Jörg tells us more about Camelthorn's ingredients

Today we’d like to tell you a little more about what makes Camelthorn Brewing Company beers so special. It’s not only that we lovingly brew beers in the only independent brewery in Namibia, but also the special ingredients that we source from around the world to give them their special flavours.

Beer is made using malted barley, hops and water. These ingredients are standard, but a brews aroma, flavour and colour comes from the different varieties that one uses and so the options and possibilities are endless.

Weyermann Speciality Malts since 1879

Malted barley is a very important component of the beers. Currently all our malt is from a specialty malting company, Weyermann from Bamberg Germany, who have been in the business since 1879. The company is good friends with Camelthorn Brewing Company and supplies many brewers around the world with their quality products.

In the future, Camelthorn Brewing Company looks forward to using more local ingredients for our beers. A few batches have been brewed with local ingredients (still a bit of a secret) and were very successful. We have also put it to our followers on Facebook, asking what kind of local ingredients they’d like to taste in our beers and thus far ginger and buchu are the most popular suggestions. But if there is anything you’d love to taste – let us know!

Craft brew loved by beer babes!

Craft brewing emphasizes beer variety and it is important to CBC to tap into different malt varieties to get different flavours, aromas and colours using barley, wheat, rye etc. Southern Africa is dominated by so many lager beers and so we would like to make beer that is a welcome alternative to the flavours that only using malted barley produce. The task of our brew master is to let his creativity flow and to design recipes of note.

Hops is imported from several sources, mainly from southern Germany and the Czech Republic. American hops have also been used to give beer an American character and distinct flavour. But what many people don’t know is that Hops is a member of the Cannabidaceae family – same family as Cannabis (there is always a wacky one in everyone’s family!) though there is no chance of getting high other than from the great taste of beer!

Too good to leave alone - even the photographer couldn't resist!

South Africa produces hops in 2 areas, the Southern Cape and Kimberly areas, but most of this produce is owned by major companies and so not always that accessible. Due to the styles of our natural beer we have chosen our suppliers very carefully.

The most important thing about a great beer though is not only the ingredients, but how they are brought together by the brewmaster. It is his vision that results in the end flavour, the gorgeous aroma and of course how good it looks as you bring your glass to your lips. Water, malt and hops just make beer.

Henrik's Camelthorn Weizen out in the cold

We’ve had such wonderful contact with with Henrik in Sweden and there have been exciting developments up North. Not only is Camelthorn available in Sweden, but our beers are now also available in Finland.

Instead of rewriting what has gone between us, I wanted to show you the enthusiasm of our communication.

From: Henrik
Sent: 18 January 2012 11:02 AM
To: Jörg Finkeldey
Subject: More Camelthorn news from Sweden – and Finland!

Dear Jörg,

Remember when we exchanged some thoughts over our northern summer a  few months ago about promoting Camelthorn in Finland? You will recall  that I went ahead and contacted one of the major brewers, Kopparberg,  who also do imports. They’ve gotten some samples and I’m curious to hear  what they think. The other day, a guy contacted me from one of  Helsinki’s top beer restaurants, Pikkulintu.

Our beers are poured far and wide!

It  turns out that the CEO of your old mates at Slottskällan, Anders Slotte,  gave them a tip about your beer after I’d been over and given them a  couple of samples. One thing lead to another, and now we’re selling  Pikkulintu some cases – Camelthorn will shortly be available in one more  country, Finland! We’re very excited.

Pikkulintu is a highly renowned place. Maybe Katia has heard of them. They’ve got a top selection, and have had a couple of breweries do some  brews especially for them, including the Belgian Lambic brewers Cantillon.

Over here, if you want to add some historical evidence for your files,  here’s Camelthorn’s beer on 19 Glas’ menu.

I read about your beers on tap. I  hope that I may one day get the chance to taste some super fresh Camelthorn on tap!

Regards, Henrik

From: Jörg Finkeldey
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:09:52
To: Henrik
Subject: RE: More Camelthorn news from Sweden – and Finland!

Beer needs people to enjoy it!

Hey Henrik,

I distinctly remember you mentioning that and indeed now the name Andres Slotte rings a bell too!

This is great news.

Kegs are also a possibility in one way fashion. Also this is part of our future export strategy. We need some permanent off take for that and we sincerely hope that we can look at some distribution in Sweden and Finland!! Seems like Pikulintu could be the right spot for a CBC Bok and a Bierwerk Rooibos!!

Keep up the good work!!

Cheers – Jörg

And then a couple of days later we continued:

From: Henrik
Sent: 20 January 2012 12:13 AM
To: Jörg Finkeldey
Subject: Uppsala – Stockholm – Windhoek – Helsinki

Anders, Jonas and brewer Maarten from Slottskällan in Uppsala

Dear Jörg,

I stopped by Uppsala this afternoon to drop off the cases for Helsinki.

