Bringing depth to South African beer

About This Project

Every winter, aptly named brewer Theo de Beer and his team at the Anvil Ale House hand-peel, julienne and sun-dry the skins of a few crates of naartjies in preparation for his seasonal witbier, White Anvil. The naartjie is a South African tangerine, and after five years of weird looks from farmers unused to buyers wanting to nibble on peel rather than taste the fruit, Theo found the perfect local specimen. “I grew up going to rugby games with naartjies and biltong (dried, spiced meat similar to beef jerky) as snacks,” Theo says. “That fresh, exotic taste still lingers in my mind. I wanted to transfer that flavor to the beer—I don’t think the biltong would have worked so well!”