Rooibos beer – the taste of Africa
I am a little surprised and somewhat disappointed that there is no Rooibos beer from South Africa. Please let me know if I am mistaken. When I says Rooibos beer I mean beer with Rooibos as a spice. Well to be honest there are not many Rooibos beer anywhere. The only commercial beer I have found is Blanche au Thé Rouge Rooibos from Brasseur de Montréal in Canada. I know that the craft beer industry in South Africa is just in its early stage but I do hope that they will discover the Rooibos flavour. It is not only locally produced but also really good.
If you want to brew a commercial, yet high-quality beer I think this is the deal. What could be better than to spice up the craft beer with some good local flavor.
As a homebrewer you can always brew a Rooibos beer. Commercial or not. Rooibos contains no caffeine and has low tannin content. That makes it really versatile. Ad 0,3 dl per litre in the last minutes of the boil or just after the boil. This would give the beer some good Rooibos flavour.
I would love to ad Rooibos Lager, Rooibos Ale, Roobios Stout and Rooibos Saison as new beer styles in a couple of years. The taste of Africa.
SouthYeasters Summer Festival 2011
I visited the SouthYeasters Summerfestival at SAB Heritage Center Newlands on the 16 th of April. I did not have the blog up and running then so I write about it now instead.
A Summer Festival in April is somewhat confusing yet really, really nice. The location could not be better. If you have not already been there I would recommend a visit to the Heritage Center in Newlands. You could walk around the old Mariendahl brewery building and look at a good collection of old brewing equipment. Maybe some more about that later on.
Now, the Festival was really nice. The beers was a mix between all grain and kit brews. I got the impression that all-grain brewing is gaining in popularity in South Africa. The SouthYeasters are doing a good job promoting homebrewing with this festival. About 200 people visisted the festival but I think it could grow much more. It is a friendly atmosphere and you get a good chance to talk with other brewers.
My personal favorite beers where Eric van Heerdens Red Ale, Ampie Krugers Rooi Jan Ale and the Belgian Wit and the Oat Stout from Analize and Mark Ter Morhuizen. The winner was Nick Birkbys Brown Ale. Well I do not always have the same taste as the majority. Recipes can be found at the SouthYeasters website.
If you live in Western Cape and want to learn how to brew your own beer I suggest that you get in contact with SouthYeasters (http://www.southyeasters.co.za).
Well it´s a start
Finally I got my blog up and running. I have been thinking about this now for a couple of weeks. A blog about homebrewing and African craft beer. I will focus on the brewing process, equipment and recipies . There will be something about commercial beers and brewers as well. Mainly from southern Africa.
I hope you enjoy it!
Homebru 