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Since having moved to South Africa two years ago, I seem to have become an avid festival-goer. It does not matter whether it’s a music festival, a food festival or a wine & beer fest – if it’s anywhere in Jozi, you are more than likely to find me there.

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So when one of one of the biggest craft beer festivals came to town, I made sure my plans were in place way in advance. The SA on Tap Craft Beer Festival was held at the Old Parktonian Sports Club on 28th March and despite expectations of rain, the weather did not play spoil sport and remained really pleasant throughout the day.

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Having rounded up a fairly large group of friends, we reached the fest around lunch-time and were surprised to see that the grounds and the beer tents were already buzzing with people. The organisers had put in place a token system for the purchase of beer and food so we had to stand in a long queue in order to buy these. I wonder why an initial amount of tokens could not have been sold online along with the tickets, which we could then collect on our way in. This would have saved us all some time and hassle.

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Having procured the all important tokens (R100 for 8), we could not wait to get started. After all, there were almost 150 beers to choose from! The first brewery we headed to was Brauhaus am Damm from Rustenburg. They had six beers on offer and I went for the Pilsner, which I felt was light yet full bodied when compared to the Draught. Two tokens bought you a full glass of beer while one token was supposedly half a glass, but it was just a tad short of a full! So you can guess who drank only ‘half’ glasses!

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I had been really looking forward to Clarens Brewery because on a recent short trip to Clarens, we had really enjoyed their brews. They had two new beers – Clarens Smash and Clarens Goes nuts. While I did not get around to trying the latter, I did really enjoy the Smash. Some of the other really popular breweries were CBC, Brewhogs, Butcher Block and Copperlake.

There was ample food to be had as well. From fresh and juicy burgers from Hogshead to spicy curries from the Street Chef food truck; from wraps and sandwiches to crispy chicken and hot dogs; there was something for everyone. Fries were the only thing that seemed to be missing though.

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But the festival was not just about drinking and eating. There were brew appreciation classes for the more serious and discerning beer lovers and great music from the Gangs of Ballet. It was a perfect day to spend with friends while enjoying some of the best locally crafted beers in South Africa.

In case you missed this great festival, there is no need to be disheartened. The Jozi Craft Beer Festival is coming up on the 9th of May! And if you’re in Durban SA on Tap will be heading your way on the 1st of August so watch this space before it takes over Harlequin Club in Pretoria in September.

 

Words by Namrata Nanda | Images by Kevin Sawyer

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[Category: Cities, Drink, Festivals, The Weekender]


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