Capital Craft Beer Festival Review
Last Saturday, the 11th of June, we excitedly attended the Fourth Capital Craft Beer Festival hosted in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden.
Arriving earlier would have us not arrive to rows upon rows of cars of over 7600 beer fanatics that attended this year. Capital Craft Beer Festival’s organisers had kept to their promise of absolving the queuing problems of early years and we were inside with beers in hands pronto.
The comic futility in realising “which beer to get” is not the right question, but ‘how soon can I get a beer’ is, comes quickly as you stare at the crowds. It was a choice between the shortest queue, the tastiest name, or a rushed random pick at something named “Element + Exotic animal + fruit” or the next shady spot to watch bands perform from 3 different stages across the garden.
Literally more than 30 different breweries, each with their own selection of 3 to 4 flagships, known favourites and limited edition lagers, pilsner, assorted weiss beers, IPAs, pale ales, fruit ciders, stouts and something with strawberries in. Food was aplenty, queue for a bit and a world of flame grilled burgers, tacos, cafe muffins, cuisines, biltong and delis awaited. A smaller selection of the freshest ingredients for vegetarians too, but I was there to partake in the varieties of beer these fine folk have carefully and meticulously crafted for our delight. As many of the seriously friendly beer crafters will actually tell you, if you ask them while their filling your personal tankard. Or educate yourself with some of their interesting crafting methods here, for example Darling Brew <www.darlingbrew.co.za>. Note the taste of history on the lips? All these elements made it a fine day for a beer or six.
It was a rare day, that felt more like a family reunion gone wild and they literally have to cage you in a fenced off park to reduce casualties. It was mad fun and definitely a festival to look forward to next year. Our deepest thanks to our designated driver. Misbehaving responsibly is an art after all.
Words by Ben Gericke.
Images by Adel la Kok.
