Leaving our campsite, we travelled about 500 km to return home. I travelled with all of my beer back home, not having time to drink them all at the camp. The last couple of days back home was colder than usual, perfect for drinking some beer!
I bought four beers from the Drakensberg Brewery; the pilsner, stout, red ale, and the blonde ale. And wow, I was blown away. I wish I could share these beers with you.
In this post, I will share with you my tasting notes when I drank them. Again, I could not drink them in one day, as they were relatively big 440 ml bottles. I drank them over the course of two days.
Without further ado, please enjoy this review!
Cathedral Peak PILSNER
Pilsner is slowly becoming one of my go-to beers. This pilsner is a complex beer, with some hoppy notes coming through really strongly on the nose. As I noted, the weather was a bit colder, and this pilsner was really good even on the colder day.
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The pour was smooth, with a nice white head. It was clear but a bit on the darker side. Compared to a lager, this beer is much more complex with bitter notes, highlighted by the hops. The beer also had good lacing, everything highlighting the fact that this beer was brewed well.
Champaigne Castle BLONDE ALE
In a previous review, I noted that in South Africa blonde ales have become a staple for most craft breweries. I also said that these are mostly hit-and-misses, as they lose the essence of what blonde ales are. But this beer redeemed the South African Blonde Ale!
This is also a complex beer, with fruity undertones. But the alcohol is also high, thus adding to the complexity of the beer. The colour was good, with some haze. I always compare blonde ales with Leffe Blonde beer, an unfair comparison but one that I always make. This beer stood up to this unfair challenge...
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A blonde ale, to me personally, begins with some high amount of alcohol, which makes the beer rather full-bodied. The fruity flavours add complexity but with the added alcohol gives the beer a texture that reminds me of a mulled wine. As noted, this beer gives a similar profile to the Leffe blonde beer. The Drakensberg Brewery blonde beer did not have too many malty notes, but it was pleasantly bitter.
Giant's Castle STOUT
This beer tasted like pure nostalgia. I am partial and not objective with this beer's review. It tasted like my own stout beer. At the brewery, I did not pay too much attention, but when I tasted it at home, the beer tasted like my own.
It is an incredibly complex beer, with notes of dark chocolate and strong black coffee. It is incredibly full-bodied, coating your entire mouth as you take a sip.
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It pours very dark, and the lacing is good. The head is dark, adding to the idea that you are drinking chocolate and coffee. My girlfriend's mother also had a sip, but she did not like it at all. It is incredibly bitter and the alcohol is quite high.
Amphitheatre RED ALE
The last beer was the red ale. This was a good end to the beers. It was fruity, a little hoppy, and also full-bodied. All of the beers were full-bodied, complex beer, with a decent amount of alcohol.
I did not get too many caramel notes from this beer, as it was again not too malty. But I did like the sweetish notes that did come through.
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The pour was deep red with a white head. The lacing was also good, as was the case with all of the beers.
Postscriptum, or A Good End
Unfortunately, the IPA was not bottled when I bought the beers. But these four beers were so good, with the red ale being my last, a very good ending of this series of beers! With my beer passport, allowing me to taste some of South Africa's best craft beers, I will review more beers in the coming months!
For now, happy beer drinking, and stay well!
All of the writings in this post are my own, albeit inspired by the good beers I were drinking. All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.