SUIP!

“Uh. Sorry, Mr. Blumenthal, can I please get a photo with...

lespritdascenseur — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:25:00 +0300

“Uh. Sorry, Mr. Blumenthal, can I please get a photo with you?”

“Sure!”

He was on his own walking back to someplace in the direction of West Ham Station after last night’s athletics at the Olympic Park. I couldn’t quite figure out if it really was him. The lack of people hounding the-man-who-looks-a-little-bit-like-but-maybe-not-him was a bit of a negative signal, but it soon became clear that there was only one man in the world who would wear black-rimmed glasses that black-rimmy.

It was totally as I would have expected, had I expected to meet Heston Blumenthal by chance on an East London street. I should have asked him to pretend to fry an egg or make meta-peas using pea purée and liquid nitrogen, but I settled instead for a firm handshake and a “it’s really nice to meet you” in the glare of Olympic lights.

Thanks for being a good sport, Heston. Let me know if you’d like to go out for a beer sometime.

In the narrow streets and burglar bars of Observatory, BeerLab...

lespritdascenseur — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:50:56 +0300

In the narrow streets and burglar bars of Observatory, BeerLab are making a small name for themselves with their friendly service and small stockroom of affordable homebrewing equipment.

Although they might only work out of a tiny backroom – rest assured they have plans to expand – their shelves are packed with Coopers extract kits, all-grain supplies and little toys for beginner brewers. Find grain bags, hydrometers, refractometers, bottle cappers, flasks, tubing, buckets and even seminal brewing books all quite literally in arm’s reach.

I managed to sure up my equipment stock for only a few hundred bucks, and got bright and cheery service from BeerLab’s founder Lynnae, who said she felt she had to open her shop to supplement and supply her own brewing habit. Born out of necessity and passion for making things easier for local homebrewers, BeerLab, along with other new start-ups like ingredient suppliers Beerguevara, are showing that homebrewing can be inexpensive and accessible.

Order online from their clean and pretty site at http://beerlab.co.za. Pick-up and delivery options both available.

The taste of Cumbria. The taste of someplace that’s kind...

lespritdascenseur — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:09:39 +0300

The taste of Cumbria. The taste of someplace that’s kind of a sort of home.

So, what can I tell you about the Olympics? Not much, I’d...

lespritdascenseur — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:33:12 +0300

So, what can I tell you about the Olympics? Not much, I’d bet. There are hundreds of better writers here with sharper eyes, better knowledge and – oh yeah – media accreditation.

It’s my first time at a Games, and it’s wonderful. I’m already familiar with London as my brother has been living here since 2008, but this a London new to me and, I suspect, to almost everyone else: efficient, uncongested and friendly. For the first time in history, strangers are speaking on the tube in English about things other than future participation in knife fights. Locals are absent from the city, taking advice to stay away from the Olympics a bit too literally. Sidewalk cafés are half-empty. Instead of having a business boom, businesses are fretfully searching for their missing custom.

That, and the fact that the Olympic Park is positively sprawling, means that London is incredibly pleasant at the moment. It’s still bustling and hyperactive, still a city of too many languages and face brick and men lookbooked to death; just with an added splash of fluorescence and common purpose. Flags and nationalism and thousands of people in merchandise stores. BBC, Brittania, and people caring about rowing and the heptathlon.

It’s a glorious atmosphere, matched by the perfectly temperate air, with most days toeing the fine line between drizzle and blazing sunshine.

Which makes it great for beer. Suitably, London hosts CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival next weekend, but even inside the greatest festival of them all, Heineken’s iron fist sponsorship of the games is actually quite lax.

While the Olympic Park is home to the world’s largest McDonald’s, massive anonymised rows of vendors of fish and chips, pies, salads, sandwiches and, well, beer. The selection isn’t exactly wide: you can choose between Heineken, a Heineken-esque “lager” which probably is just Heineken, and an “ale”. That Olympic ale, however, is gorgeous mahogany and copper, with just the right whiffs of dark malt, toffee and milk chocolate to overcome a slightly watery disposition. At 3.6%, it’s outrageously sessionable during a long day exploring the stadia and installations – oh, and Michael Phelps winning his 20th Olympic medal.

Smashing.

Next weekend, however, I’ll be heading to Kensington Olympia to experience something a smidgen more diverse. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll find at the Great British Fest. The organisers bill over 800 real ales, ciders and bottles from around the world, all available under one rather large roof.

The real ale community in Britain is enormously progressive, pervasive and ever-growing, and now I get to have a peek at its grand gathering.

