OnTap Magazine

but when tours of Newlands Brewery are once again operating post-Covid, you can also take a peek into local brewing history, including the malthouse and the 19th-century building that once held Letterstedt’s brewery. In 2015 the old cellars, which date back to themid-19th century, received a revamp when SAB installed a 2000-litre brewery to produce speciality beers under a separate label. Newlands Spring Brewing Co. counts a couple of commemorative beers in its range: Jacob’s Pale Ale is of course named for the site’s founder brewer, Jacob Letterstedt and is based on a 150-year old recipe found within the Newlands Brewery archives, while Tribute Lager is brewed in honour of Anders Ohlsson, who saw a spring and built a brewing empire on it. Installing Newlands Spring Brewing Co. was not without its difficulties. Classed as a heritage building, there were strict requirements for the renovations. Part of one wall, as well as the roof, had to be carefully removed in order to slide in the brewery and tanks, then carefully rebuilt under the watchful eye of the Heritage Council. The finished product is a shiny brewhouse that serves as the perfect end to a tour through Newlands Brewery; a brewhouse where ales are once again being brewed some 200 years from the very first time Letterstedt mashed in. Newlands Brewery staff in 1885 THE FIRST NEWLANDS BREWER? Although Jan van Riebeeck tried his hand at brewing almost as soon as he landed at the Cape, his efforts were largely unsuccessful. One of the earliest mentions of another brewer in Riebeeck’s diaries was Pieter Visagie, a sailor from Antwerp. He began brewing at his farmhouse east of the Liesbeek River, using water from the river for his beers. Historical accounts suggest that the farm was in Rondebosch, although it’s possible Visagie was the very first brewer to set up in Newlands back in 1657. Brennerstrasse 17-19 · 96052 Bamberg - Germany · www.weyermannmalt.com WEYERMANN ® SPECIALTYMALTS OUR DISTRIBUTORS IN AFRICA: bevPLUS (PTY) ltd. and Dematech (PTY) ltd. 13 Michigan Street · Airport Industria · 7490 · Cape Town · South Africa www.bevplus.com Phone bevPLUS: + 27 - (021) - 820 9500 · e-mail: info@bevplus.com Phone Dematech: + 27 - (021) - 385 0483 · e-mail: info@dematechsa.com