When Shackleton Brewing Co.’s Salt River taproom closed its doors in June, there was a touch of melancholy in the industry. We knew we weren’t actually losing a brewery, but Shackleton had become a beloved hangout for Cape Town’s beer lovers. It’s all turned out OK though. The Salt River location is soon to reopen under new ownership (more on that next week) and this week Shackleton will launch their new brewery and taproom in Paarden Eiland.

Steve was all smiles as he poured his last beers at the Salt River taproom in June

Shackleton’s ever smiling brewer/owner Steve Peel is excited about the move. “We needed a bigger facility,” he tells me. ” At Salt River we were seriously confined on production. Most of our business is actually through distribution and in our new spot we have four times the space, and room to grow further.” This is good news for Shackleton fans since it gives the team chance to add new beers to the line-up.

“Looking down the line I’d like to see us doing more IPAs and experimentals,” says Steve. “What we were doing in the last spot was one beer launch a month but I’d also like to do multiple lines of new beers and experimentals and just generally have more variety on tap.” He’s also promising more in the way of cask ale. “You can expect us to have cask on tap most Thursdays and Fridays. Bringing British beer to SA was and still is the core of our business. The bar has been built up in a way that it makes it much easier to have cask available and we are planning to have a more variety of cask ales.”

I dropped into the taproom a couple of weeks back, while construction was still in progress. There’s definitely a lot more space for fermenters, and the taproom has better flow, although I think people will miss that Shackleton tradition of sipping alongside the tanks. Steve isn’t worried though. “I’m really optimistic about the taproom being busier than the last one,” he says. They’ve already captured the Paarden Eiland after-work crowd, and Steve knows his loyal locals will keep coming back for the Kölsch, even though Paarden Eiland is a bit more of a schlep for a beer.

There’s also a new focus on the homebrewing community. Shackleton shares the space with BeerGuevara, a supplier of homebrewing goodies as well as ingredients to the craft beer industry. Steve’s already seen a steady flow of home- and pro-brewers popping in for a pint when they pick up their bags of malt, and there are plans to hold events for the local homebrewing community throughout the year. They’ll also be opening for morning coffees (taproom hours are 8am-7pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm on Saturdays).

The new taproom launches this Friday, 18 August, at 23 Transvaal Street in Paarden Eiland. Festivities kick off at 2pm and later there’ll be live music and a spit braai. See you there!