This weekend was the Cape Craft Beer Fest hosted by the Jozi Craft Beer guys and it was hosted at the Garage on Bree street in town. There was promise of a variety of craft breweries, artisan food stalls and even beer pong and live music.
From the get-go this did not feel like a beer-appreciation event where one can sit down and admiringly sip at some of the pints on sale. In my opinion it is not such a good idea to have beer pong at a craft beer festival – there is absolutely no reason to be downing this beer...a beer that the brewer has spent months testing and tweaking a recipe to define the style he wishes to portray, a beer that has been carefully created for your enjoyment with the precise end result in mind, a beer that has the heart and soul of the brewer in every sip, a beer that has its very story intertwined in the ingredients and branding to represent the epic story that goes into the beer. To me it had more the feeling of after work drinks on a sunny Friday afternoon before you plan the rest of your evening as it left me wanting a little more than was on show.
There was a market-type vibe around the middle of the space where some crates and wooden pallets were re-purposed as tables and chairs to allow one to bask in the acoustic ambiance of the live music. Unfortunately the venue was very hot and managed to drive most of the patrons to head for the tiny pavement space allocated to the smokers just outside the garage door. I think what was most disappointing – at least to me – was that there was no representation from any of the Jozi brewers...what happened?
I think the crates were a good idea, however some misting fans could have been helpful or at least some more seats around the middle. There was a large industrial type fan, but placed right next to one of the garage doors which ended up not actually helping much with ventilation.
Currency at the event was in the form of plastic poker-style chips emblazoned with the Cape Craft Beer Fest logo which had to be purchased from one of the first stalls you pass, but it felt a bit spurious to be honest.
Do away with the plastic cups - for R80 entry it is at least worth a issuing a nice (taster size) glass to keep especially if it is to be called a Craft Beer Festival.
All in all we ended up not staying long and not sipping on anything new or exciting. It was at least still a worth a visit to finish off the 2013 beer calendar on a slightly subdued note and to remind one that the craft beer culture is alive and on-the-up, but perhaps there is a difference between the true craft beer lover and the craft beer drinker.
For pictures of the event check out the Cape Craft Beer Fest in pictures here.