Clarens is one of those places in South Africa that a lot of people go to, whether you are a SA citizen or a visitor from overseas, and one of the places you will always end up is at Clarens Brewery.
Just a perfect little tourist town nestled away high behind the mighty Drakensburg mountains. Know for its art galleries, sandstone mountains and craft beer scene, due to the Clarens Brewery which started in 2006.
Considering the craft beer industry only really took off in 2010 - 2012, Clarens Brewery were ahead of their time by a long shot.
Stephan and Natalie Meyer, just awesome folks, started with apple and cherry cider before moving to beer and have been the go-to experts for so many micro breweries that either took up the hobby or business. Over those early years they received all=sorts of awards for the different beers and they have stayed the course, retained their formulas and the beer is just as amazing as it was 10 - 15 years ago.
They brew at the back of their premises, you can see the distillery tanks in the pic above. So sometimes, well alot of the time, the smells are fantastic.
These shots were done on the fly - a quick visit to get some shots they needed for something. They needed to be casual, but show the range of beers they offered. So three of us poured as quickly as possible, to get the freshest heads as possible. Wiped the table and had a light on full bull to try and get the colours to show. They were happy, thats the main thing. I tried a couple of slow shutter speeds with people walking around in the background, some bubble movement in the glasses, but didn't work. The point being, taking advantage of any situation and trying what ever comes to mind.
There was this big awesome wood bar that formed a horseshoe shape, but the diss-advantage was that the bar shape also fell away from centre, so the beers are at different levels - just a thing I didn't like about the shot.
One of the things that made their beer and ciders famous was that from day one they would give you a set of tasters, so that you could try everything and then settle on a beer or cider - full glass. Still done to this day, because they are always brewing or distilling something new, you can try new products or get a taste for your favourite oldie.
Freshly brewed and bottled on site, you can get your favourite or a mixed 6 pack and travel back to the big city and re-live your weekend away. Clarens brewery has obviously expanded over the years with a another premises down the road where they do their own juicing for the ciders and also started a Gin Mill, so you could try their Gin & Juniper Berry. Damn, I think I feel a weekend away coming on! Personally I love a good stout. I may have loved photographing their wares, but drinking it was always first prize.
