A fine finale to a year of beer: The Cape Town Festival of Beer

So you’ve loved your real beer, you’ve prosted your lungs out at one of various Oktoberfest celebrations, you’ve toasted the solstice, clinked glasses in Clarens and discovered that homebrew fests still give a headache if you overindulge. The year is drawing to a close but there is still one homage to the amber nectar left. It’s the grand finale, the mother of SA beer festivals, the Big One, if you will, though the organisers of the Cape Town Festival of Beer will be the first to tell you that size doesn’t matter.

By which I refer, of course, to the size of the brewery producing the beer. It doesn’t matter if your preferred pint comes from the world’s largest brewery or a bucket in your mate’s bachelor pad as long as you enjoy your beer. And at the second Cape Town Festival of Beer there will be plenty of chances for you to discover what it is that you really like. There will be close to 100 beers to quaff, from thirst-quenching lagers to big beers that dish out a much-needed fix for hopheads; from summery weiss beers to warming stouts. My plan is to taste every beer over three days, reviewing each on Twitter as I go (and no, it won’t be a pint of each – just a taste). Join me in sampling every ale, wit, fruit beer and bitter or pick out your favourite and sip while listening to live tunes, munching on beer snacks, entering contests or watching the guys (and gal) from the Southyeasters brew a fresh batch of beer from scratch each day of the festival.

It’s going to be an awesome end to an increasingly exciting calendar of beer bashes – I’ll see you there!

The 2nd Annual Cape Town Festival of Beer takes place November 25-27, 2011 at Hamiltons Rugby Club, Green Point.

To avoid the queues, book your tickets at www.webtickets.co.za: day pass R60, two days R100, three days R120.

If you’re feeling flush, book a Kings’ Table with a draught tap and personalised Fraulein service for your table, R2500 for 10 people. Leave your car at home and grab a cab or bus to the fest. Or if you do drive there, call 1 for the road and get them to drive you and your car home again!