South African Craft Beer Road Trip

Getaway Magazine

In search of the best craft beer in South Africa.

"When you date a Belgian, there are three things you learn never to dispute. First, French fries are not French. At the very least they make them better in Belgium. Second, Belgian chocolate is the best. Swiss is very good, of course, but Belgian is indisputably superior. Third, and most important: Belgian beer is the finest in the world.

And it’s that last one I have trouble with. Not that Belgium doesn’t make fine beer, it’s just that while chips are chips and I’m content enough with a Kit Kat, beer is very dear to me. It was my first word as a tottering toddler – in that sweltering Grahamstown summer an ice-cold Lion Lager was never far from my father’s hand. Or perhaps it was a Castle. Maybe a Carling... Anyway, it was one of the three. Because that was the 70s in South Africa and the drink of choice was oh-so-simple: lager, lager, or a lager anyone?"

Extract from Got a beer in your bonnet? Getaway magazine, March 2017. —