Whiskey and Craft Beer Hybrid Arrives in SA

It’s good advice when someone tells you to never mix your drinks. But when expert distillers do it, well – that’s a different story.

Following a successful limited run in Ireland – whiskey brand Jameson has brought its Jameson Caskmates offering to the Republic. What exactly is it? Like some beautiful Frankenstein baby between whiskey and craft beer, Jameson Caskmates is a new whiskey product aged in “sout-seasoned” barrels.

Retaining everything fans love about Jameson (and adding a stout twist to it), Jameson Caskmates features the triple-distilled smoothness of Jameson Original while adopting additional notes of coffee, cocoa, butterscotch and a hint of hops from the stout brewed in the barrel. A showcase of exceptional versatility, Jameson Caskmates can be served in many different ways; neat, on the rocks, as a beer pairing and in beer cocktails.

So, Jameson has something new for the whiskey lovers, but what about the beer aficionados? To create something special with the Jameson brand, two unique South African breweries were selected to be a part of the experiment – Devil’s Peak Brewery in Cape Town, and Ubuntu Kraal Brewery in Johannesburg. The idea was to give the breweries some of Jameson’s old whisky casks and see what they would come up with. Devil’s Peak came up with the ‘667’ – an Irish Red Ale, and Ubuntu Kraal Brewery produced the Soweto Gold 76′ – a tantalising craft beer that pays homage to the June 16 protesters.

“People questioned why we would want to share our casks with breweries. They found the concept hard to grasp, but we saw it as an opportunity for collaboration. Jameson’s motto is ‘Sine Metu’ which means ‘without fear’ in Latin, that is the ethos of Caskmastes. People are always scared of what they don’t know, but living without fear is what inspires us, so we’re constantly looking to work with collaborators who feel the same way we do” says Jameson’s Assistant Brand Manager, Nicole van Zyl.

Keep an eye out for Jameson Caskmates in selected stores or at any decent bar.

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