Full moon night cycle through the bustling streets of Cape Town
The Hop and Vine Craft Beer Festival at Groot Constantia
Celebrate South Africa’s craft beer craze at the first of four craft beer and wine festivals for 2012
Beer, boeries and bokke. No? Well, not exactly. The Hop and Vine craft beer and wine festival at Simon’s at Groot Constantia (from Friday, 20 to Saturday, 21 July 2012) is hardly so unfiltered. Rather, as the first of four scheduled festivals this year, this event kicks-off in the name of carefully-honed hops and South Africa’s finest brews.
Following the successful launch of the boutique beer and craft wine festival at Banana Jam Café in May, the Craft Beer Project saw the opportunity to cater to the Cape’s ever-growing contingent of artisan connoisseurs, and thus, the niche festival was born.
So, get your beer glasses ready and diarise the dates!
What to expect from The Hop and Vine Festival
At the festival, visitors will have the opportunity to sample craft beer from over 15 of SA’s finest breweries -some of which are making their debut - as well as wine from five of the top Garagistes – winemakers who blend vino in their garage in an innovative wine-making process. On that note, the festival organisers haven’t created a booze-fest without an opportunity to line the belly; Cape chefs will be cooking up gourmet cuisine that will pair perfectly with the drinks on offer.
“Beer pairing is quite a new thing in SA; it’s really taken off in Europe and the US, and with the Western Cape’s fanatical foodie culture, it seems only right that people started exploring beer pairings and realised that it’s not just a boerie roll that goes with a pint,” says organiser and beer enthusiast Greg Casey.
Entertainment-wise, festival-goers can look forward to taking in some of the live music at this vibey indoor market setting, and in between sips, you browse the craft stalls or simply have a chat with the experts and learn more about the concept of Garagistes and craft beer.
Not to mention, the event is family-friendly; so parents, don’t fret, there will be a designated kiddies play area to keep the tykes busy.
Ticketing
Tickets are available through Quicket.com and are R120p/p; kids enter for free. Tickets include access to the festival your tasting glass and two beer and wine samples. Don’t forget your wallet, all other food and wine samples are on your own account.
Festival times
The festival opens to beer and wine industry folk between 3pm and 5pm, and then to the public from 5pm until 11pm on Friday, 20 July and from 10am to 8pm on Saturday, 21 July.
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Crazy about craft beer? We’ve put together a list of what to drink and where to get it.
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