OnTap Magazine

MASH OUT Lockdown, booze ban, isolation - it has been a tricky year for beer and indeed for everyone and everything. But good stuff has still happened so we wanted to know BRAD BERGH Beer lover, Cape Town (and sometimes Jo’burg) Backyard Beer Fest was definitely the most memorable, super cool idea in trying times that brought so much joy to the SA beer community! CAMERON DOUBELL Brewer and keen beer drinker, Cape Town It would have to be the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster lockdown meet ups. I can’t say where they were or what they entailed, but I think we were all touched by his noodly appendage. SIBUSISO SKOSANA Owner of 1632 Crafts, Tembisa Brewing my own Craft 1632 has been a dream come true, enriching not only myself but my community. It fills my heart with joy when people get a look into my Tembisa heritage, giving a sense of elegance with a kasi twist and bringing together all walks of life. GREG GILOWEY Half of ‘Beer Country’, Cape Tow n Watching some of the brewers step up to feed the hungry (soup-a-stars)...and finding out that hustled, bootlegged beer tastes just that little bit sweeter. MIA VAN DEN HEEVER Homebrewer, Jo’burg I did my first solo Grainfather beer and also made whiskey from grain. Craft beer highlights were Mad Giant’s new taproom opening and also their Fresh Beer. And how the general public took to brewing pineapple beer will always be the most entertaining thing of 2020! COLIN HARDING Homebrewer and beer lover, Cape Town The beer related highlight for me was getting the time to build my system from scratch. I’d had all the components for five years but no time to put them together. I then brewed my first beer ever (a porter) and went all-grain right from the get go. Seven brews later and I haven’t messed one up yet plus all my mates rave about the beer! JONTY VAN ID Homebrewer, Cape Town My beer highlight of 2020 was when the brewing supply store opened and I could finally restock. During the lockdown I had to improvise by harvesting the yeast out of bottled homebrew and using oats and black wheat for grain and orange peel for bittering, made for quite an interesting beer that looked and tasted like coca cola. ELBIE LOUW Brewer/co-owner at Binary Brew Worx, Hartbeespoort After three years of waiting, we finally received our licence. Actually, it was approved in January but somehow we only got the notification in November. But we are ready to take the leap from homebrewing to craft brewing. Watch this space for more news on Binary Brew Worx! ontapmag.co.za | Summer 2020 | 69