Gauteng’s newest microbrewery with a brew length of 2500 litres a day is to open its doors at the end of July 2011 is
Copper lake Breweries situated in
Lanseria, Gauteng and will start distribution in the north by mid September 2011.
Brendan Watcham has been home brewing for two years and hosting informal gathering and beer tastings. He is the 2010 winner of the Worthogs best four beers league tasting 2010 award, a Brewing competition and is currently waiting for his results after studying a diploma in brewing through the IBD (International Brewing and Distilling).
The idea to start a brewery came about because of the love for the hobby, the incredible interest in the beers he was making and after an unfortunate motorcycle accident in January 2010 left him bed bound for 4 months which was the ideal opportunity to study
“Attaining the license was quite a long process, which is still not 100% finalised but we are pleased to finally be in a position to enter the consumer market by the end of Sptember 2011 with some different beers than average South Africans have been conditioned to drink,” Watcham explained “It’s a long road ahead as the South African consumer needs to be educated that there is more to beer than bland fizzy lagers, in fact there are beers for every season, occasion and meal!”
“Micro brewing in South Africa is still in its infancy stage, South Africa always follows the trends of Europe, the States and Australia one look at these markets will tell you that micro brewing is about to explode in South Africa. For instance there has been relatively no growth in the large breweries sales in the last two years the only consistent growth , +-10 % per annum, has been in the micro brewery market which shows a huge shift in consumers mindset"
“Equipment, material, help and clubs have all recently become more available to the micro brewer, where all brewing innovations and new beers are born, through constant research and experimentation.
“Beer is the reason we get out of bed every afternoon.”
“The next time you buy beer support a small brewery
and try something different, after all variety is the spice of life. You will
be pleasantly surprised as we save South Africans one pint at a time”