Beer Drinking at the SA On Tap Craft Beer Festival

A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure.

- Czech Proverb

Mr. Deep and I share a love of beer so we were excited to check out the SA On Tap Craft Beer Festival. According to the website the festival would feature 150 brews, ciders, whiskey's and wine as well as gourmet food trucks and "loads of entertainment for the entire family." In addition, it was promised that live super rugby would be broadcast on screens throughout the festival (because who wants to miss an opportunity to hang out with drunk rugby fans?) And my favorite selling point, a dedicated child minding area. I don't have any kids but I find this amusing as parents certainly don't need to be worrying about what their kids are up to while they are out for a day of beer tasting.

What do you think is the other facet of the festival that I was fascinated by? Yes, glassware for everyone! When purchasing tickets online you choose which type of tasting glass you want. I purchased the one on the far left and the one next to it for Mr. Deep and me but it was a difficult choice as I liked them all.

In order to make sure we arrived and got home safely, we used Uber as our mode of transportation.  The event began at 10:00 a.m. and continued until 6:00 p.m. As Mr. Deep and I are so mature in our mid-lives, we decided we did not need to be there the entire time. We figured we would arrive at 11:00 and then leave around 3:30 partially so that in case everyone was trying to use Uber to get home we would beat the rush. Also, we wanted to leave before they ran out of beer!

The event was held at the Old Parktonian, referred to as Old Parks. It was held in a huge grassy sports field. 

Arriving by Uber worked perfectly. We were surprised when we got there and found out that in order to get beer or food we had to purchase tokens. Tokens cost R12.50 per token (so about $1.00 each) and a full glass of beer cost two tokens and a half glass cost one. Food prices varied from two to five tokens. Even with the token purchases the whole thing was very inexpensive. 

Rich with tokens!

In comparing to the other beer festival that I have been to in the states, there were a few differences. First of all in the states we got a plastic tasting cup and small amounts of each beer. Here there were fewer beer vendors but you were drinking larger beers and sitting down at long tables with strangers in between beers (very beer hall style.) In the states, you would get your small beer and then wait online for your next beer right away - no sitting! 

Pretty much all of the beers I tried at the tasting in the states were good. Here, I didn't think a few of them were that good. Craft beer is new here so it may be that recipes are still being tweaked or it may be just differences in my taste versus tastes here. They did have some beers called Africa Pale Ales (APA instead of IPA) which I really liked. I'm really not a beer snob, it's just that I liked some better than others but truly it was all pretty good!

We met some fun people, ate some great food, successfully used up all tokens and arrived safely home again using Uber. It was closer to 6 p.m. than 3:30 when we left but we were having fun watching some serious beer pong competition so we stayed longer than planned. 

Not a great photo but I think the slogan is funny

Beer pong! 

People watching one of the bands

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