Welcome to February, bet you didn’t see that coming. We’re also pretty sure you didn’t expect to come here this week and find that we had actually followed through and come to the party with a Lager. Specifically the Hoptown BMC Lager, a “rich, characterful, pale lager, with considerable malt and hop character and a long, rounded finish. Complex yet well – balanced and refreshing.” That’s verbatim, but enough of the beer nerd stuff let’s get on with it.
The Brewery
As we’ve seen with several other breweries recently there’s not a huge amount of info about the brewery out there. After scouring the interwebs we found out that the brewery is “the result of two friends who teamed up to create a craft brewery following years of travel and drinking beer all over the world” (source: craftbru.com). We’re coming up empty on exactly who these “two friends” are but we’re sure someone will come forward (please let us know in the comments below). Having been established in 2015 they seem to have brewed at Packham Farm on the R44 in Stellenbosch at some point. At the moment it appears Hoptown BMC is being brewed at Wild Clover Breweries. This, again, is up for correction.
The Beer
Right, the beer! On the shelves we spotted:
- Hoptown BMC Lager
- Hoptown BMC IPA
Having done few other styles other than IPA’s over the last few weeks we thought wise to visit the Lager. Saying that we do have the IPA in the fridge, couldn’t help ourselves. Revisiting the description of the beer above this is a Pale Lager, we won’t get into specifics but it’s not going to taste like your a-typical lager, but that’s partly the point isn’t it? In terms of pricing it is slightly more than the vast majority of local craft beers on the shelf at R34.99 but don’t let that put you off. Let the Hoptown BMC Lager, the beer of “two friends” be the beer you try out this weekend.
If you want to get hold of Hoptown BMC you can find them on Facebook and Twitter. These accounts have not been active for a while so we can’t promise you will get a response. We could probably find a contact if you really needed one.
Enjoy the beer, and again, let us know what you think on Facebook or in the comments below. If there are any beers you think we should feature please also let us know in the comments below.
Until next week, cheers!