Stalking the prey

England 470-7
v South Africa Invitational XI, XII or XIII, who knows...
close on Day 1

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Senwes Park, Potchefstroom

25 South African Beer Ticks

Twitter @ball_sup

I've watched some Cricket, but it's a Mega Beer Blog today. Lots of cricket colour, catch up & cobblers in the coming days.

Hops Hollow Brewery

So, my South African beer safari is up n running.

First leg. Hops Hollow Country House & Brewery. Long Tom Pass above Lydenburg, Mpumalanga. Very welcoming place in an absolutely superb setting. They claim they're the highest brewery in Africa. I'm not arguing. The views are stunning.

Good luck to all concerned. But, how do they make a living? I suppose it's a bit like The Snake Pass Inn. People have to get from A to B, and need a place to either stay or refresh. We stayed in one of the onsite B&B rooms. And I'd thoroughly recommend the gaff. Nice, but simple rooms. Nice, but simple food. No pfaffing about with taxis or dedicated drivers.

Otherwise, it just looked like passing trade through the day. When we were having our Tea at 6 o’clock, customers we were the only. Quiet.

The brewing kit is behind glass behind the bar. Nothing happening while we were there. Keg fonts on the bar. But, nothing on. So, just bottle jobs. Viz ….

Old Bull Bitter from a bottle at 4%. Full on Apricot. Marmalade sweetness.

Mac's Porter from a bottle at 4%. Just a little toast. Ripe berry background sweetness. Currants & a little hop hit.

Fred, the main fella saw my in-drinking live tweeted tasting notes of those two. Came over to assure me that nothing like apricots or berries or currants was ever added to the beers. He He He. Bless.

Blacksmith's Brew from a bottle at 4%. Nice wheat beer. Vanilla pod flavours. Hint of banana. Full of flavour. Some bubblegum.

Those Hops Hollow bottled beers have been low on carbonation, bubbles, head. I don't generally mind that. But, it has made them die quickly & look a little unappealing in the glass.

I took the last two Hops Hollow beers in bottles with me to Kruger National Park.

Tapper's Brew from a bottle at 4%. Blonde in the glass. Sugar sweet smell. Some Jelly Baby. Nice bitter finish. Essentially Bohemian Pilsener style. Not a bad effort.

And. Finally. Diggers Draught from a bottle at 4%. Billed as Kolsch. But more English Session Bitter to me. Near toffee sweetness. Easy drinking. Pleasant.

OK. The wheat style Blacksmith’s Brew wins the Best Hops Hollow Beer.

Sabie Brewing Co.

Keep going over the Long Tom Pass & you hit Sabie (still in Mpumalanga) & the lovely Sabie Brewing Co. in the middle of town. Great place. Brewing kit behind a long picture window. Looked impressively clean. Got the Space Age pipes & cables everywhere look going on.

The lady who served me (?Sylvia?). Was Ball-Sup compatible, but initially a denier. She wanted to push a tasting tray at me. And was incredulous when I turned that down in favour of one bottle of everything they'd got & a half of summat on keg. She got there quickly with all guns smiling.

She runs some sort of hospitality consultancy. Many of the youngsters in the gaff were trainees she was working up.

Anyway. Clean. Bright. Welcoming. She had it as six on keg. Of which four were also bottled. On keg I went.

Sabie Brewing Co., Dravidian Draught on keg at 5.5%. Superb that. Lovely head. Red side of amber in the glass. The bitter hop finish was still coating my tongue way back up the Long Tom Pass in the car. Fruit salad syrup aroma. Nice upfront bitter kick. Bit of burnt toffee. Superb.

And then, it was four of their bottles in Kruger National Park.

Wheelbarrow Weiss from a bottle at 4.7%. Effervescent. Dry in the mouth. Not much going on if I'm honest. Pleasant enough. But postcards home, there'll be none. Barely tastes like a Weiss. Don't know what they've done there. Partly, that's my fault. Should have given the bottle a roll. It's better once you get the unfiltered gunk in it.

