Durban - CraftFest is growing. There are now more than 100 exhibitors offering intriguing products on what promises to be a fun day for the whole family over the super-long weekend at the end of the month.
Brought to you by The Independent on Saturday and Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market, the festival, which celebrates artisan and craft in all its forms, takes place on April 29.
One new offering is Bootlegger Moonshine – a premium grain spirit manufactured from maize, rye and barley. It follows the same process used in creating a whiskey, except it bypasses the barrel maturation phase – essentially creating a “white whiskey”.
To this are added a range of funky mixers. Currently the Bootlegger Moonshine range has four flavours: White Lightning, Ouma’s Apple Pie, Rose, and Wild Berry.
Based in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, manufactured by the Midlands Distillery, Bootlegger Moonshine is hand-crafted using locally sourced ingredients and homegrown South African recipes. Catch this first-of-its-kind proudly South African product at #CraftFest 2018.
See also
https://www.iol.co.za/ios/arts/craftfest-carves-a-niche-14128197
https://www.iol.co.za/ios/arts/the-art-of-the-craft-fest-13690572
https://www.iol.co.za/ios/arts/craftfest-chill-to-cool-sounds-14493962
CraftFest also celebrates the beers of woman brewer Megan Gemmell whose passion for brewing started in 2009 while she was studying for her masters degree in microbiology. The varsity had a 30-litre test system where she had the freedom to experiment with various recipes and techniques. Some of those recipes are still being brewed today at Clockwork Brewhouse.
“Clockwork Brewhouse is not just a brewery name. It describes the meticulous and organised approach to brewing, combined with a preference for old-fashioned, ‘traditional’ beer styles. The beers aim to be full of flavour yet still easy drinking,” she says.
Clockwork Brewhouse has four core beers in their range – a Marzen Lager, an English Best Bitter, an Elderflower Golden Ale, and the SANBT gold award-winning Schwarzbier (German black lager).
Durban restaurateur Sean Roberts is one of the pioneers of the craft beer trend in Durban.
In 2011, he opened a pub in Musgrave called Unity Bar. Sean partnered with Robson’s Brewery to produce Unity’s in-house brew, Cowbell.
Roberts went to a local home brewer’s festival hosted by the 1000 Hills Chef’s School. One beer blew him away: That Irish Red – made by Paul Ten Hoorn Boer. Roberts handed the brewer a business card and said: “One day we will have a brewery together; call me.”
About six months later Ten Hoorn Boer strolled into Unity Bar for a beer and before he knew it he was building a 300-litre brewery on a “shoe string budget” in a garage in Umbilo.
The brewery ended up reaching a capacity of about 4 000 litres a month.
The partners then found premises in the trendy Station Drive precinct and scraped every penny they had together to build the brewery you now see at the back of the restaurant. Ten Hoorn Boer became brew master. Sean and his wife Marcelle attached the aptly named venue S43 to the brewery.
Catch them all at #CraftFest2018, from 10am to 4pm.
Next week: meet the home brewers who will be actually brewing at CraftFest.
- Save the date:
CraftFest is on April 29 at the Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market from 10am to 4pm. Tickets: R100 adults (prebooked), R50 children 12-17. Children under 12 free. Book through Quicket at www.quicket.co.za Tickets R120 at the gate. Like our Facebook at www.facebook.com/CraftFestIOS.
