You cannot in any way, shape, or form, predict the future. Life happens, and in this event what we might call a life, various strange things will happen which you never in your wildest dreams have predicted.
I never thought that I would in my life have written a 100 beer reviews for #BeerSaturday. It all started with my way of keeping track of what beers I drank so that I do not double review a beer; keeping it fresh and new every week was the way to go. Sometimes I do one beer at a time, but mostly I do a couple of beers per post (like this one in which I will review four beers). So, it has not been a 100 posts, but rather a 100 different beers.
The menu of sorts, to get to the 100th beer review, will look like this (presented and posted in four different parts in the next month or so just to make the posts more readable and not too long - otherwise these posts will go close to 2000 words of drunken beer notes):
PART 1:
# 92 Candy Cone Southern Hemisphere Hazy IPA (6.5% ABV)
# 93 Live Culture: Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale (6.7% ABV)
PART 2:
# 94 Ale of Origin: Spontaneous Sour Beer (8.5% ABV)
# 95 Wild African Soul: Sorghum Farmhouse Beer (6% ABV)
PART 3:
# 96 East India Pale: Brett IPA (7.1 % ABV)
# 97 Old London Porter – Historical Brett Ale (10% ABV)
PART 4:
# 98 Bourbon Wood: Barrel Aged Old Ale (11.2 % ABV)
# 99 Smoked Black Oil: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (13% ABV)
# 100 Icenator Eisbock (20.4 % ABV)
As you can see, these are big beers, with the 100th beer being a special one, hitting the 20% ABV mark and being the strongest beer in South Africa!
Without further ado, let me share with you these wonderful, wild fermented, sour, beers!
Candy Cone Southern Hemisphere Hazy IPA
In a recent visit to the brewery, the Hazy IPA was by far my favorite beer. I could not get enough of it. So, I bought one for the home as well!
This is the first beer towards the road to 100, and I cannot imagine of a better way to start it. I have been seeing so many Hazy IPAs on Hive lately, and in South Africa there are only a few places that brew some of them. So, when I saw this I was very excited.
As I poured the beer, I was met with an incredible first smell. It was full of passion fruit and some yeast. The hops were coming through strongly.
The first sip was incredible. It was hoppy, a bit yeasty, and a passion fruit overload.
It was nice and hazy from amongst others wheat and oats.
It was only slightly alcoholic, with a nice and slight sweet aftertaste, but also a nice bitterness.
Everything about this beer was well balanced and it was just a perfect beer.
Live Culture: Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale Cellar Terroir
This beer won best beer in Africa in 2022. That says a lot!
And this beer was a lot. A lot different to what most would be used to. As per the lable and their website, they secondary fermented and aged it in barrels with "whole cone hops, citrus fynbos, sage buchu and a specially selected crop of Burnsleigh Farm Southern Passion hops." The wild yeast they used was also unique to the brewery which is situated within an old winery. Hence their name: Cellar Terroir.
Opening this beer was an event. I did not expect it to be similar to a kind of champagne. But when I visited the brewery, they did pour these beers in champagne glasses (also visible on their website).
The beer literally opened with a pop, almost like champagne. This was the first time I encountered this.
The first smell was malty sweet but very sour. It had hints of grapefruit, but very ripe fruits. I did get some apricot.
The first taste was very sour but fruity, yeasty. It was full bodied, well carbonated, and had an incredible texture when you drink it. It was almost thick.
The sour was only on the initial taste. Slight bitterness in aftertaste, it only had around 25 IBUs.
It was definitely a unique taste, similar to other lambics I have had, but unique hoppy and fruity blend.
As the beer warmed up, it was less sour, and more sweet. It was fruity from the yeast but also the dry hop coming through; it was dominated by apricot and passion fruit.
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Postscriptum, or Cheers to Beer!
These are some big beers, and some of the best, if not, the best in (South) Africa. It is interesting that these sour wild fermented beers are winning best beers in Africa! Who would have guessed that?
Either way, this is a wrap for beers # 92 and # 93! On towards the next 2 and then ending the 100 with a big beer.
Stay tuned, and happy drinking!
