The Beer Route - Let the Journey Take You

Shongweni Brewery, the makers of Robson’s Premium Bottle-Conditioned Beers

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Durban’s craft brewery is nestled in the Valley of 1000 Hills.

Here you will find Shongweni Brewery producing the Robson’s range of bottle-conditioned beers. The brewery regularly produces four beers and compliments these by brewing further seasonal fruit beers.

The Brewery Director, Sherene Robson explained the story behind the brewery. ‘Shongweni Brewery brings exciting new beers that match international standards to the South African market and also the concept of matching excellent foods with quality, hand crafted beers.’

The Brewery, which was designed and manufactured specifically for the production of specialist ales and beers, produces beers based on the great global styles.

Sherene said ‘Our range is inspired by the brewing traditions of Europe, the United States, and British beers. However, we are proud of our locally inspired beer, East Coast Ale, which is a lively and refreshing golden ale.’ The majority of mass produced beers currently available in South Africa are filtered, pasteurised, sterile liquids many of which are artificially carbonated. The life is literally taken out of them before they reach you the consumer. Not so with the beers produced by Shongweni Brewery where live yeast produces bottle-conditioned beer which means that it is made in a similar way to champagne, Bottle- conditioned beer can also be cellared and overtime the flavours will develop producing beers of amazing complexity and taste, with a shelf life of at least a year. Robson’s beers stand side by side with the best global beers. The brewery has exhibited its range of beers overseas to wide acclaim at the Great British Beer Festival, the first South African Brewery to be invited to do so, and is the only craft-brewery in South Africa that exports to the European Union.

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Visits and Shop

The Brewery runs a tour with tasting on a Saturday at 2pm (please book via www.shongwenibrewery.com), the shop is open weekdays from 12.00 until 3.00pm and on Saturday from 12.00 until 17.00.

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Our Range of Beers

Robson’s East Coast Ale is a smooth, lively and refreshing golden ale made using a single malt variety along with Brewers Gold and Challenger hops. Brewers Gold hops provide balanced bitterness when combined with Challenger as a late aroma hop. This gives a crisp, fruity character to the beer and an ABV of 4%.

Robson’s Wheat Beer. Our Wheat Beer is based on some of the oldest brewing recipes from Europe. The unmalted wheat makes up nearly half of our mash and we use Hallertau and Saaz hops. The Hallertau hop imparts a floral, slightly fruity character to the beer and is complimented by Saaz for aroma. We also add coriander in the copper to produce a pale, hazy, yellow beer that is naturally carbonated and slightly acidic with a perfect white head. It has an ABV of 5%.

Robson’s Fruit Beers are influenced by the monastic brewers from Belgium. We use malted barley and unmalted wheat together with Hallertau and Saaz hops. Depending on the season you might find us producing pineapple, mango, strawberry, or raspberry beers, by using whole fruits in the brewing process. The beers vary in strength from 3.7% to 4%

Robson’s Durban Pale Ale was inspired by the original Indian Pale Ale’s that travelled via the Port of Durban, so we wanted to revive an old tradition. We use a single malt for our Pale Ale, and Cascade hops since they don’t leave any lingering harshness on the palate. The inclusion of Challenger hops for aroma provides the crisp, fruitiness characteristic of the beer. Durban Pale Ale is adapted to suit the South African palate and is slightly sweeter than many IPA’s but is well balanced by a rounded bitterness and is 5.7%ABV.

Robson’s West Coast Ale is a Californian style beer first seen at the time of the Gold Rush. We use two types of malt and American hops and a special strain of yeast to produce a beer that combines the rich fruitiness of an ale and the thirst quenching character of a lager.

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