I am giddy with excitement.

Online beerlust is a problem, isn’t it? You spend hours...

lespritdascenseur — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:55:33 +0300

Online beerlust is a problem, isn’t it? You spend hours trawling blogs and Reddit, looking at gorgeous beers with exotic labels in new shades of amber, dark and everything in and out.

It’s frustrating when you want a new beer but just can’t hold of it. In South Africa especially, even where thousands of people are being turned onto new tastes, good beer can sometimes be hard to find, and beer from across the country nigh on impossible to enjoy at home.

The League of Beers is trying to change that. For a few hundred bucks, CT-based LoB will ship beautiful (and, happily, break-proof) curated twelve-packs of craft beer anywhere in South Africa. Even if you’re holed up in Upington or Ficksburg, good beer is just a click away.

It’s still early days for the LoB, but the variety of their stock is already impressive: a mixed cast of breweries, from the quirky to the no-nonsense, classic to progressive, all showcasing some excellent ranges. The aim is to make any bottled beer in South Africa anywhere in the country, and future plans involving importing new brews from the States to supply thirsty South Africans looking for new pleasures.

But even in its infancy, the League of Beers is looking promising. If you want in, simply go to http://www.leagueofbeers.com and get to exploring our wonderful beer landscape.

The Hop & Vine Festival, or, avant moi le deluge

lespritdascenseur — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:38:45 +0300

Friday didn’t start too well for the Hop & Vine Festival. A week that started off with...

That sure was an impressive evening. Despite the rain, hundreds...

lespritdascenseur — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:47:00 +0300

That sure was an impressive evening. Despite the rain, hundreds cosied up inside the Hop & Vine Festival last night, enjoying a bumper crop of new beers in some audaciously beautiful and relaxing surroundings.

Doors are open until 8 tonight, so you’d better act now if you want in on it.

Full review sometime tomorrow or Monday. Whenever this wonderful beer-induced headache subsides.

Pro tip: destroy your palate with a Devil’s Peak...

lespritdascenseur — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:59:00 +0300

Pro tip: destroy your palate with a Devil’s Peak King’s Blockhouse IPA (IBU: 56) and a Sunrise vegetable roti (SHU: around 1 million). Rounded bitterness and pricks of citrus and pine from the King’s Blockhouse will prime your tongue for what is to come once you unwrap the mummified beast: a burning assault of quasi-pickled cabbage, carrot and green bean, all wrapped up in doughy warm roti goodness.

At the end of it, your stomach will feel like it has endured a short but brutal North African coup d’état, and the only movements you’re likely to make for the next hour will be moans of pain-laced pleasure.

It’s S&M for your intestines, so 50 Shades of Grey that shit up and do it. The beer’s more expensive than the roti, but I’ve been eating these forearm-sized rolls of pure carb-gasm since I was 16, so I’m not going to stop anytime soon. I have, however, found its natural partner. The King’s Blockhouse is the only beer I’ve had that not only stands up to a Sunrise veg roti, but enhances it. Sure, there are bitterer IPAs out there – Triggerfish’s excellently pungent Titan IIPA comes to mind immediately – but something about the full spectrum of KB’s bittersweet floral-citrus-resin palate brings the pairing to an overwhelmingly indulgent fast food fruition.

Sunrise House of Curries, Main Road, Mowbray. Don’t eat anything with prawn in it.

—

If you’d like to get hold of this beer, head on over to League of Beers and have it delivered straight to your door!

Roeland Street seems to have the best of many things in Cape...

lespritdascenseur — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:50:00 +0300

Roeland Street seems to have the best of many things in Cape Town: its best camera and photography shop (sleek, shiny Orms), its best bookstore (the wood-clad and gorgeous Book Lounge) and – almost certainly – its best beer shop.

Aside from the scooter and wooden figurines in the window and the alcohol quotes on the chalkboard above the till, Roeland Liquors looks much like any other hole-in-the-wall bottle store in Cape Town. Don’t let appearances fool you, however: the selection of beer I found here is unparalleled by anywhere else I’ve seen so far. Find full up-to-date ranges from Birkenhead, Devil’s Peak, Boston, Darling, all three Quill’s imprints, Camelthorn, Napier, Triggerfish, Robson’s, Jack Black and Maredsous (as well as a large selection of foreign lagers) in stock, all at respectable prices. You can also find Collective São Gabriel’s (aka &Union’s) gorgeous-looking trappist-style Touro Tripel, too, although that might set you back a penny or two.

