The South African craft beer scene is brewing up a storm. We have some of the best beers, in my humble opinion, to offer at a reasonable price. Some if it is very expensive but compared to the rest of the world, we are doing a pretty good job. I have been fortunate to experience various beers in London and England pubs and I really do think we South Africans have some pretty awesome and bold beers to offer.

Last weekend, the yearly Capital Craft Beer Festival was full swing and it had up to 40 different beer stands all in the area of a couple of hundred meters from each other. To say the beer was flowing is an understatement.

In this post and the next one, I want to review 9 of these stunning beers @urban.scout and I had the privilige to experience. In this post, I want to review the first five beers, and in the next one I will review the last four. I took way too many photographs for one single post, so please check out for the next one if you enjoyed this review.

For now, and without further ado, please join me as I take you on a virtual taste journey. I hope that you might someday enjoy these beers, and if you are in South Africa, I hope that you can order some of these beers and enjoy them for yourselves!

Ukhamba Beerworx Brewery

When we walked past the Ukhamba Beerworx Brewery their Utywala Sorghum Saison beer caught my eyes and I needed to taste it. Sorghum is an African grain usually sprouted/malted and used in either traditional beer or eaten as a porridge. I have tried, long ago, to brew with it, but I cannot really remember the outcome. I have since used some of the malted sorghum in my sourdough baking activities.

But getting back to the beer, we ordered the sorghum saison and then something I have never seen before, a White Milk Stout. (In South Africa, we have a commercial beer Castle Milk Stout, which is basically a stout with lactose in.) The "stout" was white but it contained coffee and lactose.

On the left, the sorghum saison, on the right the white milk stout.

Both beers looked a little cloudy, but that does not bother me in the slightest. Both beers' lacing was not that good and the head quickly disappeared.

But that was the only critique. The sorghum saison was seriously good, fruity and overall well balanced. It was something different to the normal beers up for offer. It was so good I am contemplating on buying some of them as they have a special deal on their website as of writing this piece.

The white milk stout (on the left in the above photograph) was also interesting. @urban.scout picked up some of the coffee notes which I could not. But it was also well balanced and not too alcoholic. My mind could not really understand the white stout element whilst drinking it, so I could probably have enjoyed it more if I did not overthink and philosophise about it. Alas, it was really good beers.

Drayman's Craft Brewery and Distillery

The stand was impressive. It hosted a lot of different beers, and the logos of each beer was very interesting. It reminded me of the local pub beers in London.

But another type of beer caught the eye of @urban.scout and her friend. The Honey Mead.

It was a bit too sweet for me. But according to @urban.scout the taste was very "cloudy" (meaning: balanced but on the sweet side). The honey taste was prominent and lived up to its name.

They added some ice cubes which made it very refreshing. But the people at the stand were not that friendly. It gave the beer a "sour" taste even though it was not present in the beer itself. I know you should separate the beer from the brewer but that is not always so easy. In any case, it was a real pleasant beer (mead) which we enjoyed.

Soul Barrel Brewing co.

The stand of Soul Barrel Brewing co. was small and the people behind it were very cheerful. Almost as cheerful as their Tropical Parade IPA. At this stage of the day, I craved the hoppy taste of a strong IPA. And wow, what a banger! The brewery hit this one out of the park, and I did not even know that they were in my neck of the woods. I had to travel 1200km to find out the brewery is 20km from where I live!

 
In any case, the beer was very hoppy in the fruity way. As per their website, their hop blend was:

Centennial, Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial & Chinook whole cones.

This makes sense now that I read it as the beer was very fruity and I loved every sip of it.

The beer retained its head for quite a while and the lacing was good. It was also a bit cloudy, but beer brewers know that making such a high hopped and alcohol beer it is nearly impossible to get it clear. But again, I loved every sip of it and nearly bought another one.

Zwakala Brewery

It was @urban.scout who spotted the Zwakala Brewery. She has a special place in her heart for Limpopo, the province where this beer is brewed. As you can read below, their one beer is brewed to honour the Cape Parrot which is found in the area. That aside, the beer was refreshing, light, and basically a palate cleanser.

Apart from the beer, I liked their stand as well. It had a very "outdoorsy" feeling and the "vibe" was just right for such a festival.

Back to the beer. The lacing was good and it retained its head as well. It was super clear and felt like a refreshing beer on a hot afternoon. It was a bit darker than your normal lager, but that is by no means a bad thing.

Unfortunately, their website does not seem to offer any beers for sale, so one will have to drive past their brewery to actually buy some beer from them. But all in all, this beer was great. It really acted as a palate cleanser for the heavy beers which followed (in part two!).

Postscriptum, or That was a mouthful

Only after editing the photographs did I realise how lengthy a post all of the beers would have been. Hence the part one and part two of this series of beers. It was something special to have all of these beers so close to each other. It would have been impossible to taste all of the beers, but we did make a massive dent in the 40 odd stands. (Or not really, but one can hope!)

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this beer review of some of South Africa's best craft breweries. There are so many out there, you should merely scout a bit to find them. But we do not stand back to any brewery in the world.

Until part two, stay well and hydrated!

All of the writing and musings are my own. The reviews are also my own and there is no financial incentive to any of my words. The photographs are also my own, taken either with my Nikon D300 or iPhone.