Region & History

At the foot of Table Mountain, in the suburb of Newlands, flows the Liesbeek River. According to the brewery's own telling, Pieter Visagie brewed the Cape Colony's first beer on its banks in 1658. What's certain is that brewing has continued here, largely without interruption, since the 19th century.

Jacob Letterstedt, a Swedish merchant, built the Mariendahl Brewery and named it after Maria Dreyer, the owner of the land where he'd previously worked as a gardener. Later, fellow Swede Anders Ohlsson took over the operation and founded Ohlsson's Cape Breweries. His best-known beer was called Lion Lager. Today's operators cite 1820 as the founding year of Newlands Brewery, making it the oldest brewery in the country still in operation.

South African Breweries, known as SAB, emerged separately in the north. Castle Lager was first brewed in Johannesburg in 1895. In 1956, SAB and Ohlsson's Cape Breweries merged, and Newlands has belonged to the group ever since. In 1995, the complex—including its maltings, kiln tower, and brewhouse tower—was granted national heritage protection.

Politics shaped the business too. Until August 15, 1962, most Black South Africans were barred from buying commercially brewed beer; the 1927 law and its successors drew the line along racial lines. After the restriction was lifted, sales of the major brands grew slowly at first in the 1960s, then picked up significantly.

In 2016, AB InBev acquired the SABMiller group, which included SAB. Since then, Castle has been a brand within the Belgian-Brazilian global conglomerate. Alongside it, since around 2010, a small scene of independent brewers has taken root in Cape Town, many of them in the former industrial districts of Woodstock and Salt River.