Craft beers at BeerYard

Anybody who doesn't know how draft beer gets from wherever to the glass would probably have a totally different interpretation of this picture. Science experiment, drug lab, space alien breeding centre? Nope.  Probably (one of) the biggest variety of craft beers on tap at an establishment in Port Elizabeth.  This being part of the bar at BeerYard in Richmond Hill.

Concorde on the Donkin

Anybody seeing the Fish Bird art piece by Dolla Sepata on the Donkin Reserve for the first time would be forgiven if they think it represents a Concorde coming in to land.  The Fish Bird is a very abstract piece representing a combination of fish in the bay and birds on land and is returning to the Donkin to take ownership of this transforming site.

Jumping on the Donkin

The schools were closed on Friday and I had to take Drama Princess to work with me for the day.  Somewhere during the morning we popped up to the Donkin Reserve to drop of maps and brochurs at the visitor information center there and we went for a quick walk around some of the artwork forming part of Route 67.  Obviously the camera went along and Drama Princess decided that a plain straightforward picture of her posing on the mosaic next to the pyramid wouldn't be enough. 

Beach activities - Summer is coming

Spring is here and Summer is a coming so we are slowly starting to see beautiful warm days sneaking in between the colder weather.  Taking the dogs for a walk on the beachfront on such a day it was great to see many others making use of the weather.  Not a lot of people are swimming yet but kids and playing in the water, dogs are being walked (so are loved ones), people are starting to work on their tans, guys are fishing from the rocks and there was even a couple of yachts in the bay.  Bring on Summer.

Don't Stop on the Donkin

Taking a walk along Route 67 on the Donkin Reserve with Drama Princess

A visit to Kragga Kamma Game Park

I was browsing YouTube looking for a nice Port Elizabeth clip to use for this week's Video Friday and found this video of a visit to Kragga Kamma Game Park uploaded by Niezwykly Swiat - Wonderful World.  Unfortunately the rest of the text in the description looks like it could be Russian so I can't really tell you more about the person who uploaded it.  Have a look at the video, pack a picnic and head over to Kragga Kamma Game Park this weekend.  The park is looking stunning after all the rains we've had and there are lots of babies around.

Celebrating Heritage Day at Van Stadens

Today is Heritage Day in South Africa and all South Africans celebrate the day differently.  Some like to dress up in their traditional clothing while others come together for a braai.  Political parties have gatherings, clubs use the day to organise events and some people just stay home and do a few chores or watch tv all day long.  I celebrated Heritage Day with my fellow Geocachers at the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve taking part in the second annual Geocaching Amazing Icon Race.  The event took us all around the whole reserve before we had a braai for lunch.  It's Braai Day as well after all.  Afterwards I took a drive around the reserve again with my camera as the proteas and many other flowers are all decked out in the Spring best.  One of the pictures I snapped was this one of a King Protea with the Van Stadens Bridge in the background.  

Flashback to the Apple Express

I received this breathtaking picture of the Apple Express crossing over the Van Stadens Railway Bridge, the highest narrow gauge railway bridge in the world, from fellow Geocacher Graham Chrich yesterday.  Graham was in the Van Stadens area for the Rhino Run last weekend and decided to do a couple of Geocaches located in the area.  Looking for info on the gorge he came across a post of mine about the railway bridge and it reminded him of a trip they took as a family on the Apple Express when it was still running.  As usual the train stopped short of the bridge allowing passengers to walk across before following.  This was when he took this picture.  How we all long for the Apple Express steam train to run again.   

Beer bread from Dockside Brewery

Dockside Brewery in the Baakens Valley doesn't just brew craft beer for the drinking market.  They also brew a craft beer specially to bake beer bread with.  Their very first beer wasn't the best drinking beer but they quickly found out that it was perfect for baking beer bread so they continued making it.  As they put it, All of the flavour has been imparted into the beer leaving the dry ingredients very basic, resulting in an original unmistakable extraordinary loaf of beer bread.   In their shop they sell beer bread kits with a bottle of beer, all the dry ingredients and a tin foil pan to bake the bread in. 

We enjoy beer bread so I decided to get a kit to try it out.  We followed the included recipe and instructions carefully and this was the result.  A yummy flavorsome beer bread. Yummy!  

Have you ever heard of the Dockside Brewery?

I want to bet my bottom dollar (ok, so I'm not a betting man, is really confused with why the dollar is at the bottom and why are we talking dollars and not rands?) that you have probably never heard of the Dockside Brewery.  Located just behind the Herald in Horton Street in the Baakens Valley, the Dockside Brewery has been producing beer for just over a year and is breaking some serious ground when it comes to craft beer in the city.  They create a number of very unique beers which isn't for anybody, but those who appreciate a proper craft beer will really enjoy it.  They don't compromise on quality, don't skimp on the ingredients they use and take much more time to produce a lot less beer than most other breweries.  While a lot of craft breweries can produce ales in 11 days, they take between 42 and 56 days.  They also use spring water from the Elands River Valley and not the municipal water supply.  Dockside also don't produce their craft beer in kegs as draft but rather bottle it and also sell directly to the public.

 

I discovered Dockside Brewery on the recent Hop on Beer Route tour I went on and got to taste their craft beers while there.  So if you're a beer lover, do head down that way and go and check them out.