We chat to Standeaven Brewery ahead of Capital Craft Beer Festival discussing how they came to be, the allure of craft beer and what to expect at the festival
When was the Standeaven founded and briefly explain what piqued your interest in brewing your own beer?
Founded in 2012, after travelling abroad and seeing and tasting the extensive range of beers available I came back home to SA, seeing we only had a small variety of beers available at that stage I thought well this is something I could really get stuck into. My passion at that stage was cooking and brewing is essentially cooking in a bottle so it was a perfect fit.
Your African Pale Ale was featured fourth out of fifty beers at the International Real Ale competition. What did you learn from that and your experience in Scotland and England?
Travelling overseas and brewing 45 000 litres of beer was an amazing experience, being able to link up with brewers from around the world some friendlier than others but also being able to brew in on a brewery that had been there for over 100 years was an amazing experience.
What is the oddest flavour you have experimented with when brewing?
Liquorice and no it didn’t work out. Lets just mark that one down to an experience.
What is it that makes craft beer different from beer that is mass-produced? Also, what separates a great beer from a good beer?
Very interesting question that could have a million answers, generally I would say craft have more chances to push the boundaries not that everyone does but we are allowed more freedom than the large commercial beers. A great beer vs a good, also a challenging question as some people will see a certain beer as good and others will see it as great. Thankfully we have choice these days and can make that decision for ourselves instead of being force fed the idea of what is good and great via a marketing campaign.
What are your thoughts on the Anheuser-Busch acquisition of SABMiller? How do you think this will affect the industry?
Always, with any change, there are always after effects. I think it will make the industry as a whole stronger as I feel there will be a wider variety of foreign beers coming into the country at a lower price and it will bring some of the locations smaller producers together, leading to more cooperation and unity within the field.
What will be available from Standeaven Brewery at Capital Craft and will there be any special brews for the event?
We always brew something special for a capital, at this time I have decided which new brew I will be bringing along, although we will have our stable favourites of Watermelon Lager, African Pale Ale and a few others. Also, we will have our seasonal G+Ts which are made using the Gin we distill.
Having been involved in the previous Capital Craft Festival, what is it about the festival attendees can look forward to?
You can look forward to one of the highlights of your year, amazing music, beers and food at an exceptional well run festival. Overall you should have an amazing experience that will have you waiting to know when the next event is.
