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Castle Lager

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Castle Lager
Castle Lager
TypePale lager
ManufacturerSouth African Breweries (AB InBev)
Country of origin South Africa
Introduced1895 (under the SAB banner)
Alcohol by volume 5%
Related productsCastle Lite, Castle Milk Stout
WebsiteOfficial website

Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries and has been recognised as the National Beer of South Africa [citation needed],[1] based on the fact that it is 100% grown and produced in the country.[citation needed]

History

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Castle Lager's origins can be traced to the Johannesburg gold rush of 1886. Charles Glass, founder of the Castle Brewery, began selling beer to the miners after noticing a gap in the market. The new beer soon became popular amongst the prospectors of the gold rush, and in 1889 one of Johannesburg's early newspapers, The Digger's News, declared it "a phenomenal success." In 1895, on the success of Castle Lager, South African Breweries (SAB) was founded, with its head office being the Castle Brewery. Two years later, SAB became the first industrial company to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Today, Castle Lager is brewed in nine countries and is available in over 40 countries worldwide.[2][3] In 2000 Castle Lager was awarded in the "World's Best Bottled Lager" category at the Brewing Industry International Awards.

In 2002, South African Breweries bought Miller, forming SABMiller. In 2016, Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired SABMiller.

Sponsorships

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Castle Lager sponsorships have included:

Cold Castle Jazz Festival

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In 1960, South African Breweries and Castle Lager sponsored the Cold Castle National Jazz Festival, held annually for four years.[4][5] Major performers at the festival included The Jazz Epistles, Chris McGregor's Blue Notes, the Jazz Ambassadors, the Jazz Dazzlers, and Philip Tabane's Malombo.[6][7] The 1962 edition of the festival, held at Moroka-Jabavu Stadium outside Johannesburg, represented the first open-air jazz fest on the continent.[7][8]

The album Cold Castle National Jazz Festival 1962 (Gallo Record Company) included the work of key South African jazz artists, including Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Kippie Moeketsi, and Gideon Nxumalo.[4] In 1963, Chris McGregor formed the Castle Lager Big Band, whose members included Kippie Moeketsi and Dollar Brand, and produced the seminal LP Jazz: The African Sound (Gallo Record Company) with the company's support.[9]

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Castle Milk Stout
  • Castle Lite - introduced in 1994, Castle Lite is a reduced alcohol and lower calorie variant of Castle Lager. It is sold in a green bottle (as opposed to Castle Lager's brown) and is also available in cans and draught. Castle Lite is lagered at -2.5 °C and is packaged with South Africa's first thermochromic temperature indicator. It has an alcohol by volume of 4%.
    • Castle Lite Lime - a Lime flavoured variant of Castle Lite introduced in 2014.[10][11]
  • Castle Milk Stout - a milk stout that is advertised as "South Africa's Premier Stout". Castle Milk Stout is the only beer that uses a dark roasted malt to extract a rich brew. The addition of caramel balances out the bitterness in an attempt to offer a more balanced taste. It has an ABV of 6%
    • Castle Milk Stout Chocolate Infused - a chocolate infused variant of Castle Milk Stout.[12][13]
  • Castle Free - a non-alcoholic beer introduced in 2017 and the first of its type to be produced in South Africa.[14]
  • Castle Double Malt - a pure malt lager introduced in 2021. It is said to have a rich, complex flavour, deep gold colour and creamy foam.[citation needed] It has an alcohol content of 4.8% by volume.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Castle Lager, South Africa's national beer". 6 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Castle Lager". Archived from the original on 2016-02-25.
  3. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  4. ^ a b Broughton, Simon; Ellingham, Mark; Trillo, Richard (1999). World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 662. ISBN 978-1-85828-635-8.
  5. ^ Jegels, Llewellin RG (2023-05-19). Give a Little Love: The Zayn Adam Story. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-88641-2.
  6. ^ Devroop, Chatradari; Walton, Chris (2007-10-01). Unsung: South African Jazz Musicians Under Apartheid. AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-920109-66-0.
  7. ^ a b "flatinternational - south african audio archive - Various Artists - Cold Castle National Jazz Festival 1962". www.flatinternational.org. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  8. ^ Stockmann, Hardy (2001). Cape Town Jazz, 1959-1963: The Photographs of Hardy Stockmann. Booktrader. p. 93. ISBN 978-87-984539-6-3.
  9. ^ Bithell, Caroline; Hill, Juniper (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Music Revival. Oxford University Press. p. 653. ISBN 978-0-19-976503-4.
  10. ^ "SAB - Castle Lite". Archived from the original on 2016-02-25.
  11. ^ "Castle Lite". Archived from the original on 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  12. ^ "SAB - Castle Milk Stout". Archived from the original on 2016-03-02.
  13. ^ "The brewing process". Castle Milk Stout. Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  14. ^ "Castle Free is SA's first locally brewed alcohol-free beer". 30 October 2017.
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