Thursday, December 03, 2015

Brewers braai before the Beer Festival

The festival was held last weekend and on Thursday night before we were invited to join other media and the exhibitors for a braai there. We tasted lots of the different new beers and ciders and ate a good braai. It was a great fun evening, except for the exercise required to get there, after we chose the wrong route
We learnt an important lesson. NEVER leave the house for a function without checking a map. Lynne spent her Tween years living in Green Point, so we decided to take the bus there and Uber back. She knew how to get to Hamiltons. Or did she? Had we checked a map, we would have seen that the Metropolitan Golf Club has now blocked the way she knew and we had a very, very healthy 4 to 5 Km walk, first through the beautiful Green Point park at twilight and then onward in almost a circle to get there! Well, we do need the exercise
Getting together with Boschendal cellarmaster Neil Groenewald and his brewer friend, with Jan Loubser and Anel Grobler
Broadcaster Guy McDonald with two of his friends and some new beers
Lots to try. The Long Beach Blonde is made by former Tierhoek winemaker Roger Burton. It was very well received. We also loved the Birkenhead Chocolate Porter
We got up to get some supper and some rude, cheeky monsters pinched our table and our beers! But luckily we found another table with some great company and beer
Sadly, because of complete exhaustion after John's birthday parties, we did not make it to the Beer Festival on Sunday, as we had planned, but we hear it was a riot. Next year, please
 © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
Six trophies were awarded by the SouthYeasters, a BJCP judging panel of certified beer judges, to different categories:

Best Ale on Show: Brewdog Dead Pony Ale – A hop-heavy US-Style pale ale, the Brewdog Dead Pony Club Session pale ale, delivers a wash of tropical fruit, floral garlands and spicy undertones with citrus aromas of lemongrass and zest. 

Best Lager: CBC Pilsner – A craft pilsner brewed in the style of a lager, the CBC Pilsner has a strong hoppy aroma with a bitter finish. 

Best Dark Beer:  Hoghouse Brewing Co Porter – A classic London style porter, the Hoghouse Porter has a flavour of caramel oats, coffee, hazelnuts and toast with a smoky aroma. 

Best Weiss/Wheat/Wit Beer: CBC Krystal Weiss – A Weiss beer or wheat beer is brewed with a large amount of wheat. The CBC Craft Krystal Weiss is clear-filtered with an elegant twist of lemon and grapefruit producing a citrusy aroma.

Best Hoppy Beer: Devil’s Peak King’s Blockhouse IPA - Named after the historic military blockhouse on Devil’s Peak, this West Coast style IPA has a fruity and bitter taste with a citrusy, floral and piny aroma with passion fruit aspects. 

Best Cider: Orpens Cider – Produced on the Drift farm, this Irish Cider is made from fresh juice as opposed to the mass produced cider made from reconstituted juice concentrate. Orpens Cider is produced the same way that the farm produces 
wine with care and devotion which gives it its distinctive character. 

Festival goers were treated to the sounds of the Rockerfellas, Grassy Spark, Nomadic Orchestra and Los Taco’s and had an array of tasty treats to choose from such as Hudson’s Burger Joint, Lotus Food Truck and I Love Pizza.

All in all the Cape Town Festival of Beer was a huge success continuing to climb from strength to strength each year. They are looking forward to being back for their 7th year with even more exhibitors to showcase their new and exciting beers and ciders.

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