OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2020 | 1 From The Editor W hat a weird year this has been so far. e beginning of lockdown seems such a long time ago. Like many, I started o with grand self- betterment plans. I was going to write more, read more, to study…something. I was going to be a better baker, a better dancer, a better mom. Two months later and I’ve read about a book and a half, my own book remains unstarted, my e orts to learn amenco are just a distant memory and my strict rules on my son’s screen time are about as relaxed as you were on June 1 st , once you’d opened what may well have been your rst beer in weeks. Beer – or alcohol in general – has been a major topic of conversation since lockdown began. Ours was one of the only countries in the world to include prohibition in the lockdown laws and the two local beer associations – BASA and CBASA – have been working tirelessly along with other industry bodies to get the ban overturned. e “booze ban” – and the subsequent, strict level three restrictions – has left the craft beer industry in peril. It will be months, maybe years before things fully recover. Breweries are already up for sale, some suppliers have ceased trading and a couple of well-known craft beer bars have closed for good. But there has also been good news. Some brewers swapped malt and hops for potatoes and onions and started serving soup to those left hungry and destitute by the lockdown (page 8). Many pivoted to online sales, deliveries or pickups of fresh draught beer in a well-sanitised growler. And by far the best thing to come out of prohibition is the vastly increased interest in homebrewing. When we were planning out the year’s editorial schedule, the winter issue was set to focus on food, but with recent developments, we considered switching our attention to lockdown. en we gured everyone is utterly sick of reading and talking about lockdown, but no-one ever gets sick of reading about food, so we stuck with the original plan. ere are of course a few nods to the current state of limbo. As well as ways to make your own bread, cheese, chocolate brownies and chilli sauce, we’ve rounded up a selection of recipes to safely make your own alcohol (page 14). Even if alcohol sales remain legal for the rest of our lockdown, dabbling in a little homebrewing is good for the soul and it gives our industry a much-needed boost. Today’s homebrewers become tomorrow’s pro-brewers, BJCP judges and most importantly of all, craft beer enthusiasts. If lockdown has introduced you to the wonderful world of fermentation and this is your rst time reading On Tap, welcome – it’s great to have you here. And for our regulars, thank you for continuing to read the mag and for continuing to support the industry. You rock. All hail the homebrewers Cheers! Lucy Corne EDITOR @LucyCorne