Spinal Tap owner Carl Nienaber samples his wares

I’ve been a bit remiss in not writing anything about Spinal Tap Bar, which launched in Cape Town just over a year ago. The bar belongs to Carl Nienaber of Harambe (black IPA) fame and his fabulously talented wife, photographer Marla Burger. It’s a tiny but beautifully decorated place between Observatory and Woodstock. Showings on the big screen are as eclectic as the bar’s décor, alternating between mainstream sports, Japanese anime, cult movies and of course, the rock mockumentary for which the bar is named.

Food is kept tasty and simple – wors rolls on a braai on the pavement, or excellent toasted sarmies served with a choice of hot sauces in an array of ever-increasing Scoville units.

But what you really want to know about is the beer. Spinal Tap has six taps serving half a dozen rotational beers. The house brew is Frost Hammer, a 4.5% lager from Carl’s gypsy brewery, 400 Brewing Company, and from time to time you’ll find other 400 beers on tap – including the soon-to-be-re-released Harambe, now in its seventh iteration. (As an aside, Harambe 7 will officially launch at Fools & Fans Craft Beer Fest, taking place in Greyton on April 6. More on that very soon).

But Spinal Tap isn’t just about stocking the owner’s beers – you’ll also find staples and limited edition brews from local breweries like Soul Barrel, Woodstock, Afro Caribbean and Aegir Project on tap. And every so often they host a tap takeover, most recently with Gqeberha’s Richmond Hill pouring from all six taps. This is a bit of a secret but watch out for an African Beer Cup winners tap takeover in June this year (winners will be announced at the awards night on 25 May).

And more imminently, this Friday (29 March), Spinal Tap will host the soft launch of South Africa’s newest beer brand, The Mystic Brewery. Another gypsy brewery, Mystic is the passion project of Woodstock Brewery’s head brewer, Tinus Lottering. He launces with two beers: Stamina Potion, a sorghum pilsner using entirely local ingredients, and Love Potion, a kettle sour with plum and hibiscus which Tinus brewed along with his partner and not yet one-year-old son.

Brewed as nano batches, the launch beers from Mystic will only be available at Spinal Tap, but future beers – including a barrel aged stout and a vanilla milkshake IPA – will be found further afield and Tinus plans to package the latter to be sold in select outlets. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new brand launch in Cape Town and looking at the innovative launch line up, I’m pretty excited to see what Mystic will brew next. And indeed what I’ll find on tap at this funky little bar each time I visit.