Enclosed is the result! Slottskällan has a real front seat in  contemporary Swedish brewing history as one of the country’s first  micro-breweries, so it was a true honour for a beer newcomer like myself  to be showed around the premises by founder Jonas and CEO Anders.

In the  heart of the brewery stood a jewel you may recognize, the copper kettles  you provided them with fifteen or so years ago, apparently still running  just fine!

Standing in front are Anders, Jonas and brewer Maarten. I got  to see bottles from some of the original brews in the late 90s, and  Slottskällan continue to renew themselves constantly, most recently with  an amazing beer called Freedom IPA, so you have good reason to be  confident that you helped start something good off!

Best regards, Henrik

From: Jörg Finkeldey
Sent: 20 January 2012 11:10 AM
To: Henrik
Subject: FW: Uppsala – Stockholm – Windhoek – Helsinki

Amazing, to think back!! Memories are made of this!!

Thank you for visiting my first ever brewery in Scandinavia built in Budapest Hungary in 1998 sold by my Company Fooding GmbH, Stuttgart Germany. Happy to hear the brewhouse still brews good craft beers!!

It even more of an honour to know that through you we can continue our influence in the craft beer industry in Sweden by presenting some of our own beers brewed in my native and beloved Namibia.

Cheers – Jörg

Beer people the world over are some of the best!

Come and get a Tap&Grab

In our previous post we highlighted some of the awesome venues and markets in South Africa where Camelthorn beers are available on tap. Until we are able to fill bottles again this is the best way for you to enjoy your favourite Namibian beer. But there is also a way of enjoying it at home!

We have recently introduced Tap & Grab to the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill (every Saturday) and will also have it available at the Blaauwklippen Family Market (every Sunday). Very simple – we are able to supply and fill 2l, 1.5l & 1l bottles with a fresh Camelthorn draught for you to take home and enjoy at your leisure!

No frills, no fuss, just pleasure!

Camelthorn on tap!

We have a great deal of Camelthorn fans in Cape Town and since we have temporarily put our bottle production on hold, our range of Namibian brews are only available on tap at this stage. Luckily, we have some fine venues and markets around The Cape where you can enjoy a cold real beer.

elow is a current list of outlets, but keep an eye on out new stockists page that we will be updating regularly.

•    The German Club, Roodehek Terrace off Hope Street
•    Ricks Café Park Street
•    Angels Burger Joint, Kloof Street
•    The Power and the Glory, Tamboerskloof
•    Blaauwklippen Market, Stellenbosch
•    Woodmill Market, Stellenbosch
•    Laborie Market, Paarl
•    The Neighbourgoods Market, Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock

Cheers!

Great beer on tap & a few bottles left too!

We’re so grateful to all the people who put so much effort and passion into ensuring that our Camelthorn beers are available.

Every Saturday you’ll be able to find 2 such people serving great beer to great people at the Neighbourgoods Market: Inge will be serving in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, and Hanno will be serving at the Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock Cape Town.

Inge’s stand is on the second floor and can be found opposite the main bar. Traders rotate weekly but whats important is to make your way upstairs as soon as you feel thirsty. Be kind to your taste buds!

Hanno’s stand is inside the old mill building on the right next to the Belgian Waffle stand and here you’ll also be able to use the Tap & Grab – filling bottles to take home.

They look forward to serving you!

Beer needs people to enjoy it!

As a brewery it gives us so much joy when people love the brews that we produce. It makes all our hard work feel worth the effort and drives us to continue what we are doing, and to strive to do better. But it is also great when your distributors are as enthusiastic as if they’d been involved in the process from the beginning. In Sweden we have those kinds of people.

Henrik Bergquist, Hannes Berts and Jon Widegren are from First Signs of Water and have been working up a storm up north. Their company searches for unusual and quality beers from around the world and introduces them to Sweden’s beer lovers, and these lovers have found Camelthorn!

19 Glas in Stokholm Sweden

They saw their first delivery of Camelthorn to a real  top-notch restaurant called 19 Glas. They were one of three restaurants nominated in 2010 for one of Stockholm’s most prestigious restaurant prizes, and they have a pretty hardcore selection of beers including Cigar City and Port Brewing from the US. We tried out Red, Weizen and Bokbeer with them, and they wanted all three, but as Bok is only a seasonal beer, Weizen  will be their only wheat beer!

On the 19 Glas Facebook page some of their fans had this to say about our beer:

“Grissida från Jord på Trynet och American Red Ale från Camelthorn!” (Side of pig from Jord på Trynet (the name of a company, I think) and American Red Ale from Camelthorn!)

“Camelthorn Weizen och lufttorkad vildsvinskarre, öl från Namibia till svinet från Järna! (Camelthorn Weizen and air-dried loin of boar, beer from Namibia to pig from Järna – a rural area south of Stockholm)

In December one of Sweden’s top alcoholic beverages magazine’s LivetsGoda.se reviewed our Bok Beer, and gave it a score of 90 points (out of 100), which puts Camelthorn Bok Beer in their category “very strong recommendation, a great beer” which we were very excited about.

