OnTap Magazine

started teaching online due to covid and during this time I decided I wanted to follow brewing more seriously as it combined my love for biochemistry and my brewing hobby.” That is what led to Emma applying to join the Jack Black brewing team. Homebrew often leading to a career in craft beer With homebrewing often leading to a career in craft beer, it is fairly important to look at how we support the next generation. The multi- national breweries use the Intervarsity competition in South Africa as a way to discover new talent and in Craft Beer there have been and continue to be festivals that showcased homebrewed beers and the brewers behind them. South Yeasters had the Summerfest, there is a Summerfest in Gauteng as well run by the Worthogs, with great success. Durban has their own festival and in the Eastern Cape, the Yeastern Cape Brew Club put on their Homebrew Fest at Richmond Hill Brewing Company. A relatively new player in the field, but focussed around brining the country’s homebrewers together in one large festival and share ideas across provincial borders, is the Fools and Fans Craft Beer Festival. This event takes place in Greyton around the first weekend of April (the April Fools weekend) annually. In 2023 the homebrew festival will be on 31 March, followed by the Craft Brewery festival day on the 1st of April. The Fools National Interclub Competition is themed around a single beer style and the eleven clubs from all over South Africa, as well as the Intervarsity’s winning team, brew the same beer style. The 2023 style is a Saison and is judged according to BJCP standards. Fools and Fans also hosts an Individual Homebrew Competition, which allows the best homebrewers in the country to get professional feedback from some of the best judges in South Africa. It is already the largest homebrew competition in the country. Maybe next year, some of the winners from these competitions and participants in the various homebrew festivals around the country, will join the craft breweries on the commercial stage. That is the dream; to learn the rules, so that the art can be unleased. pub. His Swallow set-up is the envy of all. He's been brewing for eight years and are, amongst other things, interested in the chemistry and history of beer. Another one of his duties is part editor of this newsletter. Leon Treurnicht is a recent convert to full grain brewing and the man that will run our tastings and a scoring system. And remember this is not Highlander, there can be more than one. He's been brewing since 2003 and recently built a counterflow chiller for his Stellenbrau brewery. (seehis excellent article on thewebsite) Our keeper of knowledge is Malcolm Maxwell. Compressing the committee ramblings (there are beer involved after all) into useful information is his unfortunate job. For four years his Avalon Road brewery has been producing excellent beers. He specialises in using dry malt extracts for lagers and pilsners. Marketing man and the other editor of the Argis is Leon du Preez. Despite cultural expectations he is the Leon without the ponytail. His NO37 (the upside down brewery) is in Langebaan and he fervently hopes that one day his experiments with hops and yeast will produce a Belgian Wit of distinction. They can be contacted at committee@southyeasters.co.za for further information on club activities, suggestions and praise for a jobwell done. A plea from the editors: Please send us material!!! Photos of your brewery, tricks you've learned to improve your beer. Beer trips you've done. Look forward to reviews of beer related websites, international homebrew sites and traveling through SouthAfrica'sbeer country. Letter from America Jason Beck used to be an active member of the South-Yeasters. He now cites “The terrible commute” from California as an excuse not to attend meetings. He is our American correspondent and in the months to come his “Letter from America” will be about the beers he enjoys in California. And he’ll tell us how he managed to get a job at a brewery! Jason's experiments with distilling brought him to the South Yeasters with the idea that whiskey follows beer. He subsequently relocated to the United States for “An indefinite period” East Meets West What constitutes awell travelledbeer? FromPE to Langebaan? Well in that case the 6PerfectlyMade Stout and 2 “1AB 36B”* from the Twinorbs brewery in Port Elizabeth are indeed well travelled beer. It was a case of east meets west when brewers Kevin Eastwood and Leon du Preez got together inLangebaan over a coupleofbeers. For Kevin, stuck out there in the eastern wilderness, getting feedback on his beers is difficult. Twice he went all the way to the Worthog brewers Summer Beer festival, but that is an extremely long drive. Our first Summer Beer Festival tempted him, but things just didn't work out. For Stout Wars, however, he managed to ship hisbeer a thousand kilometres. Andhe brought his family along for a holiday! A very nice man indeed. Kevin got into brewing through drinking (didn'twe