If you’re looking for the best food and beer pairing event in South Africa then look no further than Meet the Brewers at Beerhouse. The idea is simple: five breweries, five different beers, and each beer is paired with a dish created by the immensely talented Chef, Roy “The Tasty One” MacAskill. It’s a great way to get to know your local breweries, learn about pairing, and it’s a helluva lot of fun.

We’ve been to many of the past events but last Wednesday was the first time we’ve actually had a beer on stage. Our Moerkoffie stout collab with Fraser’s Folly made its Beerhouse debut and to say we were nervous is an understatement.

We’re usually on the consumer side of the craft beer fence and it’s a very different experience to be on the other side. Putting a beer out into the public realm for comment and criticism is a quite a thing. I tip my hat to the brewers who do it on a daily basis.

Nerves aside the evening kicked off with a full house. The banter started flowing even before the first beers did, and we knew we were in for a great night. Homebrewer Liam Mc Elhinney of Mac Brewing got things going with his Silly Saison. It’s the best homebrew saison we’ve ever tasted and it was paired with mushroom ceviche with avo and goat cheese mousse. Many of our table later agreed that it was one of the best pairings of the night.

From there we hit a mango beer from Big Trees Brewery paired with an equally fruity watermelon curry and coconut basmati rice. It’s the first time we’ve ever seen or tasted a watermelon curry and it was delicious. The sauce gave the impression of a hearty curry yet the watermelon melted in the mouth with a subtle sweetness. Next up was Aegir’s Red Rye ale paired with another very interesting dish, a ‘beet bourguignon’ (sans meat). The dish was packed with spicy and earthy beetroot flavours that perfectly complemented the peppery fruitiness of the brew.

The fourth pairing of the night took a sweet turn as we were treated to Tuk Tuk’s weiss paired with a smoked bacon baklava. Bacon and weiss are good mates and as you can guess the pairing was ridiculously tasty. The weiss is made with local and international hops and its funky, fruity notes complemented the sweet yet savoury baklava.
As we came to the final pairing of the evening it was time for Moerkoffie to shine. Roy had chosen to pair the rich and roasty brew with a chocolate tiramisu cupcake. In short the coffee on coffee action was incredible. The cupcake was soft and spongy with a crown of tiramisu that had been injected into the cupcake. I know we are slightly biased but the pairing is one of the best we’ve had. It took top honours of the night and it will be available on the Beerhouse menu soon. From us and Fraser’s Folly, we’d like to thank Beerhouse for having us at Meet the Brewers. We can’t wait for the next installment. Cheers!

beerhouse.co.za