On it's way to the USA

Henrik also delivered a few samples of Bokbeer to another restaurant which is carrying the American Red Ale. They’re called Babajan and are a sterling beer place. Among their stuff is BeerHere, so they were of course very impressed when Henrik told them Camelthorn works with Christian Skovdal from BeerHere and Bierwerk.

Henrik's Camelthorn Weizen out in the cold

We were very pleased to receive an email from Henrik on the 24th of December – he had been to visit family up north and he took a photo of his Weizen at 63,5 degrees north latitude,  or just three degrees from the Arctic circle.

And the result is that this Weizen has been  further than any bottle of Camelthorn has ever gone before! Camelthorn  steadily marching on! And we certainly hope it didn’t go down any lower, but was enjoyed right there at that temperature!

We are grateful for all their efforts and are looking forward to many more positive reviews and happy Camelthorn drinkers.

Spreading the Namibian warmth and love across the world! So to all of you, and all your customers, we say Skål!

Beer, cheer and a Merry Christmas across the word!

As 2011 draws to a close we hope that all our friends out there are able to relax a little and be near to the special people and loved ones in your life. Let there be Christmas cheer and not just a little bit of beer!

We are so happy knowing that we are touching peoples lives across our beautiful Namibia, but also in South Africa, Sweden and the United States and are going to be working hard to ensure that our brewery continues to grow.

We’re looking forward to being there for you in the new year, with (cheer!) more real beer, have no fear! Merry Christmas!

Join us in the hills!

December is an exciting time! Families come together, friends share and of course we all celebrate the beautiful summer! But things are going to be more exciting this month as Camelthorn Brewing Company will be involved in 2 festivals that will keep you smiling!

This coming weekend we have got the Durbanville Beer Festival (Saturday 10 December) and the following weekend we will be a part of the 1st Cape Town Bike Festival being held at the Cape Town Stadium.

DBF, held at Hillcrest Wine Estate in the Durbanville hills is a great event with some awesome music and if it is anything similar to last years we’re looking forward to an awesome day! The CTBF is another matter all together! Master of Dirt, Seether (as well as 11 other bands), Miss Biker SA, Harley’s, Scooters and of course the Craft Beer Village! (Read more – Cape Town Bike Fest Crashes)

Come and say hello at our stands – we’d love to satisfy you with some beautiful beer!

Over 100 beers under 1 tent!

This past weekend saw the South Easter blowing brew lovers through the gates of the Cape Town Festival of Beer. Hamilton’s Rugby Club’s field was covered in a huge horse shoe marquee sponsored by SAB and once again, SA’s craft brewers and micro breweries were invited to come together and share their beers and their passion with Cape Town beer enthusiasts and soon-to-be-enthusiasts.

This year, the Camelthorn Brewing Company stand was manned by our Cape Town Team, The Beer Garden SA and my boet, Hanno, who popped in from time to time as he has hurt his back (no doubt from carrying Camelthorn beers instead of drinking them).

Service with a smile

Set up on Thursday was chilled and so was our beer, so when gates opened at noon on Friday, we were ready and waiting to offer our range of Weizen, Fresh, Helles, Red Ale, Bok and our newest addition, Sundowner to a buzzing tent full of people.

We love pleasing our beer fans and this year, we were once again able to tantalize the taste buds of the festival goers. This was evident in the responses that we received from fans both old and new. One group of ladies who were directed to CBC by a SAB brewer (they could not mention names) as in his opinion, it was the best beer at the festival and was he right in their opinion? A resounding YES! Another moment that stood out to us was when a gentleman brought his son to the festival after attending last year specifically to taste CBC. They both loved their tasters and continued through the tent to sample wares from the other breweries. Once they had tasted all the other beers on offer, they came back to CBC to buy their first pint as in their opinion, it was “still the best beer at fest”.

A very brave not so large lady tasted 100 beers in 3 days!

There were a few very daring people who attempted to taste 100 beers in 3 days at the festival and one person who DID manage that was Lucy Corne. Here’s what she said about some of our beers:
“40. Camelthorn Sundowner Lager Balanced, crisp, summer winner. As u know, lager not my beer of choice, but not bitter, nice carbonation.”
“54.  Camelthorn Fresh. Esters on nose, 2.5%, uber-light weiss. No punch-you-in-the-face flavours but ideal for beer beginners.”
“55. Camelthorn Weiss. Not as full bodied or estery as I like. Great session beer.”
“56. Camelthorn Red American Ale. Divine full favoured beer, good dose of hops but not too much – ideal for the aspiring #hophead”

Namibia's finest!

After all was said and done, it was a great festival yet again and although our team were tired after a long weekend of serving fantastic beer to enthusiastic fans, it is good to know that there are a few more Real Beer drinkers out there now and a good portion of them will have fond memories of our Namibian beer range.

We’re looking forward to next year’s event and with 365 brewing days from now until then, who knows what we might have on offer for you to taste then! So, until then, cheers!

To celebrate life!