OnTap Magazine

‘micro’ breweries which have been established. For me a micro needs to be a hands-on operation, where your customers should be able to share a drink with the brewer around the pub. My definition of “real beer” is a beer which is unfiltered, unpasteurised and naturally carbonated. There are other requirements relating to raw materials, specifically beer brewed adhering to the Reinheitsgebot but this does not allow for some of the more esoteric beers brewed by some brewers with weird and wonderful ingredients and I guess if they are brewed by people with the right ethics this is OK. I realise that I exist as an anachronism and I resist change! I think that in 2014 at the beer competition you referred to me as the Grandfather of SA Craft Beer – perhaps that should have been the Old Fart of Craft Beer!! OT: Although you hadn't been involved for a number of years, it must have been a blow when the Mitchell’s Brewery in Knysna ceased production…? LM: The demise of Mitchell’s Brewery in Knysna was a sad day for me even though I had not been involved for a long time. I followed their fortunes from afar and tried to convince myself that I was no longer involved and thus should have no proprietorial feelings about the direction they were following. This was made a bit easier by the fact that the ownership kept changing, which gave me the separation that I probably needed to ensure that I would not be too badly affected by their closing up shop. Dave McRae, who had been my right hand man and whose support and constancy played a huge part in the growth and success of the Mitchell’s brand even after I moved to Port Elizabeth, stayed on with the various new owners and finally when he left a year or two before Mitchell’s closed, I felt that my connection was finally severed. OT: What have you been up to recently? Are you still involved in beer? LM: In 2011 I had my arm twisted by Gary Erasmus in Port Elizabeth to join him in a restaurant and brewery venture and this led to the establishment of Bridge Street Brewery which mashed in its first brew on New Year’s Day 2012. We were back to basics again – hands on in the brewhouse, just Sue (my wife) and I, putting in a stout to christen my new plant and to start a new chapter in our lives. This was a new lease of life for my brewing story and was a lot of fun for nearly five years when Gary and I realised virtually simultaneously that we were not restaurateurs and began to consider selling. We were lucky to find in John and Grant Davies, the ideal people to continue the business and to ensure what Gary always wanted – for the business to become an institution in PE. We sold in 2016 and I have remained as a consultant since then. OT: Do you have any predictions for the future of craft beer in South Africa? LM: I think anyone in the brewing business worldwide right now is going to have great difficulty predicting the future of craft beer. I think that after the Coronavirus has hopefully been tamed, it will take years for the craft beer world to reset and rise to theheights it reachedbefore thedevastation caused by the virus. Many small breweries will have been forced to close after months of inactivity and lack of finance to keep the doors open. I’m not sure how many people will have the courage to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and start again. ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2020 | 7