OnTap Magazine

If you’re not already a home brewer, but you love beer, maybe 2020 is your year to start. There are not many better feelings than enjoying a pint of beer which you brewed yourself. It’s relatively easy to get started and is the kind of hobby which can keep you interested for a lifetime if you want to. To get started, chat to your local homebrew club about equipment, recipes, recommended reading and more. I always get a new appreciation for a style when I brew it myself. Between researching the history, ingredients and techniques which differentiate the style, I inevitably discover flavours which I may not have appreciated before. Furthermore, there is normally a fair amount of scope within a stylewhich canbe explored. For instance, many people don’t like Weissbier because they are not keen on the banana esters. Although that is a part of the style it doesn’t need to be aggressive. You could try to brew a Weissbier which is low on esters and rather showcases the spicy phenolics which are also a part of the style. Your favourite restaurant doesn’t stock anything but macro lagers? Speak to the manager about introducing some variety. Encourage them to stock a brewery which is local so they can get fresh beer more regularly. Not every restaurant needs 10 taps and 50 bottled beers. A small selection of fresh beers looked after properly is far better for everyone. Perhaps you could suggest a few styles which would go well with the food on offer. One of the best aspects about the brewing community - from home brewers to commercial brewers and even the discerning drinkers – is the sense of community. Home brew clubs are a big part of this and we are lucky to have great clubs in most major cities in South Africa. Each club will operate slightly differently but they all offer an excellent way to learn more about beer and brewing, participate in great events such as festivals and competitions as well as meeting other brewers and beer lovers. Check out page xxx for details on the homebrew clubs around the country. Every home brewer starts by bottling their beer. It’s easy and cost effective when starting out, but becomes very tiresome and takes some of the joy away from brewing. I haven’t bottled a beer for almost five years but still haven’t quite overcome the trauma. With a little bit of investment you can set up a simple kegging system which is much quicker and easier than bottling, and will make you want to brew more often. Beer on tap... at home, it’s the dream! If you are a fan of hoppy beers then kegging is definitely the way to go as all of those delicate hop flavours are preserved much better when kegged. Sensory training will teach you how to better recognise, interpret and describe flavours in beer. This includes detection of off-flavours and problems, but is more about developing skills to pick out all the nuances in the range of aromas, flavours and textures that make beer so beautiful. For the brewers this will improve your ability to analyse and troubleshoot your own beers in order to make them better, and for the beer drinkers this will give you a better appreciation for beer and ultimately improve your enjoyment. The Craft Beer Association of South Africa (CBASA) is a good starting point for sensory training. NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 01 START HOME BREWING NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 06 START KEGGING YOUR BEER NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 07 DO SOME SENSORY TRAINING NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 02 TRY TO BREW A STYLE YOU CLAIM TO HATE NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 04 JOIN A HOMEBREW CLUB NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 05 BREW A SOUR BEER †INTENTIONALLY‡ NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 03 CONVINCE A RESTAURANT TO STOCK YOUR LOCAL MICROBREWERY’S BEERS Sour beers are amazing and there are various techniques which can be used on a home brew scale to produce interpretations of the classic sour styles. From quick methods such as kettle souring to long term ageing with a mixed culture, these techniques offer a new level of creativity to introduce to your brewing. If you don’t like sour beers, see no.2… There is a huge array of beer and brewing books available, whether you want a general introduction to brewing, an atlas of beer from around the world, or a hyper-specific book on a single brewing topic such as water or yeast. Additionally there are a few annual conference-style events such as Beer Boot Camp, Craft Brewers Powwow and Africa Brew, which include educational talks by some of the brightest beer and brewing minds from South Africa and abroad. Good brewers never stop learning! NEW BEER'S RESOLUTION 08 GET SOME EDUCATION ontapmag.co.za | Summer 2019 | 53