all? ed.) It ismore complicated than that. He built a bar in his home and obviously needed beer to stock it. During a holiday in the Knysna- Wilderness area he visited the Mitchell's brewery there and ordered a keg. After a couple of refills to his home he started collecting it from the house of Lex Mitchell (yes, that Mitchell) Lex had a small brewery at his home and Kevin started brewing with him there. As time went by he started his own and so the Twinorbs brewery (see http://twinorbsbrewery.atspace.com for his excellentwebsite) came into being. Current products include an ale, a bitter and a stout. If you are ever in that part of the world give Kevin a shout. He refuses to come regularly to club meetings mentioning “distance” and “work” as constraints. Kevin's stout and bitter will be at StoutWars for tasting. • wanna be thirty sixB: a reference to the aimed starting gravity andhis brewing supervisor. www.southyeasters .co.za OfficialNewsletter of the Cape YeastersHomebrewing Club Vol 1N o 1 Page 2 of 4 Aroma: Coffee-like roasted barley and roasted malt aromas are prominent; may have slight chocolate, cocoa and/or grainy, secondary notes. Esters medium-low to none. No diacetyl. Hop aroma low none. Appearance: Jet black to deep brown with garnet highlights in Can be opaque (if not, it should be clear). A thick, creamy, longlasting, tan- to brown- colored head is characteristic. Flavor: Moderate roasted, grainy sharpness, optionally with light moderate acidic/sourness, and medium to high hop bitterness. Dry, coffee-like finish from roasted grains. May have a bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate character in the palate, lasting into the finish. Balancing factors may include some creaminess, medium-low to fruitiness, and medium to no hop flavor. No diacetyl. Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium-full body, with a creamy character. Low to moderate carbonation. For the high hop bitterness and significant proportion of dark grains present, this beer is remarkably smooth.The perception of body can be affected by the overall gravity with smaller beers being lighter in body. May have a light astringency from the roasted grains, although harshness is undesirable. Overall Impression: A very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale. History: The style evolved from attempts to capitalize on the success of London porters, but originally reflected a fuller, creamier, more "stout" body and strength. When a brewery offered a stout and a porter, the stoutwas always the stronger beer (it was originally called a “Stout Porter”). Modern versions are brewed from a lower OG and no longer reflect a higher strength than porters. Comments: This is the draught version of what is otherwise known as Irish stout or Irish dry stout. Bottled versions are typically brewed from a significantly higher OG and may be designated as foreign extra stouts (if sufficiently strong). While most commercial versions rely primarily on roasted barley as the dark grain, others use chocolate malt, black malt or combinations of the three. The level of bitterness is somewhat variable, as is the roasted character and the dryness of the finish; allow for interpretation bybrewers. Ingredients: The dryness comes from the use of roasted unmalted barley in addition to pale malt, moderate to high hop bitterness, and good attenuation. Flaked unmalted barley may also be used to add creaminess. A small percentage (perhaps 3%) of soured beer is sometimes added for complexity (generally by Guinness only). Water typically has moderate carbonate hardness, although high levels will not give the classic dry finish. VitalStatistics: OG:1.036 – 1.050 IBUs:30 – 45FG:1.007 –1.011 SRM: 25 – 40+ABV:4 – 5% Commercial Examples: Guinness Draught Stout (also canned), Murphy's Stout, Beamish Stout, O’Hara’s Celtic Stout,Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout, Orkney Dragonhead Stout, Brooklyn Dry Stout, Old Dominion Stout, Goose Island Dublin Stout, Arbor BrewingFaricyFest IrishStout SouthAfricanbeers sadly absent from the list. www.southyeasters .co.za OfficialNewsletter of the Cape YeastersHomebrewing Club Vol 1N o 1 Page 4 of 4 Cape Argis www.southyeasters .co.za OfficialNewsletter of the Cape YeastersHomebrewing Club Vol 1N o 1 Message from the BossMan The South Yeasters Homebrewers Club started out as an email group on Yahoo and was initially calledWesternCapeHomeBrewer'sAssociation. I joined the group at the end of 2002 in desperate need of supplies for my homebrewery. This when I met Richard the first time (can you believe it is already 5 years Richard?), although I am not sure when the first face-to-face was. Shortly aft er I also got to know Leon Treurnich (gate keeper o the group email),MalcolmMaxwell,NigelKrumm andmanyothers. Around 2004 we decided to make the club more official and formed a committee to give he club some direction. I have been the chairperson since then and proud to say that I have just been re-elect- ed. Last year the club got some more structure when