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by these very big beers. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.
Inside the Philosopher's Beer Fridge
| Boet Beer Brewing Co | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Boet Beer Lager | |
| 🍺 Boet Beer Easy Blonde | |
| 🍺 Boet Beer Pale Ale |
| Boston Breweries | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Naked Mexican | |
| 🍺 Premium Lager |
| Buffelsfontein Beer | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Lager |
| Cape Brewing Company (CBC) | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Amber Weiss | |
| 🍺 Pilsner |
| Cape Collective | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Session IPA | |
| 🍺 Lager |
| Cederberg Brewery | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Voertsek IPA |
| Charlie's Brewery | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Cormorant Bourbon Stout | |
| 🍺 Harbour American Pale Ale | |
| 🍺 Wild Flower SAPA | |
| 🍺 Sandveld Lager |
| Clarens Brewery | Brews (All Brews Reviewed in this post): |
|---|---|
| 🍺 IPA | |
| 🍺 Hazelnut Brown Ale: Clarens Goes Nuts | |
| 🍺 Stout | |
| 🍺 Tondon Pilsner | |
| 🍺 Village Lager | |
| 🍺 Weiss | |
| 🍺 English Ale | |
| 🍺 Blonde | |
| 🍺 Mulled Apple Cider | |
| 🍺 Red Ale | |
| 🍺 Citrus Haze APA |
| Darling Brew | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Warlord Imperial IPA | |
| 🍺 Arrow Head Russian Imperial Stout | |
| 🍺 Long Claw Modern Saison | |
| 🍺 God Father IPA | |
| 🍺 Just Beer Lager | |
| 🍺 Just Braai Lager | |
| 🍺 The Wanderer Pilsner |
| Devil's Peak Beer Company | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Jucy Lucy Hazy IPA | |
| 🍺 King's Blockhouse IPA | |
| 🍺 Lucy loves Candy NEIPA |
| Drakensberg Brewery | Brews (All Brews Reviewed in this post): |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Cathedral Peak Pilsner | |
| 🍺 Champagne Castle Blonde Ale | |
| 🍺 Giant's Castle Stout | |
| 🍺 Amphitheater Red Ale |
| Hey Joe Brewing Co | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Session IPA |
| Jack Black Brewing Co | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Skeleton Coast IPA | |
| 🍺 Butcher's Block Pale Ale | |
| 🍺 Original Cape Pale Ale | |
| 🍺 Brewers Lager |
| Mohope | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Lager |
| Old Harbour Beer | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Old Harbour Lager |
| Paternoster Brewery | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Pilsner |
| Route 96 Brewery | Brews (All Brews Reviewed in this post): |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Zamalek Lager | |
| 🍺 Summer Blond | |
| 🍺 Africa Pilsner | |
| 🍺 Stout |
| Sabie Brewing Co/Hops Hollow Sabie Brewery | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Dravidian Draught IPA | |
| 🍺 Glynn's Gold Golden Ale | |
| 🍺 Safari Gold Marula Infused Blonde Ale | |
| 🍺 Cockney Liz English Bitter | |
| 🍺 Shangaan Stout |
| St. Francis Brewing Co. | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 The Beach Blonde Lager |
| Striped Horse | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Milk Stout | |
| 🍺 Lager | |
| 🍺 Pilsner |
| Swellenbrew | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 IPA |
| That Brewing Co. | Brews (All Brews Reviewed in this post): |
|---|---|
| 🍺 That Blond Ale | |
| 🍺 That Subtropical Ale (Delicious Monster) | |
| 🍺 That American Pale Ale (APA) | |
| 🍺 'el Juicy IPA | |
| 🍺 VESS KISS IPA |
| Yeti Underground Movement | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Black H-Ops Black IPA |
| Imported (Non-South African) Beers | Brews: |
|---|---|
| 🍺 Super Wit | |
| 🍺 Duvel Tripel Hop Citra IPA | |
| 🍺 Maredsous Bruin | |
| 🍺 Trappistes Rochefort 8 | |
| 🍺 Stangen IPL (India Pale Lager) |