More about Åbro Brewery
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the cooperation between the Swedish brewery Åbro and Cape Brewing Company in Paarl. It was a huge interest from the readers. I got a lot of questions about Åbro Brewery. Instead of mailing and/or phoning the brewery we went to the brewery in Sweden and had a look our self.
Åbro brewery is a family-owned brewery in the small town of Vimmerby in southern part of Sweden. It was established in 1856 and is the oldest family owned brewery in Sweden.
Is Åbro Brewery a craft brewery?
No I would not consider Åbro to be a craft brewery in Sweden. The brewery they will be involved in together with Charles Back is going to be one though. Wolfgang Ködel will be the brewmaster in South Africa. Åbro mainly brew lagers and ciders and has an annual production of 900 000 hl.
Do they have any other connections to South Africa?
Åbro have a project called Lejon för Lejon (Lion by Lion) with the purpose of improving the situation for lions across the world. They have sponsored a lion project in South Africa and also named one of their beers “Lion”.
Lennarth Anemyr is the brewmaster in Sweden and they have made a short film about his story (in Swedish but you will get a feeling about the brewery).
What about their beers?
This is a tricky one because if you like lagers they are pretty decent but I think they are a little bit boring. I bought a couple of their beers and had a tasting just to make sure.
I put all my ratings on ratebeer.
SA on Tap in Johannesburg
Website: www.saontap.co.za/
Date: 4 August 2012
Venue: Brightwater Commons
Times: 10:00 – 18:00
Tickets price: R100 presale, R120 at the door
PRESSRELEASE!
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SA on Tap is a celebration of the passion, authenticity, excitement, creativity, camaraderie and joy of the craft beer community. The event brings together the countries top brewers into one festive environment for you to enjoy a journey through the flavours, blends and brews that we have all come to love from the craft brewing society.
The ideal setting of Brightwater commons will play host to 22 of the countries top brewers featuring over 81 different brews, a fantastic line up of local artists, live Super Rugby and the Olympics. The venue boasts massive lawns, plenty of seating, secure parking, clean ablutions and loads of restaurants.
When visiting SA on Tap, you can expect to learn about all aspects of the amazing craft brewed beer from the brewers themselves. Not just how to enjoy the beverage in your glass, but about the individuals and processes behind your beer.
Our goal is to energize and engage craft beer enthusiasts and arm them with the resources to be active and educated appreciators of the ever-expanding craft beer movement. Beer loving enthusiasts will also be able to purchase brewing kits to brew their own special blends.
The Cockpit Brewhouse will be there to share in this experience. The Cockpit Brewhouse is all about beer enlightenment. It is an aviation themed craft brewery and eatery in the historical district of Cullinan. Cockpit produces five regular beers – Spitfire, Mustang, Hells Bells, Fokker Weiss and Black Widow. Come past and visit us this weekend at SA on Tap for a preview of what we have to offer, you won’t be disappointed.
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Today is IPA Day
Today is IPADay!
IPA Day was founded in 2011 by Ashley Routson and Ryan Ross. It is an annual event and the idea behind it is to unite craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide.
If you are in Cape Town and want to participate just go down your local pub and ask for an IPA. If they do not know what you are talking about you could always go to Banana Jam Café, Barristers, Jason Bakery, Loading Bay, The Power & the Glory or Van Hunks.
If possible, visit a brewery or two during the day!
Credit to Emily Ragle (@EmilyRagle) for the great logo!
We are celibrating IPADay with IPA´s and DIPA´s from some Swedish microbreweries (Eskilstuna Ölkultur, Oppigårds bryggeri och Stockeboda gårdsbryggeri) and a bottle of Hammerhead from Triggerfish brewing. … and a surprise box of beers
SA Craft Beer to your doorstep – The League of Beers
The League of Beers started up a couple of weeks ago and also attended the Hop and Vine Festival at Groot Constantia. The founder members are Rob Heyns and Manie Potgieter. Rob is also Operations Manager at Jack Black Beers in Cape Town and Manie is the man behind Roeland Liqours on Roeland Street in Cape Town.
I think the League of Beers is a great idea and they deliver to every corner of South Africa. I wrote an article in February about a similar idea and got a lot of viewers from abroad. But the Europeans and Americans just have to wait a little longer or come to South Africa. Great to be able to write that about beers.
They promise : To stretch your taste buds, to share in the experience of craft beer appreciation and learning. To put you in contact with the brewers at the heart of the revolution and to deliver to you the best beers that we can get our hands on.
Just go into their website and place your order! During the month of August they will be giving away an extra case for free to 8 customers who purchase their mixed case of beers. More details about the offer could be found on the website.
The League of Beers
Website: www.leagueofbeers.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-League-of-Beers/388463664545127
Twitter: @leagueofbeers
Western Cape Brew Route – August 2012
E
very now and then I will update the Western Cape Brew Route or Western Cape Beer Route. It is a long tour but you could just choose the ones you like and make your own tour.
New breweries: Cape Brewing Company, Stellenbosch Brewing Company, Stellenbrau, Karusa, Herold Brewery and Dieks Bru.
