Murray Slater | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Beerhouse opened a year ago, with the proud claim of having the largest collection of bottled beers, 99 in fact, as per the song. Last night a number of writers were invited to the first of a monthly ‘Meet the Brewer’ food and beer pairing evenings. The Devil’s Peak Brewing Company and Beerhouse food pairing was led by Brewmaster JC Steyn, previously a winemaker for nine years at Dornier in Stellenbosch, and a brewmaster for the past two years.

We were a mixed bunch: wine writer Harry Haddon, whisky aficionado Bernard Gutman, beer blogger Lucy Corne, blogger Amy Rankin, and blogger Karissa of ‘My love affair with Cape Town’, and others. The biggest surprise was seeing Chris Zöller, previously at Kloof Street House, now at Beerhouse, a gem of a host, an asset for Beerhouse. His brother had worked with Beerhouse GM Murray Slater when they worked in London.

Chef Roy MacAllister took us through the do’s and don’ts of beer and food pairing, and he said there aren’t many. ‘Anything goes’, he said. It is not an exact science with hard and fast rules. The yeast and hops add flavour to the beer, and one needs to take this into account when choosing matching food. The bitterness in beer, which seems to go with a higher alcohol content, accentuates the salt content of food. Stronger beers can over-dominate the food, he warned. The chef had chosen the appropriate food pairings without the brewmaster. Each of the Devil’s Peak beers was paired with two or three food items. Each of the food items were prepared especially for the evening, and are not on the Beerhouse menu. It is planned to add Continue reading →

The largest selection in Africa of beers on tap (16) and bottled beers (99) is available at newly opened Beerhouse, on party mile Long Street in Cape Town. The Beer List states that ‘we see ourselves as (part of) the world beer revolution’, and Beerhouse plans regular events to ‘incubate the ideals of craft’ and to celebrate the world’s oldest and greatest beverage’!

One cannot miss the strong beer yellow painted building exterior opposite Mama Africa. The Beer Hall is upstairs, once a bead outlet. The decor of the beer hall is quite plain, with some TV screens, and framed pictures of dressed up beer bottles in felt, representing traditional dress from around the world. The backs of wooden benches are painted beer yellow, and banquettes have been upholstered in the same colour. While they were renovating the building, they found attractive raw brickwork, and left some of it at the top of the walls. Lovely wooden floors had to be tiled, as the dust was affecting shops downstairs. Interior decorator Justin Plunkett of Joom came up with the theme of 99 beer bottles, after the well-known song ‘99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer. Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall’. Continue reading →