OnTap Magazine

Port Elizabeth isn’t exactly heralded as a hotbed of craft beer activity, but at least one outfit is planning to change that. Niall Cook, who co-owns Richmond Hill with well-known PE businessman Matt Repton, sees a future where his beers are not only well known in his hometown, but throughout South Africa. Brewing out of Baakens Valley since 2016, Richmond Hill’s flagship is an amber ale named for a local character known as Car Park John, but they also produce an ever-changing selection of experimental and seasonal brews. Niall’s brewing journey started in high school when he was assigned a project which required him to make something with yeast. A friend’s father offered to show him how to brew beer and despite the two-litre batch tasting terrible, Niall’s love of brewing “snowballed”. First came the 50 litre all-grain system in his dad’s backyard, and then a BSc in Molecular Biology. After obtaining his honours degree, Niall secured an internship at Metalman Brewing Company in Ireland, and then worked in Germany in a malt house and a number of brew pubs. Armed with the technical know-how, and some real- world brewing experience, Niall returned to South Africa and met up with a local businessman. “Matt, who started Vovo Telo, had recently brought over a BrewMagic system from the USA with the intention of brewing beer for three of his restaurants - the Beeryard, Beershack and Charlie’s Superstar. He needed a brewer and I needed something to brew on. It was a perfect match.” Niall began to work on Car Park John, brewing small batches which he then would tweak and refine according to customer feedback. “Most had never tasted an amber ale before and this meant we had put a lot of time into education – talking to our customers about the beer and ensuring the restaurant staff were always up to speed,” says Niall. It’s now at the point where he can brew experimental beers without worrying that the market will be wary of them. “Over the past couple of years the PE craft scene has really matured and customers are hungry for more,” explains Niall, “This has been great as it has allowed me to open the flood gates and brew the more out-there beers such as chamomile wheat ales, vanilla old ales, fruit beers, big stouts, nitro beer, mint and chocolate porters and so on.” As for the future, Niall wants to make an impact nationally. “We are now at the stage were we feel we are ready to send Car Park John further afield. We also have some collab brews lined up, so hopefully you will be seeing RHBC in the major centres soon.” Over the past few years, Woodstock Brewery has made its name with a raft of high quality beers, largely thanks to the talents of head brewer Murray Stephenson. Murray’s journey has been unconventional. Playing drums in a Cape Town band, he found himself in need of something to do during the day, and decided to start figuring out how to brew beer in the kitchen of his flat using a homebrew book. After he’d produced enough good beer at home, he began to wonder if he could make a living from his hobby. “I started to reach out to different breweries, chatting to people in the industry and trying to find a way into the scene. Eventually I got in touch with Woodstock Brewery owner Andre, who was getting the brewery going at the time and needed helping hands,” says Murray. “There wasn’t much brewing happening when I started so a lot of the time the other brewer, Dylan, and myself would just sweep the brewery floors and polish the tanks. Slowly as the brewing picked up and things gained momentum, we became brewers under the guidance of Dewald Goosen and Carel Heister.” Following the departure of Dewald (to Tuk Tuk Microbrewery in Franschhoek) and Carel (to his native land of Holland), Murray was promoted to Head Brewer, and has since completed his Diploma in Brewing through the IBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling). “When I was starting out I think the challenge I faced was just a lack of knowledge,” says Murray. “Everything was very new and it was really difficult to figure it out. But the more I learned at Woodstock the more I sought to learn. I was reading as much as I could and that spurred me on to get my diploma.” Woodstock are perhaps best known for their hop- forward IPA, Californicator, as well as their range of innovative seasonal brews, including the Acid Queen granadilla sour, and Sugarman, their barrel-aged Belgian quad. When you read the line-up, it’s clear that Murray doesn’t like brewing boring beers. “The philosophy behind our beers was always to make them bold and not compromise in the face of sales. I also want to create new unique beers and that is why we started making our seasonal range.” But the beer of which Murray is most proud is Hazy Daze, Woodstock’s SA National Beer Trophy gold medal-winning witbier. “That was a recipe I came up with while I was still home brewing and it has remained unchanged since the first brew I did at home.” Owner-brewer | Richmond Hill Brewing Co. Head brewer | Woodstock Brewery NIALL COOK | Age: 26 MURRAY STEPHENSON | Age: 30 1 2 On Tap / Autumn 2018 / 33