MEET THE BREWERS: LAKESIDE BEERWORKS

On Monday the 14th of April we held or second edition of our “Meet The Brewers” Series. It was time for Morne Uys from Lakeside Beerworks to step up onto our podium and shine. The idea behind our events is to create dialogue between our Beer lovers and the guys who create the beer that we love. The events are inclusive and the beer tastings and discussions are free.

Morne walked us through the origin of his brand new brewery. “We have only been commercially brewing for just one a year”, says an assured Morne. He and his business partner started off home brewing in a garage in Lakeside. They quickly realized they just might have a talent for making beer and invested in bigger equipment, eventually gypsie brewing (using someone else’s equipment). With surging demand from our Beer lovers they quickly out grew that system and purchased a rather neat and efficient Valley Brewery in Kommetjie where they presently reside. 

Before we began tasting his range we gave the Beer lovers a quick run through the process of brewing and the four key ingredients to beer, water, grains, hops and yeast. This empowered our Beer lovers a better understanding of how his styles differ and what to look for in beer.

We have added a second element to the event. A optional food and beer pairing. Every month we  sit down with a brewer and match his range and styles with food we best think highlight its flavour profiles. For this event we went with a cheese pairing

We started from the lightest style beer, the London Ale and worked our way through to his stout. The stout is a brand new addition to his stable and was his first official tasting.

For all five of his styles we chose a cheese to compliment and contrast the beer flavour profiles. Some combinations that worked really well. Morne’s Amercian Pale Ale hop profile was subtle accentuated by a mature 6 month mature cheddar from the the Karoo.  His highly carbonate and subtlety tart Hefeweizen was beautifully highlighted by the acidity of soft goats cheese while cutting through a pungent creamy Gorgonzola. Another highlight was a custom made Lakeside Hefeweizen Sorbet to cleanse the palate as we ventured off into the strong cheeses and needed to awaken the palate.

It has quickly become apparent that Beer and Cheese and is a wonderful match and something we will be exploring more in the future.

After the tasting the floor was opened to a Q&A where it quickly became apparent that there were a few budding home brewers amongst us. It seems Morne’s story is inspiring others to take a leap of faith and follow there dreams and become a brewer.

The evening was another success and it looks like “Meet The Brewers” is  becoming a “not to be missed” event.

Next months event is on Monday 19th of May you will be able to meet Chris Spurdens from and brand new brewery called Apollo Brewing from Gordons Bay.

STAY THIRSTY/STAY CURIOUS