OnTap Magazine

TWO GUYS AND A BAKKIE Tinus Lottering was born and raised in the tiny town of Newcastle, in northern Natal, close to the Free State border. By the age of 14, Tinus already knew he wanted to pursue music. About a month after writing his matric, he moved as far from Newcastle as he could, landing him in Potchefstroom, 135 kilometres south- west of Johannesburg. He soon found himself playing in a number of small bands around town, before being invited to form the Jack Rolling Dandy’s: a two-piece, hard rock band. The two bandmates practised together six days a week over the course of two years, in a rented garage space, all in between jobs and “a bit of partying.” We basically lived in my car for three years Eventually, the band released a music video, followed by the recording of an album. They wondered if they should go on tour, ultimately concluding: “We have no money, but we’ve got a bakkie.” At the end of 2014, the bandmates scheduled what was supposed to be a month-long tour. They ended up being on the road much longer than that: “Ja, we basically lived in my car for three years.” The “two guys and a bakkie” performed that album at most of the major festivals across the country. They then recorded a second album, and started touring that one, adding a few neighbouring countries to their list of venues, including Botswana, Mozambique and Lesotho. They were in the process of booking a UK tour when, as Tinus puts it, “We decided to go our separate ways.” When I raise an eyebrow in response he clarifies: “[My bandmate] found Jesus.” After a stint in Jeffrey’s Bay–Tinus wanted to live in a beach town and do as little as possible for a year–his girlfriend at the time started to encourage a move to Cape Town. He wasn’t initially keen–he tells me that their shows always “ended up badly” here–but by the end of 2018, Cape Town was the new home. It was at this point that he realised he wanted to do more with his life than play music and work behind a bar. BUSHWACKING A WAY IN That ‘behind the bar’ experience had fostered an interest in beer, and more specifically, the making of. He leaned into that interest, emailing every single brewery in the country. There were 206 at the time, he remembers. Tinus told his many email recipients that he was a competent guy, eager to enter the craft beer business, with years of service industry experience. Of those 200+ emails, Tinus received one response: from the (now shuttered) Brewers Coop in Woodstock. The Coop needed someone to run their tap room. In addition to being a paid gig, a fewmembers of the Coop offered to begin teaching him the ways of brewing. The first two individuals he engaged with in earnest were Christopher Marsh of Bearded Brus, and Tim Bugler of Beerworks. His later first actual brew on site was with Tim and Phil Crowson (also of Beerworks). Tinus started to read as many books as he could about beer brewing. He points out that since he was the only one working at the Coop, if he wanted to brew, he needed to get there by 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. He would then spend the day brewing, before his actual “day job” began. This resulted in 15-18 hour days. “I was hungry to learn,” he tells me. The Coop was run by 16 different craft brewers, collectively. This could result in some slow decision making, and certain members being more active than others. However, it undoubtedly served as a launching pad for several brewers, Tinus of course being one of them. LEARNING FROMTHE COWBOY OF CRAFT BEER After two and a half years, the Coop closed its doors. Tinus and his partner left Woodstock and moved to Simon’s Town where he dedicated his time to furthering his studies, acquiring his Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) Brewing Certificate and then shifting his attention to the IBD Diploma. After handing out his CV to various places in Noordhoek, he landed an opportunity to brew at Long Tinus and partner Jess behind the bar at the Brewers Coop Beers on tap at the Brewers Coop Funky taps at the Brewers Coop Tinus and the infamous bakkie ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2023 | 51