27 brewers, 92 different beers and eight hours – a possible recipe for disaster you might think, but these were the ingredients for an astoundingly successful weekend in the Free State. The Clarens Craft Beer Festival is only in its second year, but already it has almost doubled in size and popularity. In 2011, there were 1100 people keen to sip on 56 types of beer. This year the variety of beers was matched only by the number of people wanting to sample them – 2100 beer drinkers arrived in the picturesque town to enjoy mountain views and varied brews.
A family atmosphere – with the occasional raucous drinking song from some of the Jozi students who’d made the trip down – reigned, and with tasting measures positively encouraged at a mere R3, the emphasis was very much on beer appreciation and exploration rather than bulk supping.
And the key word there is exploration for there was a wealth of beer styles on offer. Bucchu-infused brews from Triggerfish and the Dog & Fig; a tamarind beer from festival sponsors SAB; the mango, passion fruit and lavender wheat beer from the new brewery everyone was talking about, Three Skulls, and some seriously full-flavoured brews from KZN’s Porcupine Quill.
But the bravest, and for many the best beer of the festival, was Mtunzini Brewery’s Chilli Beer – a blonde beer with just enough kick. Alas the BJCP judges found it to have too much of a kick, but while it failed to place in the top three, Mtunzini’s English Bitter took second place. Third place was scooped by last year’s winner, De Garve, for their superlative Belgian Blonde, Jolly Nun. And the winning beer was no surprise to this hop head. Cockpit’s Mustang IPA is a robust, full-bodied beer with up-front hops and a pleasant sweetness.
Mustang narrowly missed out on taking the double, placing second in the people’s choice award after the Brauhaus Am Dam Farmer’s Draft, perhaps proving that while those present were keen to experiment, they were happiest with something a little more familiar.
But there were other winners of the day, at least in my surprisingly unblurred eyes. Jonathan Nel from Three Skulls battled technical issues to showcase his much anticipated IPA – a big hit with the hop-deprived beer bloggers. And there were a couple of dark horses, two new breweries whose beers were underrated, perhaps due to a lack of pre-fest hype. Chameleon Brewhouse’s Weikersheim Weiss – to me more like a Belgian wit than a German weiss – was one of my festival favourites and the closest thing to sipping in a Hoegaarden in SA. And a final shout goes out to the brewery with perhaps the most enviable location of any in the country. Within dice-throwing distance of Sun City, the Pilanesberg Craft Brewery impressed with a trio of well-executed ales.
There were a few snags at the festival of course – the usual dire toilet situation and a severe lack of food vendors – but in a town as compact as Clarens both were easily overcome. We just skipped out of the village green, conveniently edged with restaurants, each time we needed to eat or pee.
Next year I suspect the festival will be inching across the other half of the square as beer lovers – and the beer-curious – descend on Clarens to sip awesome ales and soak up awesome views. Get your tickets and accommodation early folks – I’ll see you there.
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