OnTap Magazine

BREWER'S DOZEN Much like buchu, rooibos can be divisive – great in a mug before a chilly morning game drive, but a lot of people don’t like it in beer. Again, I think it can be used to impart a wonderful and distinctive flavour if used properly. It contributes a slightly earthy, woody flavour and sweet impression which goes well in English pale ales. Similar to buchu, add it sparingly towards the end of the boil or steep post-fermentation. Also known as the Cape fig or ghaukum, this is the fruit from a succulent proliferating most of the coast from the Northern Cape to the Eastern Cape. As the name suggests it is quite sour, but it is also salty, and that immediately screams to be used in a Gose. Two brewers from the SouthYeasters homebrew club brewed one for a food pairing event at the Fools and Fans festival this year which turned out to be delicious. I would add the fruit at the end of the boil to ensure everything is sanitised. Depending on how much you add, the level of saltiness in the fruit may not be enough to produce the desired level in the beer, so season accordingly. What is more South African than a braai? The thought of food cooking on an open flame with all the smoky delicious aromas coming off it is enough to make any South African weak at the knees. So how about infusing that smoke into some malt and producing a braai-smoked Rauchbier. To do this, place some malt (either a base malt or lightly toasted malt) into a foil container. Punch some small holes in the bottom of the container to allow better heat distribution and smoke penetration. Place on the braai next to your chop and mielie, cover the braai and allow the smoke to infuse into the malt. When using the malt in your beer, adjust the amount you use to your preference. Some people love the super smoky versions and some people like just a mild hint. When anyone asks a South African to name one of our national dishes, we can all generally only name one – Bobotie. Wouldn’t it be great to get those iconic flavours into a beer? No. Ugh. Spicy meat and egg flavours is a bridge too far. Just forget it. But why not pick a great beer to pair with your bobotie? For me, the rich blend of sweet and savoury in the dish is well complementedby a crisp, dry, andpowerful Belgian golden strong ale or Belgian IPA. There is so much potential for introducing home-grown flavours into our local beer. Go out and experiment. After all, that is a big part of what makes micro brewing so great. A tincture uses ethanol to extract flavour from an ingredient. For brewing purposes this means that you can add a flavour to your beer without the complication of potentially introducing unwanted wild yeasts and bacteria. You also then have the added advantage of greater control over the amount of flavour you add to your beer. To make a tincture, simply add your desired ingredients to a jar, cover in a spirit which is high in alcohol (but still safe to drink) and allow the alcohol time to extract the flavours. This can take a few days or up to a few months depending on the ingredients and the level of extraction you want. Typically a low flavour white spirit like vodka is used so as not to introduce extra flavour from the alcohol to your beer, but sometimes this may be desirable. I’ve used scotch, bourbon and rum to good effect in tinctures. Remember, alcohol evaporates, so keep your tincture sealed. SOUR FIGS The milk tart is probably the most iconic South African dessert, with biscuit, creamy custard and cinnamon flavours. This inspiration would be welcome in any style where lactose is an acceptable addition for sweetness and body. Think porters, stouts and brown ales. Use malts to impart the biscuit flavour, lactose for the sweetness and cinnamon towards the end of the boil. It’s always best to go light on spices to avoid overwhelming the other flavours in the beer. You can always add more at a later stage using a tincture. MELKTERT BOBOTIE ROOIBOS BRAAI FINAL THOUGHTS HOW TO MAKE A TINCTURE 8 9 10 11 12 This is somewhere we as South Africans can really shine 46 | Spring 2019 | ontapmag.co.za