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quickly dry-hopped the beer (which had now stopped bubbling), and were immediately swept up in the excitement of the weekend. It was beer time. We had barely stepped onto the street from our accommodation, intending to head to Old Potter’s Brewery, when we heard the familiar voice of a Jo’burg homebrewer friend from a nearby restaurant, calling us to join him for a beer. The first beer of the weekend was Hey Joe’s Trouble & Double IPA: a fantastic beer that we imbibed more than one of. Of course, the next stop had to be Old Potter’s, Greyton’s home-grown microbrewery, for more IPA. After a few more delicious beers, and a superb meal at a neighbouring restaurant, we were knackered and fell into bed. But not before we popped the fermenter outside in the crisp Greyton night air to start cold-crashing ahead of the festival. CLEAR RELIEF On Friday morning, we were able to put our fermenter into the brewery’s cold room at 4°C to cold crash properly before kegging it a day later, ahead of the main festival. We still had no idea how this beer was going to turn out. And there were a lot of very eager people that had followed our story, desperate to taste the final product. Friday at F&F was dedicated to the homebrewers, and there were representatives from eight homebrew clubs from around the country, a fine increase from a decade ago when there were just three. The beers were great, and it was wonderful to chat to homebrewers from around the country and sample what they’d been brewing. Saturday morning, early, it was time to keg our IPA at the festival grounds. We took a quick sample. It was clear, and tasted fantastic. Success! To say we were relieved would be an understatement. We quickly kegged and force-carbonated it, ready to serve as the gates opened. People loved our Roadtrip IPA, and so did we. We didn’t detect any untoward aromas or flavours, despite its unconventional fermentation. We will definitely be doing this again! The festival was absolutely amazing. The smiles, the hugs, the dancing. We have all missed this very much. We had the chance to visit most of the brewers’ stands, and were blown away by the complexity and high quality of the different brews. There was not one beer we didn’t love. THE SCENIC ROUTE The weekend went by too fast. But we did manage a hungover hike up the beautiful mountains in Greyton Nature Reserve (highly recommended – although maybe without the hangover). Before we knew it, it was time to start the long journey home again, luckily, with a lighter Brew’n-Hilda – and without a bubbling fermenter to worry about. We headed to the N2 out of Greyton, through to Swellendam, then through the mountains, to Barrydale and Route 62, which was the best decision. It was a beautiful and stress free drive, and we would have loved to have made a few more stops along this route – there are loads of farm stalls and restaurants, and beautiful little towns with amazing scenery. The next time we do this trip, we will definitely do it over more days and take the time to enjoy the drive. Who knows, if we take the really long route around, maybe we can throw a temperature controlled fridge in the back and even do a road trip lager… We still had no idea how this beer was going to turn out Fools and Fans really is all about beer and good friends Our roving fermenter takes in the Greyton views The end result was a really enjoyable IPA - and it didn't look too bad either. ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2022 | 35