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The beautiful thing about cultures is their porosity, the space they create in which you can experiment and explore different things. Sometimes, we are so obsessed with the notion that something has to be pure and untouched in culture. But this is far from the truth.

Cultures penetrate and permeate through each other, and this fluidity is beautiful.

In the small coastal town of Kleinmond, in South Africa, there is a beautiful brewery that takes its inspiration from Belgian style beers. The brewer worked and lived in Belgium and the Netherlands and got so much inspiration from their beers that he wanted to brew them in South Africa.

The brewery has seen many years go by, and I only re-visited them recently with my fiance after many years. It survived the weak economy of our country, and they are brewing some of the most delicious and experimental beers in the craft beer scene! Their ales tastes almost exactly like the beers from Belgium but with their own unique twists.

So, join me on this virtual journey as I take you with me to this lovely brewery.

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Upon Entering the Brewery:

Symbols of Belgium

As you enter the brewery itself, you are met with the signage and resemblances of Belgian beers. I have had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands and Belgium a couple of years ago, so I have had various Belgian beers. In my opinion, nothing comes close to them!

Either way, as you enter the brewery you see a lot of these bottles, and cases of Belgian beer used to decorate the bar.

But there are also clear South African influences mixed in here as well. The wood and tables are made in a specific style, taking us South Africans back into our past, or to a specific style used throughout the more northern side of the country. At least, it is what I felt!

Old is the New New

The brewery also uses various "old" things as decorations. This has become a real crowd pleaser, as I have seen so many small towns and even big shops in the city use anything from old PCs to typewriters as decor. Here there was no difference! The bar itself contained an old PC and other memorabilia.

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And another thing that a lot of breweries are using these days as decoration are hops vines! They are incredibly beautiful and I really like this imitative of breweries to use what they brew beer with as living decor!

Food and Fun: Create your own PIZZA

The brewery has a fully stocked kitchen. You will upon arrival get your own little board on which you need to tick boxes regarding what you want to eat. You build your own pizza from scratch!

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They also have their own olive oil, so you can be reassured that they only use the best ingredients.

My fiance also told me that I can drink some extra beers, as she would drive home. So, she ordered her favorite, a pink milkshake!

We can never grow too old for a milkshake, I would argue.

The pizzas arrived and they were incredible! We ordered a very simple one, garlic and mozzarella, and then a normal pizza! And let me be the one to say this first, these pizzas were first class.

We really enjoyed them, and I have to admit, they were a nice layer after the pint or two that I already had.

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The Beers

The main attraction for me was obviously the beers. And on tap, these beers were some of the best! They tasted like craft, they were heavy, rough, edgy, and all of the descriptive words you can give a beer that is not too clean and identifiable to a style. I love it when beers taste like they were crafted, if you can sense the yeast, the liveliness in them.

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I had their IPA and their Stout. They did not have their heavier Belgian beers on tap, so I bought a couple of bottles. In fact, when I went in to only buy a beer or two, I was convinced by forces beyond my control to buy a case...

Driving Home with a View

The views from the brewery, like so many others on my journey so far, are beyond words. You drive into the mountain, you drive next to it, you are surrounded by nature and the most beautiful of plant growth.

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Because the brewery is in the mountains, there are various mountain bike trails, and even a 4x4 trail! But these sports are not necessarily my forte, as I would rather sit and drink a beer.

Postscriptum, or We Leave as Friends

For a long time now, on most of our journeys we find the friendliest of dogs and other animals. But this is just a symbol or a manifestation of the friends we make with these beautiful places. For the world is turned upside down on its head with politics, and while this is happening, we might as well sit down far away from these politics and have a cold beer.

I hope that you enjoyed yet another beermaps post, or a post where I muse about the many breweries in South Africa!

For now, happy drinking, and keep well.

Safe travels.

All of the musings and writings are my own subjective yet drunk opinion. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.