OnTap Magazine

ROLY “THE BEER GEEK” LARSON EVENT RECAP CAPETOWN FESTIVAL OF BEER F R I D A Y S U N D A Y S AT U R D A Y 01 03 02 THE SERIOUS BEER NERDS THE CHILLED FAMILY WANDERERS THE RAUCOUS REVELLERS e opening day of CTFoB kicks o in the afternoon and is a great opportunity for those wanting to get a taste of any new beers ahead of the crowd. Friday gives you a chance to chat with brewers about their fermented creations and is the perfect way to get your weekend started. Although it is a comparatively quieter day than the other two, it is a lot of fun to hang out with the beer nerds and brewers while ambling around the festival. Saturday is the busiest dayofCTFoB and therefore tables are a sought after commodity, so anticipate a lot of table-campers and expect a queue at the more popular stands. Luckily, the wait is almost never more than five or six minutes and there are plenty of breweries in attendance so if your rst choice is swamped, you still have a lot of terri c options to choose from. A stage with a variety of bands and DJs keeps the party going late into the night – great for a party, but not the time to visit if you’re hoping to talk malt bills with the brewers. Sunday has always been my day of choice since it is traditionally less crowded than Saturday and more chilled, allowing you to have a relaxed conversation with the brewers at their stands. The drawbacks are that most of the brewers will be recovering from the previous two days of frivolity and some of the most popular limited releases might be long since consumed. It’s particularly popular withthosewhohaveyounghumans, whippersnappers, or fledgling beer geeks since the middle of the festival gets transformed into a play area complete with a magician, candy oss, slides and ball pit – as well as a few envious big kids who wish they could join in. ROLY’S PICKS 2018 The Cape Town Festival of Beer (CTFoB, for short) has been an annual highlight for most beer nerds, casual lovers of beer and dragged-along significant others since 2010 and the 2018 edition was no exception. I have been lucky enough to attend every CTFoB thus far and following my double-header in 2017, it only made sense to attempt a triple for 2018. Going to all three official days of CTFoB is by no means required and probably is overkill for most, but it was a tick on my beer bucket list. Here’s my take on each of the days and the festival in general. LOOKING BACK AT 2018 CTFoB 2018 introduced ‘Taster Tokens’ to the festival for thefirst time, and this caused some panic and disappointment. However, if the number of discarded tokens on the walk out of the event is anything to go by, most festival goers had enough tokens to taste plenty of great beers. In spite of a few established and new breweries being disappointingly absent this year, there were also some exciting newcomers to CTFoB, which was great to see. Looking back, 2018 was an enjoyable festival overall, but with the ever- increasing number of beer festivals, not to mention other food and beverage festivals, I hope to see the CTFoB organizers do something exciting and different in 2019 tomaintain their status as “the premier celebration of all-things- beer.” I look forwarded to seeing you there and sharing an exciting pint of crafted deliciousness – whichever day you choose to go. Saggy Stone x Metal Lane Citra Nova The Kennel x Buurman Brouwerke Hawaiian Pizza Loxtonia Stone Fruit Cider Devil’s Peak Water No Get Enemy Jack Black’s Turbo Charge Mega Ale Fraser’s Folly Wild Raspberry RHBC Coastal Cult 10 | Autumn 2019 | ontapmag.co.za