There's nothing quite as glorious and sipping a cold, syrupy amber ale — quirky illustrated label intact — on a hot summer day. The Craft Beer Library, nestled alongside Linden’s famous cheese shop, is a bar best suited to lovers of hops and barley, not mimosas and mojitos.

Elke Nelson and Fritz van Graan
Elke Nelson and Fritz van Graan
Image: Annalize Nel

Owners and co-founders Fritz van Graan and Elke Nelson both have a passion for microbrews. “The majority of craft brewers are spread far and wide all over the country — in small places like Pennington Beach, Magaliesberg, Nieu-Bethesda, Shaka’s Rock and Lions River — there’s about 150 of them. Our mission is to bring these breweries into a setting, where their exclusivity can be appreciated with good food, too,” they say.

India pale ales, lagers, pilsners, blonde ales, amber ales, red ales, brown ales, porters, and stouts are on offer and paired with perfectly suited grub, created by Nelson. And, when it comes to choosing which beers to feature in the library? It all depends on taste. “This is what craft beer is about — we see it as the individual’s intimate journey with a specific beer. Our goal is to have as many as possible of the local  breweries represented,” van  Graan says.


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