we launched our website that contains a lot of useful links, as well as info on club happenings and some pics of our get togethers (oh and yes if anyone is willing to help with the website upkeep, drop me a line, I need some help!). Our current committee is as follows: Erhard Eiselen (Chair), Richard Whittaker (Logistics), Malcolm Maxwell (Scribe),LeonTreurnich (Tasting andScoring) and our latest addition to the committee, Leon duPreez (Marketing). We asked Leon DuP to join the com- mittee early in 2007 because of his keen interest, good ideas, and always being involved since he joined. Well you may be wondering what the main pur- pose of the club is. We aim to firstly promote beer in general and secondly the art of home brewing. The club also serves to help brewers to source in- gredients, especially kits and yeast, the two items that are not so easy to find in the good old R.S.A. And of coursewe try to have a get together at least every two months, where brewers get to taste each other's makings and exchange ideas, and of course just have agood time. Two Irish blokes are out drinking one night and onepipesupwith "Paddy,me lad,when I die - Iwant you should p ur a jar of your besthom brewovermegrave. Will you do that,Paddyme boy?" And being agood friend, he agrees. After thinking it over abit,Paddy asks "Doyou mind if I pass it thoughme kidneys first?" Brewers and fire-fighters at the Summer Beer Festival Meet the committee The sort of new look committee is once again under the leadership of Erhard Eiselen who until the Klipdrift advertisement was known as Eis. Now, of course, it is Eish. His motto “If it says beer on the label, I will drink it” shows the sort of lifetime commitment the man has made to beer. Eis(h) is a full grain brewer with seven and a bit years worth of experience. HisBlackDog brewery isopenon brewdays byprior appointment. Richard Whittaker is in charge of all things logistical. That means organising. As in organising that the cars sleep outside in order for the garage to be converted into a brilliant brew Visit to James Sedgwick distillery On 23 June 5 Southyeasters visited the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington. It all came about when it became known that the master distiller, Andy Watts, used to be a home brewer.(Jason are you reading this?) He could not be there, but Marlene and Johan kindly showed as around on a Saturday. The distillery is not generally open to the public so the Southyeasters were in for a treat. And what a treat! The distillery is very automated with just a handful of people on shift. At its most basic whisky is unhopped beer, distilled and aged in wood. We did not get to taste the grain “beer”, but were assured that it is basically undrinkable. Three Ships are a blended using South African grain- andScottishwhiskys. Whisky has to be stored for at least three years in wooden barrels. This makes for immense warehouses full of barrels. And alcohol fumes that while initially attractive, lost its appeal after a few minutes. After the tour we were treated to a tasting of the Three Ships range of whiskys. The Original, The Bourbon Cask finish, the 5 Year old (my house whisky) the no longer available, limit release 10yr old and the as yet unreleased 100% Grain whisky. If malt has to be distilled, then these people should do it. PyssedAs Where were you drinking on 24 May 2007? A couple of intrepid folks congregated at Boston Breweries in Paarden Eiland for the start of PysssedAs International Pub crawl 2007. See www.pyssedas.com formore info on theorigins. Chris Barnard from Boston breweries revealed his for now named Red Dot. A winter warmer at 8% alcohol and comparable to Namibia Breweries’ Urbock. Some would say better than Urbock. Fantastic drinking, but not driver friendly and therefore served in small glasses. Chris is a good friend of the Southyeasters. The committee meeting was held at Boston prior to the Cape Town PyssedAs kick off as well as The Summer Beer festival. Visit his website www.bostonbreweries.co.za or better yet, buy his beer. PyssedAs saw three new beer lovers joining. Doug,Martin andGlen. Welcome guys. PyssedAsatBoston. HeadBrewerChrison right. As aprecursor ofStoutWars here iswhat theBeer judge certificationProgram (BJCP) has to say on category13:Stouts. Also in the category, butnot reprinted here, areSweetStout,OatmealStout, Foreign (towhom?)ExtraStout,AmericanStout andRussian ImperialStout. Get it all at www.bjcp.org 13A. Dry Stout www.southyeasters .co.za OfficialNewsletter of the Cape YeastersHomebrewing Club Vol 1N o 1 Page 3 of 4 Forthcoming attractions 20 July 2007: StoutWars An evening devoted to the darker sideof beer At least 12 stouts and dark beers September2007 Visit to theSABNewlands brewery. Watch thenewsgroup for details November2007 Well,wewill bedoing something. Probably involving beer. March 2008 SummerBeerFestival2 (and yes weplan that farahead) We go for double this year. Thatmeans 40 beers! PyssedAs at Boston. Head Brewer Chris on right 48 | Autumn 2023 | ontapmag.co.za