Hello from Stellenbosch, South Africa

[inf15]

(the obligatory and extremely cheesy) Howzit! from sunny South Africa:drunk:

Strictly speaking I live in wine country, but my intoxicant interests lie firmly within the realm of beer. And despite my country's reputation (SABMillerAnheuserBusch or whatever they are called these days notwithstanding) I pigeonhole into that category ales and only the finest of lagers! That is only (sort of) a joke. There are many fine lagers out there, but the setup required for lager brewing is beyond my budget just at the moment

I have just begun brewing all grain in my garage using a coolerbox mashtun and other easily available gear, having previously been priveledged enough to use a more complex automated system at the nearby university. Needless to say, I am finding the learning curve steep, but enjoyable nonetheless and am looking forward to many days of brewing at home in the future.

For that reason, I have joined this and some other homebrewing forums, which I spend far too much of my time voraciously trolling for useful tidbits on anything to do with brewing at home.

My heritage is English and I generally lean towards English styles, so I am looking forward to making this forum my home away from home.

On a similarish note, my family are from the east midlands and speak very fondly of the Mansfield Bitter of old, i.e. way back when it was made in Mansfield ( I am not sure if it is made at all anymore? - it was brewed in Wolverhampton at some stage??). I've done a bit of cursory googling and have found a few recipes, but I was wondering if anyone hereabouts has ever managed a decent clone?

Cheers for now,

inf15

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[MyQul]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Robin54]

welcome:

 

[mike-os]

howzit inf:mrgreen:

 

[Cqr]

Hi and welcome, I came close to moving there about 30 years back

 

[inf15]

Thank you all for the welcome.

Cqr - you should've done. The politicians are much the same and the weather's much better:lol:

 

[LarryF]

Welcome aboard, what recipes,yeast are you using?

 

[Hoddy]

Nice to have you in the forum. Your town associated with the same named place in holland by any chance?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[inf15]

Welcome aboard, what recipes,yeast are you using?

I am in fact just about to brew an attempted Mansfield clone of my own devising. I think I've gleaned enough info from this forum, but will have to let others be the judge when it's done. I would like to have used only English pale malt, but am forcing myself to finish the local pale malt that I still have left over from a previous brew with a "speciality" addition of Halycon pale malt. The weak rand (your quid will buy you between 21 and 23 Rands bearing in mind that a pint at a pub is around R20-35 depending on where you are) not only means cheap holidays for foreigners, but that imported bits and bobs (i.e. everything to do with brewing) are becoming dearer and dearer. For yeast I've made a starter culture of Safale S-04.

As to the name of the town, it was established in 1679 by the then Dutch governer Simon van der Stel who also gave his name to the town that hosts the headquarters of the South African navy at Simon's Town. I have not heard, nor can I find much on the first results page on google, about a Stellenbosch in Holland, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some sort of link. I don't think van der Stel is a particularly common name.

To the garage I go!

 

[Muddlecombe]

Hello and welcome. Visited there 20 years ago you live in a beautiful part of the world. But crappy beer:thumb:

 

[inf15]

Hello and welcome. Visited there 20 years ago you live in a beautiful part of the world. But crappy beer:thumb:

It is most certainly a very beautiful part of the world. And the beer is getting better. The "craft beer" - as they call it here - revolution is well and truly underway and there are micro breweries popping up all over the place. There is now some really good tipples based on styles from all over the world to be had.

 

[Noah]

It is most certainly a very beautiful part of the world. And the beer is getting better. The "craft beer" - as they call it here - revolution is well and truly underway and there are micro breweries popping up all over the place. There is now some really good tipples based on styles from all over the world to be had.

A belated welcome from me.

You're right about the craft beer revolution, I was there in March this year and went back to Banana Jam Cafe near Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where they now have their own brewery. Worth checking out if you're ever in Cape Town, you may even be supplying to them in a few years time if your brewing takes off. :thumb:

 

[inf15]

A belated welcome from me.

You're right about the craft beer revolution, I was there in March this year and went back to Banana Jam Cafe near Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where they now have their own brewery. Worth checking out if you're ever in Cape Town, you may even be supplying to them in a few years time if your brewing takes off. :thumb:

True. And Banana Jam is the just tip of the iceberg. There are three microbreweries within 10 minutes drive of where I live. There are also probably 50 wine farms, but that's besides the point:lol: