09/09/2026
🍻 RE:cap of the September Brew meeting 🍻
The Winter has been too long, and the long cold nights are finally changing into longer days and warmer weather. The Henley Hoppers met up for our Spring Brew Meeting, but this time it got really dark...
Planning ahead for the Fools & Fans Beer Festival 10th year the next brew meeting on the calender is to get a Club brew going on a Baltic Porter for the Club Competition. But what is a Porter and where is the Baltic?
Nick took us through the range of dark beers starting from Brown Ale (which was a bit of a talking point) up to Stout which is completely opaque and doubley delicious (uncontested by a panel of 20brewers, all with good taste). There was a lot of history and beer-trivia, but we ended up discussing the origin of the Baltic Porter. A dark beer brewed with higher alcohol content for the people of the area it was first enjoyed, with interesting tasting notes to support the strong quaff.
All of the talking and learning had the group very thirsty, just in time for the many tastings that was lined up by our Brewers.
🍺 Nick was first and released the Dragon's Kiss! This was Simon Bennet's recipe that was picked for an internal club brew that Nick and Michael brewed earlier this year for the Brewcraft Saturday Session. The Dragon's Kiss was a Cinnamon Red Ale with the most amazing rounded taste and a mild cinnamon warmth finished by a 4.1% ABv to heat up any old cold Spring evening.
🍺 Kobie suprized us with a few tasters from abroad, first being a Tale Mango beer from Ghana that packed a lot of flavor for a very light beer. Second was a very interesting Belgian Trappist beer brewed by Chimay, that boasted an impressive 9.0% but had an amazing range of fruity, chocolate and spice flavors. Last beer that Kobe blessed us with was Westmalle Trappist Dubbel that really warmed the hearts with its hearty chocolate taste carried by a warm 7.0% ABv.
🍺 Our third set of tasters was from our award winning brewer Danie, who had two of his own brews to delight the brew troops.
First up was a delightful and absolutely sessionable Fairy Light Pilsner, with a 2.5% ABv and a beautiful balance between maltiness and bitterness to wet the throat of any lawnmowing spectator.
The second beer was a very special Witbier, very aptly named EK PIETS NIE, EK BLIKSEM. This was a specialty beer Danie brewed with a club member's recipe, a vial of liquid yeast and a lot of malts! This was a very tasty beer with notes of nuts and subtle spices to the warming 8.5% abv finish.
🍺 Last in on the taster table was Matthiam, with a blend of home brews and commercial tasters. First up was his own Dutch Zomerlicht beer brewed with leftover malts and gifted hops (from our own Henley hop grower David Ashmore). This Dutch concoction had a soft color and dry finish, with some hop forward notes and a sweet tingle at 3.8% ABv.
Second up was a Banana Mint mead brewed with Sunflower Honey and banana mash left to ripen with fresh mint, aged from June 2025, that mellowed out nicely with a subtle banana taste and a ~9% ABv.
After this we tasted the amazing Meads from Cape Town Meadery that came all the way from Fools and Fans earlier this year. The first was the Semi-sweet Session Mead, with a very clear sparkling fizz and a slightly tart taste. Second was a Dry Session Mead, that was way more tart than the first but the same clarity and sparkle.
The 2026 Spring meeting was an all-rounds enriching evening with learning and laughter, puns intended.
A very special thanks to our hosts at Swagga Breweries for putting us up until late for all the beer blurb and banter.
Our veteran Brewers Nick and Danie had a brew day just a couple of days ahead of the meeting, but please join the Henley Hoppers for our next brew day if you are curious about these wild creations and would enjoy some tasters. Our Brewers would love to meet you and explain their craft.
Beer regards!!!
Henley Hoppers
