Although he has been a beer lover for most of his life, it only occurred to Craig Mayhew to brew his own ale after he read a newspaper article about the growing craft brew trend.
“I had had a bad day and when I saw the article I thought I would love to get involved because I love beer.
“So my wife Lyn called two breweries in Durban and they shared all their knowledge with me,” says Craig, 57, an engineer who owns a steel component manufacturing company in Durban.
Liquor licence and other authorisations in place, Craig roped in UK-born Lyn, 59, who has a long background in marketing and advertising, as well as gardener Thulani Langatye, 32, as his trainee assistant brewer.
“We called the brewery Daxi’s after our our four miniature dachshunds because they are like children to us.”
At first Craig used his original home brew system, brewing 50 litres a week, but has since upgraded to a modern system with its gleaming tanks and snaking pipes which transfer the brew from tank to tank.
A 1 000 litre hot liquor tank is the first in line and stands alongside a 600 litre mash tun which extracts sugar from the malt, turning it into wort.
This is boiled in a 600 litre kettle before being transferred to a heat exchanger which drops the temperature of the liquid from 100°C to 18°C. Four fermenter tanks are where “the magic is made”, turning the mixture to alcohol.
From here, the golden liquid flows into an overhead holding tank before being funnelled into bottles. It takes just five seconds to fill a bottle before it is “crowned” with a nifty capping machine.
Rolls of labels provide the finishing touch and are applied by Langatye’s speedy hands. Using only imported yeast, hops and malt, Daxi’s now produces 2 500 litres of beer monthly, including six ales and a lager pilsener.
“We did our first tastings in East London at a market and people were queuing up. Then we started cold calling pubs and restaurants,” says Lyn, who lectured in advertising at Varsity College in Pietermaritzburg before her move to the Eastern Cape.
Daxi’s craft beers are now in 15 pubs and restaurants as well as a couple of bottle stores and an outlet in Wilderness.
“We are also talking about distributing to Port Elizabeth.”
With names like Amatola Red, Gonubie Gold and Kidds Beach India Pale Ale (IPA), the beers, with their dachshund-themed labels, have garnered an eager following.
“We named them after the region because we like the customer to feel an affiliation with the beer,” says Lyn.
“Gonubie Gold is a best seller because people say they or their parents grew up there or that they live there. It’s also my favourite.
“We named our India pale ale after Kidds Beach because it’s where we live but also because we are building a brewery there.”
Architects’ impressions of the upmarket new Daxi’s on Kidds Beach main road show a clean-lined contemporary brewery complete with restaurant, children’s play area and giant viewing window of brewery operations.
Sloping roofs will feed rainwater to ten 5 000 litre tanks. This will be filtered and used to make ale while a tap room will dispense Daxi draughts.
“Building should begin in January and we plan to open mid-2017,” said Lyn.
Although their ingredients are imported, they support local in other ways. “We donate the used malt to Sundale Dairies for cow feed and Thulani takes it for his goats!”
The Mayhews may be earning less than before, but the laid-back Eastern Cape coastal lifestyle was worth it.
“I was supposed to be relaxing and now I’m selling beer!” quips Lyn, but in the same breath waxes lyrical about the joys of “village life” in Kidds Beach. “We took a risk, but we did the right thing,” says Craig.
“We may have less money, but have a stress-free lifestyle and I’m doing something I’m passionate about.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Couple tap in to craft beer
“I had had a bad day and when I saw the article I thought I would love to get involved because I love beer.
“So my wife Lyn called two breweries in Durban and they shared all their knowledge with me,” says Craig, 57, an engineer who owns a steel component manufacturing company in Durban.
Liquor licence and other authorisations in place, Craig roped in UK-born Lyn, 59, who has a long background in marketing and advertising, as well as gardener Thulani Langatye, 32, as his trainee assistant brewer.
“We called the brewery Daxi’s after our our four miniature dachshunds because they are like children to us.”
At first Craig used his original home brew system, brewing 50 litres a week, but has since upgraded to a modern system with its gleaming tanks and snaking pipes which transfer the brew from tank to tank.
A 1 000 litre hot liquor tank is the first in line and stands alongside a 600 litre mash tun which extracts sugar from the malt, turning it into wort.
This is boiled in a 600 litre kettle before being transferred to a heat exchanger which drops the temperature of the liquid from 100°C to 18°C. Four fermenter tanks are where “the magic is made”, turning the mixture to alcohol.
From here, the golden liquid flows into an overhead holding tank before being funnelled into bottles. It takes just five seconds to fill a bottle before it is “crowned” with a nifty capping machine.
Rolls of labels provide the finishing touch and are applied by Langatye’s speedy hands. Using only imported yeast, hops and malt, Daxi’s now produces 2 500 litres of beer monthly, including six ales and a lager pilsener.
“We did our first tastings in East London at a market and people were queuing up. Then we started cold calling pubs and restaurants,” says Lyn, who lectured in advertising at Varsity College in Pietermaritzburg before her move to the Eastern Cape.
Daxi’s craft beers are now in 15 pubs and restaurants as well as a couple of bottle stores and an outlet in Wilderness.
“We are also talking about distributing to Port Elizabeth.”
With names like Amatola Red, Gonubie Gold and Kidds Beach India Pale Ale (IPA), the beers, with their dachshund-themed labels, have garnered an eager following.
“We named them after the region because we like the customer to feel an affiliation with the beer,” says Lyn.
“Gonubie Gold is a best seller because people say they or their parents grew up there or that they live there. It’s also my favourite.
“We named our India pale ale after Kidds Beach because it’s where we live but also because we are building a brewery there.”
Architects’ impressions of the upmarket new Daxi’s on Kidds Beach main road show a clean-lined contemporary brewery complete with restaurant, children’s play area and giant viewing window of brewery operations.
Sloping roofs will feed rainwater to ten 5 000 litre tanks. This will be filtered and used to make ale while a tap room will dispense Daxi draughts.
“Building should begin in January and we plan to open mid-2017,” said Lyn.
Although their ingredients are imported, they support local in other ways. “We donate the used malt to Sundale Dairies for cow feed and Thulani takes it for his goats!”
The Mayhews may be earning less than before, but the laid-back Eastern Cape coastal lifestyle was worth it.
“I was supposed to be relaxing and now I’m selling beer!” quips Lyn, but in the same breath waxes lyrical about the joys of “village life” in Kidds Beach. “We took a risk, but we did the right thing,” says Craig.
“We may have less money, but have a stress-free lifestyle and I’m doing something I’m passionate about.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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