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Helen Grange writes for IOL Travel about Gilroy Beers, the brewmaster and the journey from Krugersdorp to Muldersdrift. Here are some extracts, though the full article is a worthy and entertaining read. Look here. It's a far cry from when I last visited Gilroy's in 2001, in a hard-to-find factory building in Krugersdorp.
After years of dreaming, brewer Steve Gilroy got to open his micro-brewery, along with a restaurant-cum-pub and beer garden, at Ngwenya Glass Village in Muldersdrift.
Loquacious and lubricated by his own tipple, Gilroy declared at its opening in October: "We're finally out of the arse-end of Krugersdorp! We've spent seven-and-a-half years looking for the right site. My wife recognised it. She felt the goodness of this area as she stood here."
Since he launched his beer in 2000, Gilroy, a Liverpool-bred, pipe-smoking Santa-lookalike, who comes from a family of brewers, has amassed a loyal following among beer lovers.
All over the world, old-style craft brewers are back by popular demand, and Gilroy is among the best of them in South Africa.
Soon after he went public with it, world-respected beer connoisseur B J Lankwarden voted Gilroy's "the finest beer in the southern hemisphere" and it is listed in the Diner's Club SA Beerdrinker's Guide.
Outside, the beer garden faces the Ngwenya village speciality shops and there's another restaurant next door.
# Other micro-breweries giving SAB a run for its money are: Drayman's Brewery in Pretoria, Mitchell's Knysa Brewery, Farmer's Brewery in Hattingspruit, Nottingham Road Brewery Company in KZN, Old Cape Ale Brewing Company in Kommetjie and Birkenhead Brewery near Hermanus.
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