries, top wineries and garagistes plus plenty of Cape Town...
Grape vs Grain at Hop ‘n Vine
Remember Grape vs Grain? The beer vs wine food pairing show where I attempt to take down wine goddess Cathy Marston. Well, OK, I'm not trying to take her down, but I am trying to show people that beer pairs just as well with food as wine does. Oh OK, it pairs...
Restaurant review: Foundry, Johannesburg
Shop 7, Parktown Quarter, 3rd Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg. Tel: 011 447 5828. foundrycafe.co.za. Mains R95-170. 500ml South African draught craft beer R36-45 The Parkhurst/Parktown area is fast becoming the beer hub of Jo'burg and Foundry is well-placed to...
Seven South African breweries with a fireplace
Every year, around this time, the food blogs are full of tips on where to dine beside a fireplace. So this year I thought I'd get a piece of the fireplace pie. This is my list of place in South Africa where you can watch a beer being brewed - then drink a pint by...
Interview with beer author John Palmer
It all started with a bottle of Corona. This might sound like the beginning of many a drunken varsity tale, but in fact, the beer that could be said to epitomise the "fizzy yellow lager" epithet was also the inspiration for John Palmer's brewing career.Well, if not...
Beer review: Devil’s Peak Lager
I've always admired Devil's Peak for not tiptoeing on to the South African beer scene. They arrived at the 2011 CTFoB and whacked us all in the face with a great big bag of much-needed hops. So I won't lie - I was a trifle disappointed when I learned that they...