Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Tuk Tuk Brewery in Franschhoek launches the beers brewed in house

Tuk Tuk Micro Brewery, which is part of the Leeu Collection, opened in February this year and is already a very popular venue on Main Street in Franschhoek, on the next corner above Quartier Français. They have been selling CBC beers on tap and, this week, they introduced their own beers, brewed in the in-house 250-litre capacity brewery which you can see as you walk into Tuk Tuk. The beers are a Pale Ale, a Weiss or Weizenbier (wheat beer) and a Dunkel made by brew master Dewald Goosen. We enjoyed these with a rather good selection of classic Mexican street food served family style from the Tuk Tuk Taqueria
It is easy to spot the Tuk Tuk Brewery on Franschhoek's main street, Huguenot Road
The actual brewery is at the back of the building, all gleamingly hygienic stainless steel and copper, and you can admire it from inside the restaurant
This is how the bloggers do it! Our welcoming glass of bubbly
All the beers are on tap
The decor is all glowing copper industrial and there are some witty touches like this beer bottle light
Salsa, killer chilli sauce, cream cheese and guacamole on the table for the first course
Note the copper fronted bar and the plumbing pipe lights with a sight of the brewery behind the bar
The barman pouring pints. Four exclusive, handcrafted Tuk Tuk branded beers, a Lager, Weiss, Dunkel and Pale Ale. Two of the Tuk Tuk brews will change seasonally. A selection of Six CBC beers are on offer , namely the CBC Lager, CBC Harvest Lager (seasonal) CBC Mandarina Bavaria IPA, CBC Oktoberfest Beer (seasonal), CBC Imperial IPA, CBC Pilsner, CBC Amber Weiss, CBC Krystal Weiss and CBC Red Weiss (seasonal)
Our tasters of the beers Left to Right: Pale Ale, Weiss beer and Dunkel, all with great heads. The lager is still fermenting, but will be available shortly. The Pale ale has notes of orange and hops; it is very satisfying with a nice refreshing bitter end. The Weiss beer has that cloudy still-fermenting character, rather lactic. The Dunkel is a dark malty beer with coffee and chocolate on the nose, and coffee deluxe on the palate with nice bitter hops. It is lighter in texture than we expected and a moderate 5% alcohol
Broadcaster Jon Meinking likes his beer
Nicolette Waterford, Leeu Collection Head of Public Relations, Brand and Marketing
Brewer Dewald Goosen
Interior designer Beverley Boswell, who also designed the Leeu Collection Estate Boutique hotel, had free rein to design Tuk Tuk. She told us where the inspiration came from
Then Dewald told us about the beers and how they are brewed
Hector Maramwidze, our very professional and friendly waiter
The lunch menu. Plates for four were put on the table and we helped ourselves. The food is very good, the portions were very generous and the beers are enhanced by the food and vice versa
Nachos. We love this easy to put together dish and often make it at home. Corn chips, Pico de Gallo (aka Salsa made with tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos), grated cheese, guacamole and sour cream flashed under the grill.  If you add spiced mince or chicken, it becomes an easy fireside supper
These tiny light sweetcorn fritters were served hot with a hot chipotle chilli dip. Tempting to eat too many and fill up on them, but so much was to follow. The sauce has quite a kick
Quesadillas are also easy to make at home  They are dry pan roasted tortillas filled with tender gently spiced chicken, with melted cheese, roasted tomatoes and cream cheese. These were followed by two different tacos, both excellent. One filled with slow cooked beer with lettuce and a strongly smoked aioli. and a spiced lightly seared tuna Taco with guacamole and cheese. Lynne added the table chilli sauce to it and if you love hot chilli sauce with a flavour try it if your heat tolerance is high. Our table loved it
Just when we thought we could eat no more they served hot and crisp Churros with a great Nyangbo dark chocolate and chilli dip. Nyangbo is a Ghanaian chocolate from Valrhona
Leeu Collection Executive Chef Oliver Cattermole supervises this kitchen too. Here he is with Beverly Boswell
A great design detail in the bathrooms: a shining copper sink and bar taps!
Pouring a pint of Dunkel with a great head. We were able to try larger glasses of our favourite beers, this was for Lynne.  We think the combination of good beers and Mexican food is great
Linda Harding
Nicolette with Linda Harding
The sun, weakly coming out at about 4pm as we headed off, first next door to see the redesigned bar at Quartier Francais, and then to Angala for the night
This is the snug bar, we loved the wood burning stove for wintery days like this and the blue and white with the sandy coloured textured walls is very calming
with a matching alcove with comfortable sofas behind the bar
Antonia by the wall, another realistic figure sculpture from the Leeu collection to match the male figure there, and an impressive painting dress the hallway. The yellow reversed writing on the forehead of the face is a reflection of The Tasting Room logo across the hall
In winter a glassed conservatory, in summer an open air deck
Inside the main restaurant, which has not been changed

And outside on the terrace with another of those amusing rabbit statues
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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