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Last week, I started my journey into craft lagers. I would argue that the market for lagers in South Africa is so big that if a craft brewery does not offer their unique spin on a lager that they will lose out on a big market share.

So, I took it upon myself to taste some of the more known craft lagers in South Africa, and it has been a good one so far, with not one bad beer!

This week, I am tasting Saggy Stone's Desert Lager and Mohope's Lager beer. The latter beer, Mohope, I only found in a small alley shop with a sign that told me that they sold the beer there. I paid a premium for it, as it was not a liquor shop but a restaurant, but nonetheless, I bought it and here I will share some of my tasting notes!

Lager beers are special in South Africa as we always share a beer with friends and family around a fire or over the weekend after hard work. It is ingrained in most South African's DNA to share a beer, some more than others. This is all the more interesting then that craft breweries will brew their own version.

Some have brewed fantastic beers, others merely copy the status quo. But that is a given in our climate! Without further ado, here are my tasting notes.

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Saggy Stone: Desert Lager

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Lager | 4% ABV | 27 IBUs

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This is an interesting beer. For a long time now, I have wanted to taste a dry hopped lager. And then this little beer crossed my path.

It was interesting to say the least. I think it is more of a light beer, with only 4% ABV, but it is heavy on the hops for a lager. With almost 30 IBUs, I think it is safe to say that it is substantially more hopped than the others I have recenly had. They only had about 12 IBUs.

But the first smell and taste was wonderfully fruity, light, zesty (just like they say on the can). But it almost tasted more like an ale than a lager to me.

My notes sums it up pretty good, I think: this is a lager brewed by Ale Brewers. It is so close to a light pale ale, that I wonder why they wanted to make it a lager?

It is also unfiltered and yeasty, which only adds to the idea that it is closer to an ale than a lager. But I enjoyed this beer, as it was a good and refreshing one!

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The beer had a beautiful white and thick head, with some good lacing as I drank it. It was a bit darker than the other lagers, but nonetheless, stunning beer in my opinion.

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Mohope: Lager

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Lager | 5% ABV | ?? IBUs

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What first struck me as I poured this beer was the incredible colour. It was striking and contrasted with the beautiful white head, it was a perfect pour. It also had some good lacing.

Before I go into the tasting notes, I see this is becoming more and more a think in South Africa, where we have 11 official languages, beers are used as a sign to express one's culture. MOHOPE, the name of the brewery, is the Sesotho word for a calabash - a significant container in some of the cultures that come from our rich cultural heritage in South Africa.

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The first smell was beautifully rich with malt, it had a very strong lager smell (if that makes sense). It smelled better and more amplified compared to all the other commercial lagers our in the market.

The first sip was also rich in maltiness, but it had a nice bitterness that balanced everything out. If this is what craft lager is, just a "better" version of the commercial stuff, I would much rather drink these craft ones!

Postscriptum, or Lager from the Perspective of an Ale

I usually don't drink lager beers unless it is to quench my thirst or to celebrate a hard day's work with friends and family.

But these beers have been really well brewed, and I enjoyed them! Just like the previous ones.

For now, cheers, and happy #BeerSaturday - the last one for 2024!

Happy new year, and cheers to more beers.

All of the writings are my own, and the opinions are also my own. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.