A lot of South Africans have a close relationship with beer. In fact, I’ve just enjoyed a dirty weekend with Ms Birkenhead, the pride of Stanford. But I’ll spare you the sordid details.
Rather focus, if you can, on these nutty-flavoured facts…
* The SAB World of Beer was officially judged South Africa’s top tourist attraction in 2009.
* Black women in South Africa outdrink the entire white beer-drinking market. Who would have thought?!
The not entirely shabby view from our Birkenhead Brewery in Stanford Pic: Kevin Sutherland / Times Live
* “Shebeens” are where people habitually drink their quarts (double-sized bottles of beer) in the former township areas. The word “shebeen” comes from the Anglo-Irish word sibin, meaning “bad ale”.
* Umquombothi is traditional beer made from maize, sorghum and yeast.
* An old Zulu saying, “Utshwala buqinisa umzimba”, means “beer strengthens the body”.
* Beer was a part of everyday life in southern Africa long before the influence of European settlers was felt. Beer was then brewed from grain, corn or fruit.
* South African Breweries is ranked as the world’s second biggest brewery and supplies China with roughly half of its beer-drinking requirements. Which may or may not help to explain why the Dalai Lama was denied a visa to enter South Africa last year. Burp!
The Dalai Lama: downed by beer?
** All source material, apart from my “dirty weekend with Ms Birkenhead” and the bit about the Dalai Lama, provided by the Awesome SA website and their ridiculously awesome Awesome South Africa book.
Fred Hatman (AKA Howard Donaldson) knew he wanted to be newspaper journalist at age 13. He has worked as a reporter and sub-editor for the Daily News and Cape Times, both based in South Africa and Wimbledon News, Today, London Daily News, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, all based in London .
