SUIP!

South Africa’s oldest wine farm is streaked in gold and sepia,its roses and vine winding up and across hills. Farmhands on tractors chug by and stir around the entrances of centuries-old cellars. Groot Constantia is an estate made for postcard vistas; the culmination of colonial dreams and pastoral adventure.

That, and it’s a bloody good spot for a beer festival.

Last night was the official media launch for the Hop and Vine Festival, a winter beer and wine celebration to be held here on the 20th and 21st of July. More specifically, it will be hosted by Simon’s @ Groot Constantia, a gorgeous bar and restaurant tucked round the back of the estate. Here, media, brewers and other Cape beeries mingled and chatted while the chefs of Simon’s exhibited their food and beer pairing expertise and the various organisers of the festival outlined what attendees can expect.

And what can you expect? Simply put: a beer experience unlike nothing South Africa’s yet seen.

“Beer and wine have long been far apart,” said organiser Greg Casey, “but we want to bring them closer. A lot of beer people have never been wine drinkers, and because of that they’ve missed out on a lot. The reverse goes for wine people, although it’s also because we only had lager in this country for a lot of years.”

“Really, they’re very similar,” he continued, “and this venue presents an opportunity to bring those two worlds together and to celebrate both.” 

Along with the liquid wares from seven Cape-based breweries (the festival proper will more than double that number), the food was exceptionally good. Highlights included cumin boerekaas and pungent gruyere from Constantia Cheesery, and the lip-smackingly confluent beer-and-food pairings of the chefs at Simon’s, the best of which being the peppery punch of the grilled swordfish, accompanied by Valley Brewery’s London Ale, and the classic pseudo-sophistication of local oysters washed down by Triggerfish Empowered Stout. Salty-sweet goodness.

But do you know what the best bit is? You can experience all of this – the setting, the beer and the food – at the Hop and Vine Festival. With live music and food exhibitors in tow, it’s likely to be the classiest beer experience, in the finest possible surrounds, that you’ll get for a while. (That said, the scheduled reggae band and black IPA from Valley of the Skulls should get things quite appropriately shook up.)

Get your tickets right now from Quicket.

A little while back at the last Real Beer festival at the Old Biscuit Mill, I tried a Camelthorn beer and really enjoyed it. Being a bit ignorant, I asked the bartender, “So, where are you guys from?”

“Namibia,” was his reply. A bit dumbstruck, and a little tipsy, I sheepishly walked away clutching my weiss. I thought Namibia was all Windhoek Lager, but man, was I wrong.

Camelthorn Brewery, founded just over three years ago in Windhoek, was Namibia’s first producer of craft beer and, as far as I’m aware, still the only one of its kind. They brew beer designed to quench the thirst of any beer lover in that baking hot country and, even though I live in much more temperate climes, I think they do it quite well.

I picked up their Helles, which is an unfiltered lager, and was quite pleased with it. It pours in a shade somewhere between low-carat gold and English mustard with a very thin head. It has an agreeable hoppy aroma and is light and sweet on the palate. It isn’t the most complex beer, but what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in an amazing ability to assuage thirst.

I had it with a butternut and porcini mushroom risotto I made and, while they weren’t particularly complementary - that’s my fault, obviously - I would still recommend drinking the Helles with food. A combination of lightness and a smooth malty mouth feel makes it satisfying without making you feel full, and it finishes with a bitterness that is incredibly slaking. Combine that with consistent, pleasant carbonation, and you have a winner.

I have one small gripe though: it was R15 for a bottle-conditioned 300ml. I know it’s not the most expensive beer, but it just feels like it’s a tad on the pricey side. I don’t know if that’s the fault of the liquor store or Camelthorn themselves - or even just me being a miser/student - but it makes me the tiniest bit reluctant to just knock one back with dinner on a regular basis.

But on the other hand, it’s an incredibly satisfying beer - I suppose that’s the best thing you can ask from a lager, isn’t it?

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Camelthorn Helles Unfiltered Lager; 300ml bottle; 4.5% abv.

Pros: Light and smooth; makes for satisfying sipping; good with food.

Cons: A tad pricey.

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MASTERCHEF ADAM REPRESENT