Their selection is extensive and thoroughly exciting, the only downside to it being the frigid cold room everything is kept in. It doesn’t exactly accommodate thoughtful browsing, but – you know – it’s a small price to pay.

With a wonderfully exhaustive sweep of the Cape beer landscape, and knowledgable staff and fair prices, it’s the ultimate essential destination for any beer-lover’s weekly run.

A homebrew revolution: a look inside the Beerguevara all-grain workshop

lespritdascenseur — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:58:19 +0300

So, total disclaimer: although this blog is supposed to be a chronicle of my homebrewing...

I know it’s not beer-related, but I thought I should let...

lespritdascenseur — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:02:40 +0300

I know it’s not beer-related, but I thought I should let you know that Hello Sailor on Lower Main Road in Observatory does one hell of a vegetarian breakfast in one hell of a beautiful space for R30. That’s all, really. Such a good start to my Sunday.

Well, I had far too much fun at Banana Jam Café last night....

lespritdascenseur — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 18:54:33 +0300

Well, I had far too much fun at Banana Jam Café last night. Things went from good to better when fabulous owner and Craft Beer Project mastermind Greg Casey pulled out the soft and caramelly Clarens Red from the back and then, in a fit of joyous abandon, decided to mix Red Bull and Devil’s Peak Woodhead Amber Ale on the suggestion that “it’s apparently a big thing in Germany”. Ah, to be the owner of a restaurant with an endless supply of craft. (It was actually quite nice, to tell the truth, but don’t let anybody else hear that.)

Other highlights included cheesy jalapeños, potent cocktails – dubbed “bitch pops” by the girls – and me strutting around in my dad’s denim shirt, shouting “JUICE SPRINGSTEEN” over and over and over. Post-drinking events included attempting to speak Welsh and singing Craig David’s “What’s Yo Flava” a capella in the car home.

God, I love this place. You should really go.

WIN TICKETS TO THE HOP AND VINE FESTIVAL WHOOOO

lespritdascenseur — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 09:52:00 +0300

HEY YOU WANT TO WIN A TICKET TO THE CRAFT BEER PROJECT’S FANTASTIC HOP AND VINE FESTIVAL ON...

The Hop and Vine Festival Launch

lespritdascenseur — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:49:21 +0300

South Africa’s oldest wine farm is streaked in gold and sepia,its roses and vine winding up...

My friend Terri made this cupcake. This cupcake is made with...

lespritdascenseur — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:23:06 +0300

My friend Terri made this cupcake. This cupcake is made with beer, and let-me-tell-you-something, readers: it is delicious.

Boston Breweries’ Naked Mexican, their Corona-esque pale lager, is in both the sponge and white icing, and although it was just the result of a late night experiment in a kitchen with too much beer in it – as if that’s a real problem – it’s actually really good. It turns out that the ubiquitous pale lager lends itself surprisingly well to baking, but, oddly enough, it’s in the icing that the beer’s pronounced bready and yeasty notes shine though. Topped with lime zest, it’s a little summertime cake that cheered up a cold winter’s night.

P.S.: If you’ve been thinking of baking with beer, you should go right ahead! It’s great! Just a word of warning though: cupcakes made with beer tend to go stale and hard really quickly. (Unless they’re made with Guinness, which, for some reason, tends to stay moist and rich. Caveats galore!)

Review: Valley Brewery Dublin Dark

lespritdascenseur — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:59:00 +0300

Hidden away in a light industrial park on the edge of Kommetjie, Valley Brewery has been turning...

Get in there! After a few days of teasers from the...

lespritdascenseur — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:54:00 +0300

Get in there!

After a few days of teasers from the cannabis-beer-swigging dudes at The Craft Beer Project, the details for the Hop and Vine Festival have finally been revealed. Completely unlike any other beer festival yet staged in South Africa, this winter craft beer and wine celebration is the second of many being organised by the Craft Beer Project, (You can find a review of the first one here) and is probably the first to collaborate with wine producers on their own grounds. I’m giddy with excitement.

Get your tickets for this refined and (hopefully) dignified beersplosion from Quicket!

Places: The Lowlander, Grahamstown

lespritdascenseur — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:00:00 +0300

Small towns often yield the best treasures. I called sleepy Grahamstown home for three long years,...

do you get down to the cricket in SA often?

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:45:43 +0300

Whenever it’s in town! I used to live 200m from Newlands, so caught that amazing SA-Aus test...

Have you ever come across Desperados Tequila Beer in SA, or more specifically in the Cape Town area? It seems impossible to find here in SA...

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:44:52 +0300

I’ve seen it once or twice at friends’ houses, but don’t think there’s a...