Top 5 Beers of South Africa You Must Try
Beer has been part of the South African culture since hundreds of years. Traditional South African beer varieties are literally as many as there are clans and tribes here. South Africans are generally extremely dedicated to drinking lager beer. The most popular one that has been around for years is Carling Black Label. Carling Black Label is one of the award-winning beer has an earthy taste and smooth finish.
The Grand Store, a well-stocked online liquor store has a large collection of some of the best beers in South Africa. Here’s our pick of the top 5 beers you must definitely try:
Castle Double Malt lager from South African Breweries (SAB):
South African beer market is mostly controlled by South African Breweries (SAB), the world’s second largest brewery. Other than imported beers like Heineken and Guinness, most major brands are owned and produced by SAB.
With its warm and piquant taste, Castle lager is already one of the most popular beers produced by SAB. Castle Double Malt lager is one of the latest delightful creations celebrating Castle’s 126 year legacy in beer making.
The brewery takes pride in its commitment to produce beer using the choicest local ingredients. Two carefully selected South African malts from the malting plants of Caledron and Alrode, south of Johannesburg are combined skilfully by experts which turns it into the premium Castle Double Malt. This gives a beautifully balanced 100% pure malt beer which is rich golden yellow in colour, has a smooth mouth feel, with creamy foam and a full-body.
Lumberjack Amber Ale from Jack Black Brewing Company
The Lumberjack Amber is a medium to full-bodied ale with a deep, rich amber hue. It has flavourful and complex malt character owing to the presence of lots of roasted malt. Heaps of hops are used to balance this malt flavour and add a strong pine, citrus aroma. This results in a nice malty biscuit flavour with the taste of hops to keep it from being too sweet. It has good carbonation with a frothy white head which leaves some lacings. Intense, full-throttle flavours makes Lumberjack perfect to pair with heavy, richer style foods.
The Lumberjack Amber Ale has won a silver medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Cup, a Bronze medal at the2015 Dublin Craft Beer Cup and again a Bronze medal at the 2015 San Diego International Craft Beer Fair.
Bone Crusher from Darling Brewery
This is a Belgian style wit beer, inspired by Africa’s iconic Spotted Hyena. In South Africa, which predominantly prefers lager beer, Bone Crusher sales rivals lager sales. This says a lot about its flavour and quality.
Bone Crusher looks cloudy and pale golden and has a strong nose with traditional aromatic notes of coriander, clove and ripe bananas. It is refreshing with a spicy candied orange taste, a bitter finish and an easy, smooth mouth feel.
Bone Crusher won a Gold Medal and the Best Light Beer Trophy at the 2017 SA National Beer Awards as well as a Gold Medal at the 2017 Annual Craft Brewers Pow Wow. In 2018, Bone Crusher was named Best Beer Brewed with less than 50% Malted Barley in the African Beer Awards.
Juicy Lucy from Devil’s Peak Brewery
A delicious pick from the IPA (India Pale Ale) beer category. IPA beer usually contains more hop than other beers as they would work as preservatives to keep beer fresh for a longer time.
Juicy Lucy, an award-winning, unfiltered IPA was introduced by the Devil’s Peak Brewery in 2017, and has had a growing fan following since then. It is hazy orange yellow in colour with an intense, unmistakable hop aroma combined with the wonderful aroma and citrus flavours of tropical fruits. It is moderately sweet, with a hint of bitterness and heaps of flavour and intensity; great for those who don’t enjoy the usual bitterness of beer. It is medium-bodied, with rounded mouth feel and has soft carbonation with average frothy off-white to white head. Great for summer days.
Live Culture Grand Cru from Soul Barrel Brewing
Made in the Cape Winelands by a small craft brewery called Soul Barrel Brewing, this ale beer uses 100% indigenous ingredients from South Africa.
Live Culture Grand Cru officially became the best craft beer of the African continent after it won the first prize at the 2022 prestigious African Beer Cup competition, defeating 250 competitors from 14 other countries from all over Africa.
Live Culture Grand Cru is a traditional barrel-aged farmhouse ale fermented with wild yeast indigenous to the Simondium-based brewery. It is brewed with barley from Caledon, along with citrus fynbos and hops giving it complex, champagne-like character with flavours of lemon, peach and wildflower honey.
So, wait no more. Take your pick and grab yourself a cold one at The Grand Store
