The story of Copperlake begins with Brendan. A 38 year old with a well-established engineering business based in Lanseria. It was a job but not his passion. His passion was about beer and his wife. As he already had the perfect wife, he thought he needed to perfect the South African beer quality and the variety.
The type of beer he was looking for, just wasn´t available. He needed to change that. He couldn´t be the only one out there in South Africa looking for an alternative. Recovering from a severe motorbike accident in January 2010, that almost cost him an arm and a leg, Brendan finally decided to change his career. His interest was once and for all captured by Steve Gilroy during a brewery tour. Slowly Brendan got into the theme. First he read books, too dry. He then started looking around and found the Worthog Brewers Club, obviously a crowd of people just at his doorstep all enthusiastic about beer. He started to educate himself. His first brew was a brewing kit beer, It was o.k, but still not what Brendan was looking for.
He did his first whole grain brew with thirsty friends on his veranda at home: Grounding the malt, boiling the wort, stirring the mash and finally lautering the sweet wort from the mash …. It just felt right.
He then realized he had to wait for the fermenting process to be finished in about 3 weeks, what seemed such a long time for him, he finally had a beer in his hands and down his throat, which he really enjoyed.
In the meantime his supportive brother, Andrew, had taken over the existing engineering business giving Brendan the opportunity to fully recover and study. As a home brewer, he enrolled for the IBD diploma in brewing through the Institute of Brewing & Distilling in the UK, where he graduated within two years, becoming the first independent micro brewer in Africa holding such a diploma.
Well supported by his family, committed friends and Copperlake drinking beer enthusiast, the brews got bigger, the beers got tastier and the existing tanks were finally too small. Brendan couldn´t keep up with the most important beer supply and one year later the new 2400litre brew house was built at the Lanseria site.
Brendan closed the existing business and fired up the huge “Copperlake Kettles” with great help from the craft brewers such as Natalie and Stephan from Clarens Brewery and Vincent from the Keg House. He also drew inspiration from Gilroy’s Drayman’s and the Cockpit Brewery.
Copperlake Breweries has gone from strength to strength with an ever increasing fan base which has provided continued praise and motivation to create great new beers and for that we thank YOU!
Brendan even travelled throughout Germany for two weeks for professional practical training in a variety of different established breweries in Germany. He got hands on education from different German brew masters and learnt all about malting at the Weyermann® Malting Company in Bamberg. He came back home with a whole lot of ideas and impressions.
Then suddenly one night he had this dream ... He saw a beautiful brewpub with many friendly, happy people in there, having a good time. There were great beers and there was good food and the vibe amazing. He also saw a small brewery in the brewpub with groups of people brewing their own beer on site in the pub/restaurant. Then he saw his brewery´s name in big letters up behind the bar.
He then knew what he needed to do!
That´s how Copperlake Brewing Co. was born.
Come be our guest, be happy, enjoy, relax and be spoilt.
And don´t forget: Make a plan to book your “BREW YOUR OWN” with us.
In beer there is wisdom
In whiskey there is strength
In water there is bacteria
You decide!
The type of beer he was looking for, just wasn´t available. He needed to change that. He couldn´t be the only one out there in South Africa looking for an alternative. Recovering from a severe motorbike accident in January 2010, that almost cost him an arm and a leg, Brendan finally decided to change his career. His interest was once and for all captured by Steve Gilroy during a brewery tour. Slowly Brendan got into the theme. First he read books, too dry. He then started looking around and found the Worthog Brewers Club, obviously a crowd of people just at his doorstep all enthusiastic about beer. He started to educate himself. His first brew was a brewing kit beer, It was o.k, but still not what Brendan was looking for.
He did his first whole grain brew with thirsty friends on his veranda at home: Grounding the malt, boiling the wort, stirring the mash and finally lautering the sweet wort from the mash …. It just felt right.
He then realized he had to wait for the fermenting process to be finished in about 3 weeks, what seemed such a long time for him, he finally had a beer in his hands and down his throat, which he really enjoyed.
In the meantime his supportive brother, Andrew, had taken over the existing engineering business giving Brendan the opportunity to fully recover and study. As a home brewer, he enrolled for the IBD diploma in brewing through the Institute of Brewing & Distilling in the UK, where he graduated within two years, becoming the first independent micro brewer in Africa holding such a diploma.
Well supported by his family, committed friends and Copperlake drinking beer enthusiast, the brews got bigger, the beers got tastier and the existing tanks were finally too small. Brendan couldn´t keep up with the most important beer supply and one year later the new 2400litre brew house was built at the Lanseria site.
Brendan closed the existing business and fired up the huge “Copperlake Kettles” with great help from the craft brewers such as Natalie and Stephan from Clarens Brewery and Vincent from the Keg House. He also drew inspiration from Gilroy’s Drayman’s and the Cockpit Brewery.
Copperlake Breweries has gone from strength to strength with an ever increasing fan base which has provided continued praise and motivation to create great new beers and for that we thank YOU!
Brendan even travelled throughout Germany for two weeks for professional practical training in a variety of different established breweries in Germany. He got hands on education from different German brew masters and learnt all about malting at the Weyermann® Malting Company in Bamberg. He came back home with a whole lot of ideas and impressions.
Then suddenly one night he had this dream ... He saw a beautiful brewpub with many friendly, happy people in there, having a good time. There were great beers and there was good food and the vibe amazing. He also saw a small brewery in the brewpub with groups of people brewing their own beer on site in the pub/restaurant. Then he saw his brewery´s name in big letters up behind the bar.
He then knew what he needed to do!
That´s how Copperlake Brewing Co. was born.
Come be our guest, be happy, enjoy, relax and be spoilt.
And don´t forget: Make a plan to book your “BREW YOUR OWN” with us.
In beer there is wisdom
In whiskey there is strength
In water there is bacteria
You decide!
