OnTap Magazine

things often happen, they soon began homebrewing together. Some of these original beers would become the original Lilypatrick line-up, which included beers like Irish brown ales and Stouts. Another part of the journey fell into place when Tollies, a rather famous institution for the Matie students, put their brewery equipment up for sale in 2014. This was the nudge that these dreamers needed to get going. Frank’s in-laws owned the land where Lilypatrick is based so they licensed the premises and moved the equipment in. In the early days they even did some contract brewing for a few famous brands of beer of the time. At first, Frank did the brewing, but as the need grew, the time was right for hiring a full-time brewer and eventually they hired Braam Rademeyer. Braam himself was a seasonedbrewer, having started Sir Thomas Brewing Company, then he brewed for Old Potters Brewery in Greyton, before joining the Lilypatrick team. Braam designed the current line-up of beers and introduced their famous Rough Day IPA. When Braam left, after numerous interviews for replacements and many a discussion between the two men, it was Braam who suggested that the best person to take over the brewing operations would not come from outside, but instead should be Boeta himself. In hindsight, it was a good suggestion. “He pointed out that I knew the brewery’s problems,” Boeta was referring to the fact that the brewery as they bought it and had been tweaked over the years, it was specific to the workflow and Boeta knew the ins and outs and solutions to equipment-specific problems. What he modestly omits is that he also understood the art of brewing from his days of homebrewing with Frank and the enhanced recipes, labels and processes already in place were solid. Not to mention the hours spent observing and learning from Braam himself. It is easy to forget that this is a partnership and a family business; the reality in Lilypatrick is that Thea also takes on a lot of responsibilities like bottling, labelling and running the tap room. But what is not always known is her contribution on the beer front. “I am an IPA drinker, I love a good bitter beer,” perhaps a legacy left by the UK, “I have always been a beer drinker. I have just been more drawn to the flavours [in beer].” It is Thea who designed the Lilypatrick lager, the brewery’s first. “We kept getting asked for beers similar to a [Castle] Lite, so I downloaded an app, designed a recipe and brewed it while Boeta pushed a few buttons.” A look half in jest is exchanged between them, “oh and he pitched the yeast.” There are many tools available these days to help one develop recipes, albeit not fool proof and Thea used this to turn her idea into a beer; “I downloaded an app and designed a recipe I thought would taste good.” The very nature of the journey is that it is not the destination; it is perpetually moving even with moments of relative calm and the question that I felt obligated to ask is, what comes next? Boeta does not hesitate, he leans in and says, “IPAs.” He leans back and before I can ask for clarity, he elaborates; “I would like to have 5 or 6 different IPA’s on tap. I want to offer homebrewers the chance to come do their recipes with us and make this a sort of mecca for IPA’s. It is what we like to drink and I would love to put more on tap.” Boeta and Thea embodies the spirit of craft, the sharing of ideas, the willingness to help and engage with the homebrew community. A community that has found a home at Lilypatrick because of their open doors, their open mindedness to beers and flavours, and their willingness to sit and give feedback in a constructive way with childlike curiosity. They are unintimidating, and understate their own depth of knowledge accumulated through passion. And the lager is pretty good, by the way. One of many homebrew competitions The brewing process The copper brewery that once stood at Tollies A place where professionals and homebrewers meet over a cold beer Paul Bosman (left), Paul Freysen (centre) and Paul Groenewald (right) 20 | Autumn 2023 | ontapmag.co.za