Cockney Liz from a bottle at 5%. I'm not sure I've ever seen that concept before. A brewer's choice, wild card brew. But each one. From the blondest blonde to the blackest stout is still called Cockney Liz. Tickers nightmare.

Anyway, this one has turned out to be a well hopped Blonde. Nicely balanced at first. Seville orange sweetness gives way to good bitterness.

Shangaans Stout from a bottle at 4.7%. Pleasant. Easy drinking. But, not one that makes you take notice. I quite like the understated nature. Hint of chocolate. Hint of liquorice. Just enough bittering to keep me interested.

Glynn's Gold from a bottle at 5%. That is the palest coloured beer I've ever guzzled. Nice bitter kick to it. Maybe got some tropical caper going on. To be honest, unappealingly pale in the glass.

And, finally, the last of their bottles in Potchefstroom.

Long Tom Lager from a bottle at 5%. Dunkel style. Only lip dusting sweetness. Toast & Hop bitterness comes through.

Well. Sabie Brewing Co. Best In Show. No. Contest. It's the seriously good Dravidian Draught.

Anvil Ale

Up in Dullstroom. Anvil Ale Brewpub. Great little place. Ridiculous number of staff. One per table. One per beer line. By the looks of it. Brewing kit can be spied through a window in a separate building.

Turned out to be 7 on keg. (No ABVs listed). I went large from the off.

IPA on keg. Glorious. First impression. Right up there. Oh, here we go. In your face Hop Bomb. Deep. Intense. Got it all going on. Opaque. Superb.

Bookoo on keg. Pleasant. Infused with a medicinal herb found only in the Western Cape. Against a very plain wheat beer background. I can't quite place it. Maybe very gentle dandelion. Refreshing. Oh dear. The further I get down it, I get a very faint hit of Coca Cola.

Pale Ale on keg. Nicely hopped. But got some mad fruit swirl going on. Apricots. Gooseberries. And Syrup! Some similarities with that Hops Hollow, Old Bull Bitter. Maybe the water, or the malt, chucks out that Apricot tone.

Ditch that. Just been out the back. All the Malt Bags are from Germany.

Biere d'Saison on keg. Great drop. Soft lime. Dry. Nice tart finish. Some honey in the sweetness.

Blond Ale on keg. Unfiltered Pilsener style. Lots of flavour. Grapefruit citrus comes in later. Refreshing.

SA Brewing. Industrial Beers. The Evil Empire.

My ZA Beer Hunting has hit one major snag. The Mpumalanga Licensing Laws. Bottle shops closed Sundays. Sunday being the day I passed through Nelspruit on the way to Kruger National Park. So, I had to work hard at stocking myself up with beer ticks before entering the park.

I had to do it I'm afraid. Make way for SAB.

Castle Lite 4%
Hansa Pilsener 4.5%
Castle Lager 5%
Castle 1895 Draught 5%
Castle Chocolate Infused Stout 4.5%
Castle Milk Stout 6%

I have to say the Castle Lager was alright. Pleasant. Refreshing. As on tin. The best of that lot was the 6% Castle Milk Stout.

Two Okes Brewery

Hefeweizen from a bottle at 4%. Initially sour, becomes tart. Some apple pie. Mouthfilling & full of flavour.

Irish Ale from a bottle at 4.5%. Opaque. Nicely balanced. With growing bitterness. Warming on the tongue.

Stout from a bottle at a whopping 6%. It all happens quickly. Initial red berry sweetness, some hop bitter, burnt finish.

That Stout is the best of the three Two Okes (if you get me).

Oh, and in case you were wondering. Sightings - one Lion, two Leopard (maybe same one twice, I don't know I'm not a vet), many elephant, rhino, buffalo. And one very very close encounter with a family of warthogs.

248/511