ON THE HOP

Black Dragon Double Chocolate Stout, Boar’s Head Best Bitter, Bridge Street Brewery, 500ml draught, R30

M ost people imagine Port Elizabeth as an uninteresting city, and in many ways it is. But it’s good at a lot of things, too: it’s compact, friendly, easy-going, got nice beaches, good schools, underperforming yet charming rugby teams, et cetera, et cetera.

But the city also has an unexpected propensity for birthing very good eateries. Case in point: Bridge Street Brewery. Now three years old, Bridge Street, situated at the bottom of PE’s old industrial Valley precinct, has established itself as one of South Africa’s best brewpubs.

With polished concrete floors and a view of a bridge encrusted with graffiti, it’s more than a little bit hip and serves great grub. And with legendary brewer Lex Mitchell — founder of South Africa’s oldest surviving microbrewery, Mitchell’s in Knysna — at the helm, the beer more than lives up to appearances.

Mitchell says: “Starting it was scary, with the knowledge that I was a lot older than when I started Mitchell’s and that I couldn’t afford to make an error with money put aside for my old age.”

Whether it’s passion or plain old-fashioned fear that drives Mitchell’s work at Bridge Street, it’s turning out to be pretty good motivation.

All four core brews are super accessible, expertly balanced and imbued with a clear sense of identity. The Celtic Cross Pilsner — Bridge Street’s bestseller — is yeast-fruity and richly bready. The Boar’s Head Best Bitter is whistle-clean, exhibiting rich crystal malt, toffee and caramel notes on both nose and palate. And the classically English and sweetly rotten Bowman’s Cider makes for easy drinking.

“I concentrate on simplicity and good execution in my brewing,” Mitchell says. “I am SAB-trained, and they [South African Breweries] inculcated a drive for accuracy and good brewing practice.”

The Black Dragon Double Chocolate Stout is what he calls “the real expression of my passion for flavourful beers”.

Made with cocoa and chocolate malt — hence the name — the beer is less decadent than you might imagine. Still, it lovingly combines strong cacao bitterness with dark, roasted malt and coffee flavours, backed up with a robust, earthy Noble hop profile. It’s full on the mouth, gorgeously lacy in appearance, and an excellent expression of the style — a beer from a brewer and a brewery that the Friendly City should be pleased to have.