[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Could it be that beer is the reason for civilisation? There’s nothing quite like that cool, crisp and refreshing taste of an ice-cold lager or foamy ale. We all know that, but here’s something you didn’t know about beer…
It may just be the reason for all civilization. Sound like a joke? Well, only partly – 12 000 years ago, the very first and rather crude version of what we now know as beer was made. The story goes that a loaf of bread was left outside in the rain for some time. The yeast in the bread digested the grains, and the result was a crude mead. The following few millennia saw a previously-nomadic world population begin to settle down to cultivate grains for eating and fermenting.
Though I can’t see many people nowadays knocking back a pint of wet bread, it’s certainly prudent to acknowledge this historic moment with respect! This was the birth of SAB, of Black Label (all too well known by the student population), and of the myriad of microbreweries which churn out our favorite session beers.
South Africa has gone craft-beer-crazy in recent years. Darling Breweries, CBC, and Devil’s Peak Brewery in the Western Cape, Black Horse, Gilroy’s and Copper Lake in Gauteng and Shongweni and Nottingham Road Breweries in KZN are leading the way, and dozens more are chasing their tails. To get a taste of the revolution, all you have to do is pick up a CBC Amber Weiss, a Devil’s Peak Blockhouse, or my personal favourite – Darling Brewery’s Bonecrusher.
On a recent trip to the Spice Route in Paarl, WC, the FundiConnect team went wild in CBC’s beer tasting room. From the classic Pilsner to the unconventional Krystal Weiss, we had it all. For those at UCT, Stellies, UWC and Varsity College, the Spice Route is just a 30 minute drive from Cape Town and is an epic weekend social. CBC’s brewery is situated on the Spice Route estate, and you can do chocolate, coffee, wine, cheese and biltong tasting too!
Speak the beer lingo:
- Blonde – Often aromatic and fruity-tasting
- Saison – Seasonal beers for the summer, but available all year round. It was once a poor-man’s blend of several beers, designed to be a thirst-quencher for local farm workers.
- Wit – This style is usually made from equal portions of raw wheat and malted barley, spiced with ground coriander seeds and dried orange peels.
- Pale Ales – Traditionally golden to copper in colour, pale ales have low to medium maltiness, with English hop varieties providing flavour and bitterness. Pale ales are not really “pale”. The term was originally used to distinguish these ales from porters and stouts.
- Ale – A beer made with top-fermenting yeast that is fermented at warmer temperatures and many times served at a warmer temperature.
- Draught beer – Beer drawn from kegs rather than from cans or bottles.
- India Pale Ale or IPA – A beer style in the pale ale category from England of the 19th Century with a more bitter taste due to the hops used.
- Lager – A beer fermented at cooler temperatures creating a “cleaner” taste allowing the malt and hops to shine through.
- Malt – Processed barley that has been steeped in water and germinated for the purpose of converting the insoluble starch in barley to the soluble sugars in malt.
- Pilsner – A pale lager from the city of Pilsen, Czech Republic that is from straw to golden in colour and has a more bitter, earthy taste.
- Stout – A dark beer of roasted malt, barley or hops usually with a higher percentage of alcohol.
FundiConnect 2cents
It’s no secret that we appreciate a good craft beer and enjoy a little after work tasting. In fact, we are pros already. Check out our very own craft beer rating wall![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