Honingklip Brewery is finalizing their brewery build in Botrivier and will soon open up for the public. (update: they have opened in October)
Note: Some, if not all of these breweries are difficult to find. There are very few signs pointing to the breweries so please check there location thoroughly! Check the map below and please contact the breweries before going there.
There are some breweries that does not have an established place yet and some of them has not even started yet like Gallows Hill Brewing Company, Royal Mzansi, The Real Beer Company (Retreat), Rock-Kestrel Breweries (Stellenbosch) and Brothers In Arms Brewery.
Please let me know if there are any breweries missing!
The idea of a brew tour is to visit breweries and get information directly from the brewers. Mainly for people interesting in brewing. A shorter beer tour is for people that would like to visit one or two breweries and then visit a restaurant or two for a taste.
Cape Town (City Bowl)
In the January edition of the Brew Route Paulaner Bräuhaus at the V&A Waterfront was a really good start. Sadly enough they have closed there operation and a new location is not yet revealed. Instead you could start at Boston Breweries in Paarden Eiland. They do not have a brewery tour at the moment but do not hesitate to ask them anyway. Jack Black is a contract brewery and is currently brewed at Bostons. Bierwerk is also a contract brewery but they currently brew at Camelthorn in Windhoek, Namibia. There is a new brewery (Woodstock Brewery) coming up on 252 Albert Road/1 Gelb Lane in Woodstock (close to the Old Biscuit Mill).
Beer Tour: Visit Den Anker and Mitchells at the V&A Waterfront or &Union on Bree street. Roeland Liqours at Roeland Street is a good store if you are looking for craft beer. If it is Saturday you could go to City Bowl Market on Hope (Hope Street) or the Neighbourgood Market at the Old Biscuit Mill.
Newlands
Then I would suggest you take Main Road down to SAB Millers Newlands Brewery. You can do a brewery tour in the new brewery but the old Heritage Park is well worth a visit in itself. The old Malthouse and the Brewery tower is a must if you are interesting in brewing and not just drinking beer.
Beer Tour: One of the best craft beer pubs in Cape Town (Banana Jam Café) is very close to the brewery in Newlands.
Kommetjie
After visiting Newlands you could go down to Kommetjie and visit Valley Brewery or ….
Somerset West
… take the N2 down to Somerset West and visit Triggerfish Brewing and the new brewery Devil´s Peak Brewing Company. Triggerfish is one of the best micro breweries in South Africa at the moment and offers free tasting. Triggerfish is a must if you are doing a brew tour . Devil´s Peak started up early this year. They are also looking for new premises so I have to update this Brew Route when they relocate.
After Somerset West you could continue the N2 east and turn the R43/44 down to Honingklip Farm. There you will soon find the new brewery Honingklip Brewing. They are building the brewery at the moment but it is soon to be finalized. Honingklip brewery will be a must if you are doing a brew tour.
Stanford
Keep on the R43 to Birkenhead Estate in Stanford. You walk right into the brewery when entering the main building. They have some really nice equipment to check out.
Napier and Struisbaai
From Stanford you take the R320 and turn south on the R316 down to Napier and Napier brewery.
Later this year you could hopefully head down to Struisbaai and visit Bulldog Brewery . I will keep you updated when they have all there licenses and is ready to start deliver.
Knysna and George
After that you could go up again to Bredasdorp and take the R319 back to the N2. Now you have to make a choice. If you are up for a long drive drive east to Knysna to visit Mitchells Brewery. If possible, try to visit George hops farm and Eden Microbrewery (at Misty Meadows Farm) on the way. Just north of George you will soon have a new brewery (Herold Brewery) in the small village of Herold. If you continue to drive north from George along the N12 (R62) and later on the R328 you will find the small brewpub Karusa on the Karusa Vineyard. If you stayed on the N12 (instead of taking the R328) you would come to the small village of De Rust. Here you could soon find the small microbrewery Dieks Bru.
Montagu
The other option (if you do not want to drive that far away from CT) is to turn north on R60 and later the R62 up to Montagu. There you will find The Mystic Tin Karoo brewery.
Robertson
Take the R62 back and then the R60 north to Langeberg near Robertson and visit Saggy Stone Brewery.
Frenschoek
Drive up to Worchester, take the N1 towards Cape Town and then the R310 and R45 down to Frenschoek. Visit Dieu Donné Brewery on the Wine estate/Restaurant with the same name.
(soon) Paarl
I you are coming from Robertson (Saggy Stone Brewery) along the N1 you should take the R101 and the later turn right to visit Cape Brewing Company at Fairview Wine (From Frenschhoek: Take the R45 north (pass the N1)). If you continue along the N1 you could turn at the R304 and soon visit a brewery (Stellenbosch Brewing Company) at the Klein Joostenberg.
Stellenbosch
From Frenschhoek: Take the R45 north and turn left (West) into Helshoogte road down to Stellenbosch. Then drive towards Cape Town along the R310 and stop at the Barrique Brewery (The Village Brewery) and at Stellenbrau . If it is Saturday please take some time to visit the Stellenbosch slowmarket at Oude Libertas.
And then you could drive back to Cape Town …. or you just head up to …
Darling
… Darling and there really nice taproom at Darling Brew. They still brew at Bostons Breweries so there are not any brewery to visit yet.
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