Brewing’s glass ceiling shattered
IMKE Pape pours out the first of the day’s beer in a large beer mug – rich and foamy, with a clear golden end. “We give the chef all the glasses of our first pull and he uses it to cook the Eisbein, that’s why it’s so good,” she laughs.
Out of the four draught taps, four very different beers are pumped from the cellar beneath her, having spent four weeks in a train of kettles, each with a targeted process and then finally pumped into a fermentation tank.In the big silver keg, an oversized “papsak” houses the delicious end product, ready to be propelled upwards.
“Fresher you cannot get,” says Pape, admiring a glass of dark l iquid with the perfect head – t he Brauhaus “Dunkel” that features caramel and cof f ee on t he tongue. She places the first taster on the long bar counter – a contemporary design feature t hat helps t he eye t ravel outside t o t he Olifantsnek dam at the bottom of their far m, and the inspiration for the brewery’s name.
Brauhaus am Damm will be exhibiting all of their signature beers at the first Joburg Festival of Beer on September 6, 7 and 8 at Pirates Sports Club. With over 200 beers on offer, the beer fest promises a celebration of micro-brewers like Pape, as well as international beers, craft beers and local brands.The event follows the success of the Cape Town Festival.
“We hope to give Joburg brewers an opportunity to exhibit their beers and the Cape Town brands the chance to introduce themselves to the Joburg market,” says organiser Jason Slinger.
Pape is one of just a handful of women brewers in South Africa and is looking forward to bringing her product to the city.
“We still far m everything we always have, but authentic German beer is now my focus. I have a lovely life,” she says.
Pape and a couple of friends decided to buy a brewery set, complete with kettles and piping, from a brewery in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in 2008. It is the only Salm brewery in the souther n hemisphere, manufactured to nurture the brewing process in the strict German way of beermaking. Pape calls it the Rolls-Royce of brewery equipment.
When the group of investors dismantled it by hand to be brought to the farm near Rustenburg, the German-born farmer’s wife shocked her family and partners when she announced that she wanted to do the brewing. It took a few years of dedicated research and a month in Hanover before Pape knew she could master the art.
Filling a taster glass with her far mer’s draught, the mother of three says the light, clear beer has won the people’s choice award for two years running at the Clarens beer show. The hit is malty and the “Pils” has a long-lasting head and a crisp, sweet flavour and it’s one that is close to the brewmistress’s heart. The recipe was devised by her German mentor, who came out to the Brauhaus am Damm when they first started up and helped her perfect the first few batches.
She says it is tough being a female brewer in what is perceived to be a man’s domain, but the German brewery she apprenticed in for a month ensured she participated in every aspect of the brewing.