As you can guess, my default drink is wine but I do like certain beers and I especially like the recent surge in craft brewing and all the variety that that brings. I also like all (seriously, ANY) "how to make xxxx alcohol" tours. I am fortunate to live in Cape Town where hundreds of wineries are easily accessible but I have also been to some breweries in England and a Whisky distillery in Scotland and I find the process really interesting. I promise it isn't just about the drink you invariably get at the end of the tour (especially when that drink is brandy or whisky - I have not acquired those tastes).
This weekend we went on the SAB Brewery tour in Newlands. (
I have been to the SAB tour in JHB and really enjoyed it but always thought it was a little silly that I live so close to the Newlands Brewery and have never done their tour - so, that's one tick on the CT bucket list!) The tour completely changed my perceptions on SAB and so I think I should tell you why.
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Right up front I am going to say, I am not a huge SAB beer fan. In my younger days I drank Black Label because I was trying to seem hardcore (
this is difficult for me because I have chubby cheeks, a high-pitched voice and tiny fingers and even with ever increasing wrinkles I mostly just look young and on good days - I hate this - cute). Then I realised that there are much nicer things to drink and no one actually thinks you are hardcore for drinking beer anyway. And then I discovered (
or my Brother-in-Law did)
Goblins Bitter which was my introduction to the wonderful world of beer variety and, following that, craft beer in all its beautiful subtle varieties.
Having said that, this tour, made me realise, that we should be drinking more SAB beer, and by the quart - because quart bottles are fully recyclable. In our world of increasing waste and overflowing landfills it is awesome to find a product that you can fully recycle. (They even give you a bottle deposit back - when did that stop with other types of bottles?)
They also try reuse or sell on all of their by-products which is fabulous. Newlands Brewery uses clean coal burning technology, (yes, I know coal is evil, but they are keeping it clean as possible) and the excess ash goes to the cement industry. They use normal beer ingredients, of course, and try to source those ingredients locally. (Although due to regulations, they need Italian maize for Peroni - so stick with the local stuff). Once the hops and grains have been used they are sent to cattle farmers to supplement feed. Even the excess CO2 is used to make cooldrinks fizzy.
The best thing is instead of the standard 5L water for every 1L of beer, they have adjusted their process to be 1.5L of water for every 1L of beer. (On the back of the bathroom doors at the Two Oceans Aquarium they have infographs of the amount of water that is used to make things, and the alcohol stats have always made me feel guilty because, let's face it, I am not going to stop drinking wine). The water is spring water - and actually the reason that the brewery (which was established, under a different name, shortly after Van Riebeek came to our shores) is where it is. (And you can go collect spring water from Newlands free of charge).
Finally, after the tour and beer tasting, I was able to bring myself to ask a question about the filtering process. You see, on one brewery tour in the UK I found out that they use isinglas to filter their beers. Isinglas (I remember the name because it sounds like Isengard from Lord of the Rings) is a fish product - to be exact - the dried swim bladders of fish and given that I don't eat fish (any, ever) this horrified me. I had unwittingly been eating fish in my beer. Luckily, Newlands Brewery uses a totally fish-free filtering system (that didn't sound like a place in Lord of the Rings so I forgot what it was called)!
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I failed to take photos of anything
other than the free drinks...
This was huge, a combination of
milk stout and
ginger and apple brutal fruit. YUM |
While I was listening to the lovely and well-informed tour guide I was thinking about all the times that I have had people tell me that all the big fishing companies (
insert the first name that comes to mind) are to blame for over-fishing, and how I have tried to explain that generally, the big fishing companies are the ones that stick to the rules (
and work with management and science and fund research - mine included) because they have names they have to protect. They are the companies that are monitored and audited and they are the companies that can't afford a scandal. (
Having said that, I am not saying what any fishing industry does is perfect, but usually I am having these conversations while trying to promote MSC, which puts the power into the consumers' hands - through peer-pressure which we all know is effective - ask the cigarette companies - but is mostly initiated by big fishing companies)
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I know that Newlands Brewery has to portray an image of responsible environmental practice (particularly given that it is in the middle of a middle-class suburban area), and I am aware that these practices help keep costs down for them so they make economic sense, but I am not judging motives, I am just glad it is happening. And I am sure someone will find ways to criticise any industry, but I think we should shout out loud about positive practices so that more and more industries start to feel the peer-pressure to do the same.
PS Did you know, Brutal Fruit is actually BEER! They just add fruit juice - real fruit juice made from fruit they squeeze themselves - to the beer. Ditto Redds - totally beer - they add apple to the maize.
