Tuesday 16 February 2016

Let's Go Surfin' the web

It started by clicking on a news item on the Chelsea FC website entitled "Premier League Live to visit Cape Town".
At the end of the story was a link to the Official South African supporter's club. This listed two meeting places, one a certain Mitchell's Scottish Ale House in Cape Town.
Naturally I wanted to know more so I googled said Mitchell's Scottish Ale House and discovered it's in the Waterfront, the redeveloped docks area in the city, beside the Table Bay harbour. Turns out Mitchell's Beers were started in 1983 by Lex Mitchell in Knysna, in the East of the Western Cape. Sounds like I've been drinking their Old Wobbly (lager) already! The brewery has changed owners many times since but is now South Africa's second biggest brewery.
Anyway a number of other search results lead me to Your Beer Info > and a list of 83 Western Cape breweries, most of which, aside from a couple, I'd never come across before. In fact far to many to investigate fully, so I looked at those in areas I knew and made notes - for when I'm there next !
Stellenbosch Brewing Co. and Stellenbrau, unsurprisingly are in Stellenbosch, the wonderfully named Atlantic Storm Brewery, down the road from Hout Bay in Kommetjie and of special note Sir Thomas Brewing Co. brewed in Somerset West, but named after Rear-Admiral Thomas Pringle, naval station commander in the late 1790s and commemorated in the naming of Pringle Bay (our link) - the place where the owners had the epiphany (while surfing) to dream up the whole beer brewing/drinking idea. 
Mine's a Sir Thomas Hangklip IPA… cheers.

"From Stamford Bridge to Pringle Bay, we'll keep the the beer flag flying' high".

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