Welcome to the Grown-up Travel Guide 2015 Beer Diary!
A little background info: in December a group of us decided to set up the 2014 Beer Advent Calendar, whereby we would try a new beer each day up until Christmas. We shared our tipples on Facebook and Instagram and a great time was had by all – plus we all got to learn about some fine brews from around the world.
Faced with a sense of emptiness when the challenge was over I decided that 24 days a year was just not enough. Why not a year of beer? And so here we are. I reckon a beer a day can keep the doctor away – but even if not it’ll be fun, right?
Given that a large proportion of the year 2015 will be spent in foreign climes there will be the added element of finding a new brew wherever we travel and there are a huge number of excellent beers available here in Norway too – most of which I doubt any of our readers will have heard of.
Your participation is not only encouraged but required – just use the hashtag #grownupbeerdiary if possible. Add your entries here and/or use our social media channels – whatever works best for you.
To keep it simple follow the same format as we do here: describe your day in a maximum of five sentences, add some info about the beer and a photo or two.
Obscure ales and imports IPAs are always interesting but there’s to be no snobbery here – anything goes, even alcohol-free as we all need a good alternative now and again. We’ll work out the practicalities as we go – but since the first day of the year is nearly over we better get started on this journey around the world – in beer form. Cheers!
Day 113: April 23, 2015
Diary entry:
Mantenga Lodge in Swaziland is in a truly amazing location in the Ezulwini Valley.
It has an unbroken view of the foreboding ‘Execution Rock’ from the outdoor restaurant (I’ll fill you in on the grisly details in a later article).
Said restaurant also serves excellent meals and I was ready for dinner after my epic journey.
I made changes to my plans for the next day as I realised that it would involve too much driving.
Really enjoying this spontaneous schedule – booking each night’s stay the day before is a fine way to travel…
The Beer:
Name: Sibebe
Producer: Swaziland Beverages Ltd of Matsapha, Swaziland
Alcohol content: 4.8 %
Bottle size: 340 ml
Purchased from: Mantenga Lodge, Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland
#grownupbeerdiary
Although it’s a regular industrial lager, this is a cut above the South African standards – and considering Swaziland is so small it’s not far off a craft beer, I guess…
