When in Clarens,

… one must visit the local brewery, naturally! In fact, wherever one stumbles upon a local craft brewery one is obligated to pay them a visit … Rule No. 1, in the Creating Dust book of making life awesome, rules.

Truth is, I didn’t stumble upon this beer-on-tap gem, but rather planned my trip having heard good things, and therefore knowing a bit, about them.

They are situated in the town square, a short walk away (Bonus!) from numerous bed-and-breakfast establishments to be found in the beautiful Free State town of Clarens. And, as I was spending the night in one of said establishments on my way from Hoedspruit down to the Wilderness in the Western Cape last December, I did exactly that; took a leisurely late afternoon stroll and in the process, learned that …

• Clarens Brewery have been making beer lovers happy since 2006, but not just beer lovers. Thanks to their sister company, Red Stone Craft, they also put smiles of the faces of gin and liqueur lovers via their range of distilled craft gins, gin mixes, and cherry, berry, apple, apricot, nut, coffee and Glühwein liqueurs. Something for everyone, but back to the beers.

• Their brewer, Stephan Meyer, is, and I quote, “a true beer lover who was blown away by the variety of beers on offer during a trip to the UK in the early 90’s and could not wait to start brewing his own.”

• Stephan built the majority of the brewery himself using reclaimed vessels from the dairy and chemical industries.

• They now hand craft around 8,000 litres of full-grain ales per month, using the finest malts and hops sourced both locally and abroad.

• There are 8 ales in their standard range, which are complimented with various seasonal ales and festival specials.

In their blurb they also mention that “their passion for this industry motivates them to talk to, educate, challenge and transform the novice or traditional consumer into a craft aficionado” (who was I to argue with that?), and to that end they offer free tasters and brewery tours … Bring it on

It’s a lot of tasting and therefore very handy having the descriptions of the various nectars available to refer to. Going purely on personal taste, my favourites were the Red and Clarens Goes Nuts, closely followed by the IPA, Blonde and Lager, followed by the English, Stout, Smash and Weis. The extra (9th) beer I got to taste was the seasonally brewed Smash, which I found to be granadilla forward and quite refreshing.

With the tasting and educating all but done and a full glass of the Red in front of me, it was time to sort out my road-tripping hunger.

The Clarens Brewery food menu easily holds its own against its beer and drinks partner. There’s a substantial choice of delicious craft burgers, as well as various fish, chicken, pork, steak, lamb, and vegetarian options on offer. I have a thing for burgers and beer, but at the same time tend not to stray too far from the traditional beef patty on a bun, so it was an easy choice for me, and I went for their Classic Craft Burger. Not surprisingly, it was a winner, and it went down like a homesick mole ... um, being chased by a giant red ale?

Should you choose to make your way to the brewery during the middle of the day, you will also find on offer a delicious lunch menu with a focus on German style sausages, local organic cheeses, local breads, relishes, and pickles.

There’s even entertainment, along with further education, to be had at Clarens Brewery. This, in the form of finding out things you may not (in my case, except for the last point) have known. Please raise a beer to becoming a Viking with strong bones, a knowing thumb, and no fears.

There’s a lot of love in the Clarens Brewery. It is conveyed in the beer they craft, the food they serve and the friendly staff who guide you through the experience. It came as no surprise then to read this statement I found on their website,

“Besides a great love for enjoying fine beers, we’re on a mission to provide the best quality beers and ciders that we possibly can, and to sway a commercial beer or cider drinker into starting the journey of discovery into the delicious world of craft beer and cider.

For us the kicker is seeing the faces of our visitors as they go through the taster panel and find a favourite. We love explaining the nuances, flavours, styles, techniques and more. It’s important to us to support and grow the industry, and we work hard every day at building its image, creating a demand, and preaching the craft-gospel.

Most of all we love our brewery, our team, our little village and of course, beer!”

It certainly comes across that way. It’s palpable.

I am happy to say that the good things I heard about Clarence Brewery are all true. It’s definitely worth the detour. If you’re passing nearby Clarens enroute somewhere, you should go visit. If that isn’t going to happen for a while, take a look anyway using these links. Who knows, it may convince you to make it happen sooner.

On the way out, and in lieu of having around a thousand kilimetres, including a short stay elsewhere, still to travel on my trip, I grabbed a couple of sixpacks of the very refreshing Village Lager to go.

Cheers …

Oh, and, for those of you wondering whether I fell off the edge of the earth, it’s a longish story, some of which may, or may not, reveal itself in the writing and adventures to come.

Let’s just say … I’m back 