The proof’s in the glass, so bottom’s up
Whether you like cider, beer, a cocktail or wine, you’ll find ...
CRAFT fest has arrived. Get to the Shongweni Market on Youth Day for a mouthwatering array of craft drinks, beers, food and deli items. Plus, there’s hand-crafted gifts, decor and clothing.
Brought to you by The Independent on Saturday and The Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market, the day promises to be a fun-filled affair for the entire family.
With gin being the drink on everyone’s lips at the moment, and today being international gin day, two top local distilleries will be giving readers a taste of Durban.
Distillery 031 is one of KZN’s leading craft distilleries and it is the maker of the award-winning Durban Dry Gin.
The Distillery 031 team will be hosting a G&T and Cocktail bar at Craft Fest, serving a range of craft gin and tonics and other delicious artisanal cocktails. Get your taste buds going with a granadilla G&T, a vodka Collins or even a hot Gingerbread cocktail
As the cherry on top they will be selling their homemade non-alcoholic craft lemonade for those who don’t want the extra zing.
The Gin Co, an offshoot of the Standeaven Brewery, also offers some classy gin and tonic cocktails.
For those wanting something a little bit different, stop at the Everson’s Cider stand and taste the best cider that the Western Cape has to offer. Everson’s Cider is crafted by garagiste winemaker William Everson. Using only the freshest of raw fruit from Elgin, Grabouw, it is crafted with fermentation and barrel ageing processes to ensure every bottle has actual flavour profiles and subtleties. It’s a cider that is genuine and delicious. And then you can get the taste of a number of top local brewers. The Standeaven Brewery was an idea that sparked while brewer Shaun Standeaven was travelling abroad and tasting different beers from around the globe. What started as a fascination with the different styles soon became an intense study of perfection and, once he arrived home in Durban, he started experimenting with craft brewing. This is how “The Odd Beer” signature style developed. This hand-crafted and bottle conditioned beer contains zero preservatives and additives. Is naturally carbonated, unpasteurised, unfiltered and matures with age.
Visitors can enjoy the range of “Odd Beers”, such as the Bohemian Pilsner, African Pale Ale, Press Club Stout, Hefeweizen, Best Black Gold and Lager X.
Basset Breweries from Pennington was founded in 2013 with three beer brands – Umdoni Gold, Befreckled Red and Pennington Pride and, in October 2014, they added Barking Blonde to their line-up as an easy drinking beer for people who are new to craft beer.
The winter beer, named “The Dogfather”, was judged a Top 10 finalist in the 2015 South African National Craft Brewers Championships.
Andy Turner, head brewer at Basset, spent five years living in the UK and Europe. He began to brew his own beers at home.
The new kid on the block was launched earlier this year by head brewer Steve Murphy. They are committed to making bold, flavoursome, traditional English ales. The name “Scavenger Brewery” originated from Murphy scavenging anything he could get his hands on to make his first brewing kit in a little garage in Westville.
They will have Scavenger Pale Ale, Scavenger Milk Stout and Scavenger IPA on offer.