Behind the scenes at The Great Railroad

Nestled in Shaka’s Head’s Canton Park lies every beer lovers dream – a local brewery combining different flavors to tantalize Dolphin Coaster’s taste buds.

Owned by Gary and Ursula Wilby, The Great Railroad Brewing Company has been operating for the past two years.

With their Bohemian Pilsner and Ballito Belgian Ale being a hit on the Dolphin Coast, the adventurous brewer Gary is now experimenting in developing fresh, new flavours which includes a “curries out mild” blend.

A chemical engineer by trade, Gary and his wife started brewing three years ago when they were looking for an investment opportunity.

“My wife and I were offered the opportunity to invest in a brewery. We were very keen and started doing our research on beers but then the deal fell though.

“We were so excited about beer making at this stage that we figured that nothing was stopping us from starting our own brewery.”

So, equipped with his years of chemical engineering knowledge and many recipe books, Gary got to work on brewing beer from his home.

“We used our friends as guinea pigs. They were tasked with tasting our experimental brews and giving us feedback. The one’s that they liked stayed and the rest were chucked out.”

Describing brewing as an easy process, Gary makes and supplies nine different beers.

“It is rather simple. It is just a process of combining malted grains, hops, yeast and water. The starch converts to sugar. The yeast also plays a role in the flavor of the beer. The yeast ingests the sugar and forms alcohol and CO2. Hops gives the beer it’s dominant flavors and aromas. All our beers have five per cent alcohol content.”

The Great Railroad Brewing Company offers tours to those who are interested in finding out about the nitty gritties of the beer making process. This past weekend, The Harley Davidson bike club had an eye opening experience when they visited the brewery for the fist time and tasted the local beers.

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