OnTap Magazine

T H E U L T I M S A F A R I Beer transport riders deliver cases of lager to rural areas Locals fill up their containers with sorghum beer pumped from a tanker those who joined for short stretches of the trip – so Michael was joined by what he calls “transitional drinkers”. Many would join for post-ride beers, but only Michael sipped all 74 of the brews they found in fridges and on shelves from Egypt’s capital to the Mother City. As they traversed 11 different lands, some beers blended into the background, while others remain etched on Michael’s memory. In Egypt, a few beers, such as the 10% ABV Sakara King Lager, were enough to “make you feel like you’d been kicked by a mule”, while Malawi delivered the standout beer for the four-month trek – Kuche Kuche, a 3.7%ABV quaffer that’s perfect after a long day in the saddle. “One of the unspoken rules of EFDB was the strict adherence to a no drinking and cycling policy,” Michael says, adding that they would have to rely on the beers they could find close to that day’s camp. By day they would often take detours into remote villages and Michael admits he was sometimes tempted to buy a beer for later. “If I found a beer I hadn’t seen before I was scared I wouldn’t see it again!” he laughs, but usually resisted since there was no way of keeping the beer cool. There were a few occasions though, where an interesting beer was sighted close to camp and Michael would opt to walk the last few kilometres, pushing his bike back after sipping that hard- earned brew. As you might expect, lager was the protagonist of the trip, with the vast majority of the 74 beers conforming to pale lager parameters. But there were occasional dissenters – Guinness of course is frequently found across the continent (“though I only counted it once!” Michael adds) and Carlsberg’s stout was sipped in Malawi. A few other breweries put out beers they label as ‘dark’, ‘black’ or ‘red’ but they’re often just a slightly deeper hue of gold, with a slightly higher alcohol content. And of course there was the beer with a lower alcohol content. Or indeed, no alcohol content at all. The Treloars arrive in Cape Town after their four-month ride Michael and Judith start their epic ride at Cairo's pyramids ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2018 | 41