By MIKE HALLS
I visited That Brewing Company late last year and prior to my visit I hadn’t heard all that much about this brewery. A friend of mine highly recommended this place and I am s glad I checked it out, as it is now my favourite brewery to visit in Durban.
The place was packed as we visited on Durbans First Thursday, but the service was very good. We grabbed a seat at the bar and a tasting tray of all their beers. We were also able to grab a bite to eat and their food is excellent.
” In 2011 Sean Roberts opened the local pub in Musgrave known as Unity Bar. Sean partnered with Robson’s Brewery to produce Unity’s beloved in-house brew: Cowbell. Stuart Robson then sold his brewery to Brian and Donn Stuart. And amidst the transition Unity ran out of Cowbell and the customers we’re demanding this craft beer. At this point it was clear that Sean’s plan to spearhead local love for the craft had been successful, so he started couriering a wide range from Cape Town. That’s when Unity transitioned into Durban’s first 100% craft beer bar. Sean went to a local home brewer’s festival hosted by the 1000 hills chef school. One particular beer simply blew him away: That Irish Red – made by Paul Ten Hoorn Boer. Sean handed Paul a business card and said, “One day we will have a brewery together; call me.”
About six months later Paul strolled into Unity bar for a beer and before he knew it he was building a 300l brewery on a “shoe string budget” in a garage in Umbilo, with the sole purpose of supplying Unity with beer. The brewery ended up reaching a capacity of about 4000 liters a month!
An advertising agency on the top floor of The Foundry in the trendy Station drive precinct had ordered some beer for an event. When Sean and Paul went to set the taps up they fell in love with both the atmospheric building and the arty precinct. They started spending a lot of time around station drive and eventually heard of a vacancy. The two lads very quickly formed a partnership/bromance and scraped every penny they had together to build the brewery you now see at the back of our restaurant. Paul quit the music industry and earned his title as Brew Master. Sean and his wife Marcelle Roberts, having extensive knowledge of the restaurant game, attached the aptly named venue S43 to the brewery (That’s our address).
And that’s how S43 – Home to That Brewing Company – came about.”
I didn’t have a bad beer at That Brewing Company, which surprised me for a brewery I didn’t know much about and that offered such a large range of beers. But for me there were two stand out beers. That APA with loads of tropical fruit aromas was absolutely awesome and most surprisingly for me That Good Adweiss with huge whacks of banana and bubblegum on the nose. As most of you will know by now, I am not usually a big fan of Weiss beers, but this one was amazing.
That Brewing Co. is definitely a must visit on you next visit to Durban, and if you can plan it on a First Thursday then all the better.
To check out my reviews of That Brewing Companies beers, click the link on the images below:
