Brewed to perfection, craft beer is different, complex, unique, and most of all, full of rich, satisfying flavour. Rowan from Innis & Gunn shares his passion for this Liquid gold with us.
I’m not going to pretend I have the most difficult job around – endlessly sampling drinks and writing about them is a dream job – but I did approach this month’s article with a little nervousness. There’s so much happening in the world of beer, it’s difficult to keep up – in the time it took me to write that sentence two more microbreweries have opened in Stellenbosch. OK, I made that up, but it does feel that way sometimes.
The world of beer is changing. Ten years ago we were all happily drinking R10 Castles … now I’m blowing 50 bucks a bottle on craft beer … and lapping it up. The US and UK have had something to do with that – they led the craft beer charge – but a lot has to do with South Africans simply demanding better quality drinks. We’ve seen what’s happened in our ever-more-expensive choice of single malt, cognac, and wine; and it was only a matter of time before we started looking for better quality beer.
For a long time beer in South Africa meant a clean, refreshing, slightly hoppy-sweet lager or pilsner – the German-Czech style beer SAB gave us: great for a long day watching cricket, but limited when pairing it with food, and ultimately boring for those looking for drinks with more character. The emergence (a poor choice of words, but I didn’t know the verb for “punches out of the night like a train at 200km an hour”) of craft beer has introduced us to a much broader range of beers out there.
IPA’s were one type of beer we hadn’t seen before. The (I)ndia (P)ale (A)le got its name from the days when the British Empire extended to the Indian sub-continent, and ships ferrying troops from Europe, around the Cape of Good Hope and onwards to India needed to serve decent beer to the men on board for their long, hot journey. Hops is a natural preservative, and its bitter-floral taste kept the beer fresh tasting. And, I suppose, happy troops probably meant less mutinies. A craft beer many lovers are choosing is The King’s Blockhouse IPA from Devil’s Peak Brewing. I don’t think the words “punchy” and “floral” have ever been used side-by-side to describe anything, but it’s the best I can do to do justice to this lovely beer.
Wit (also Weiss, White, Wheat) is a beer style that is proving to be popular – and Darling Brew Bone Crusher is a good example. For those who haven’t tried it, it’s aromatic, citrusy, with a candy-spice finish – a real summer beer. And, of course, we’re also seeing a lot of exciting takes on lagers and ales. Brewers & Union’s Beast of the Deep Unfiltered Lager is a beautifully made beer that manages to achieve the crispness of a typical lager with a mouth-filling honey-biscuit character.
But one of the most exceptional beers I’ve come across is Innis & Gunn. Brewed in Scotland, this boutique brewery oak-ages its beer – typically using barrels that once contained Scotch whisky. The result is a beer with enormous flavour, and a sensationally long, vanilla-toffee aftertaste. They even have a dark beer made in used casks that once contained Caribbean rum (think dry treacle, brown sugar and warm spice).
I’ve recently discovered Innis & Gunn has the equivalent of a Michelin Star, and Gordon Ramsey has called it the “best beer for food”, so I’m pleased to find myself in such illustrious company in recommending this remarkable beer! *