Beer Tours Here!

If you’re looking for a beery good time in Cape Town, then the Newlands brewery of SAB Miller is where you want to be. It has a brewing capacity of 4.5 million hectaliters – enough to get an entire nation drunk, much less the groups of 10 – 25 that are escorted around the premises at regular intervals each day.

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The tours are free, as is the beer tasting, and I’ll raise just this single caveat before you make plans to stampede over: SABMiller beer is dire. The group’s core global strategy appears to center on the adding of maize (corn) to its products, which as a result always taste sweet, and leave a slimy film in the mouth after a few swallows.

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Americans will know just how bad Miller is, while Namibians, with their Nambrew (which adheres to German beer purity laws), are perhaps best-placed to point out the many shortcomings of South Africa’s flagship beer, Castle Lager. Yecch. Unfortunately, you have to go to Namibia to tour a large brewery in Africa where decent beer is made, so Newlands remains the only option for visitors to Cape Town. (No surprise – SAB is a monopoly, more or less.)

• Don’t forget: Cape Town has a decent microbrewery in Mitchell’s Scottish Ale House.

Newlands Brewery Tour Info
Address: Boundary Road, Newlands | Map
Tel: +27 (0) 21 658 7386
Tour times: 10 a.m. & 4 p.m.
Other: You must be 18 to take the tour; groups of less than ten will be incorporated into larger groups.