***UPDATE*** Details for 2011: Friday 30 September 2011, 4pm-11pm. R50 entrance with WLRB beer glass. Venue: same as last year – The Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Rd, Woodstock.
Real beer. Have you tried it? Until February this year, I had no idea that beer could be not only palatable, but downright splendiferous… I tentatively joined a Slow Food beer-tasting event at Brewers & Union, and my adult life was changed forever. I still can’t stomach mass-produced, commercially sold ‘regular’ beer, but I love REAL beer. Really.
The same way I never thought I’d like beer, I figured I’d never be going to a beer festival. But this Thursday, I will be:
WE LOVE REAL BEER FESTIVAL
23rd SEPTEMBER 2010
Brewers & Union and Jack Black Beer have teamed up with The Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock to present South Africa’s first Craft Beer Festival !
The event will draw on small, independently-owned breweries to unite under the banner of ‘Real Beer’.
Thursday 23 September (the night before Heritage Day public holiday), will see a collection of the Real Beer producers, foodie enthusiast and those that appreciate the art of craft brewing, joining together for an evening of indulgence.
Come along and show your support for ‘little guys’.
WE LOVE REAL BEER Craft Beer Festival
www.weloverealbeer.com
Venue: Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Rd, Woodstock.
Date: Thursday 23 September – 4pm to midnight
Cost: R30 entrance.
See you there!
DISCLAIMER: Please use any event information as a guide only. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy thereof, things do change – and the best way to make sure something is definitely on is to contact the event organisers themselves. Full bells’n'whistles disclaimer here.
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Helen on 
Please tell me where this Real Beer is made and how. Since I have been in RSA (7 years I have found nothing that resembles real Beer!)
What do I call real beer? Adnams Fullers, Youngs, Youngers, Breakespear. NO gas..straight from the barrel. Tell me is this real beer and where other that the Biscuit Mill for one night can I try it in or around Cape Town
awesome! See you there!
Hi Howard
You’ll find the info you need here: http://www.gabrielcollective.com/craftbeer.html
and you’ll find those beers at &Union – http://www.andunion.com/AndUnion/Union.html – as well as a growing number of places around the city (I don’t have a list, but you could email &Union and I’m certain they’ll give you the details!).
They’re not the only ones – but they’re the only ones I’ve tried for myself. The list of brewers who’ll be at the festival is available here: http://twitpic.com/2qj5i6
Happy hunting!
You should come and visit the UK and come to one of our real ale beer festivals. You’d love it! Olympia (annual London one) gets a bit busy, but lots of great ones in smaller towns.
SA is actually home to approximately 25-30 micro breweries (craft beers). It’s something that is slowly taking off, and I for one can’t wait. We already make awesome wines, and as someone who has tried a variety of our local brews, I can tell you we are set to make awesome beers as well.
This isn’t actually the first festival in SA, Gauteng has the winter solstice / hops fesitval which has been going for a few years now.
In Cape Town you can try: The Birkenhead, Mitchells, Boston Breweries and Dieu Donne (known for their wines, but I believe they have recently opened up a brewery).
This event was, in my opinion, a complete fail!
Far too many tickets were sold! When I left, at about 19h15, there were at least five to six, or even seven, people per meter crammed into the indoor area and still more and more people being let in. Why did the organizers only arrange for half of the potential enclosed area to be opened? Was cramming so many people into such a small space not a fire hazard? All I know is that next time this festival comes around I will think long and hard before deciding to attend.
Hi Damien
Totally with you on that… I’d guess that it was probably okay for the first hour or two – when the numbers would have been manageable and you could have actually had a chance to chat to some of the brewers and find out about their beers. But, I only got there at around 7pm and it was already absolute mayhem. I made one very brief foray into the beer hall, but it was elbows everywhere to try to get to any of the stands, and everyone was already very impatient and twitchy about being jostled. No way was I going back in there again, so I finished my hard-earned drink and headed off elsewhere. Far too many people in far too small a space. I won’t be going again, unless I can manage to get there really early, and clear out before it descends into chaos. From what I hear, the Newlands Bierfest was much more fun and festive – so I’ll be checking that one out next year!