When I first met Eric Van Heerden, he was still homebrewing. The year was 2010 and he was wowing everyone at Southyeasters meetings with hop-forward American styles and bold stouts. Later that year, he opened his Somerset West microbrewery, Triggerfish.
Initially specialising in hop-forward ales the like of which no-one else was brewing locally at the time, Triggerfish became best known for producing big beers – hearty barley wines, robust stouts – and from 2013 onwards, a limited edition Belgian Quad brewed in collaboration with Eric’s old university friend Andre de Beer, founder of the now sadly defunct Cockpit Brewhouse in Cullinan. The beer was called Crazy Diamond, and Eric has religiously (terrible Trappist monk-related pun intended) rebrewed it every two years since then, releasing limited amounts in beautifully packaged 750ml Champagne bottles.
And why am I telling you this now? Well, partly because Crazy Diamond won not one, but two medals at the 2025 African Beer Cup, held in Cape Town in May. The 2021 vintage won a gold medal in the Monastic Ale category, while the 2019 edition took bronze in the same category. (Side note: Crazy Diamond also won a silver medal in the 2021 African Beer Cup, but I don’t have details on which vintage that was).
But the real reason I bring this up is because in mid-July, you have the unique opportunity to taste every single vintage of Crazy Diamond, from 2013 until 2025. I’m rather honoured to have been invited to co-host the event with Eric on 16 July. You’ll get to taste seven versions of the 13.2% ABV beer in an evening that should appeal equally to the casual beer lover and the rather fanatical beer nerd.
As a general rule, beer doesn’t age well. If you’re talking hop forward styles, then “drink yesterday” is the slightly tongue-in-cheek advice from brewers. But when it comes to higher-ABV styles that derive their flavours from yeast and malt rather than hops, beer can age just as well as wine – better in some cases.
As beer ages, the alcohol mellows and other flavours begin to come to the forefront. Crazy Diamond is a rich and complex beer, with deep malty notes and lots of yeast-derived esters and phenols. But of course each vintage is going to have its own unique character, and to find out more, well – you’re just going to have to join us.
A Journey Through the Vintages takes place at Triggerfish Brewing in Somerset West on 16 April, kicking off at 19:30. Tickets are R500 and there are only 30 seats at this boutique tasting evening, so if you want to join us for some fine beer and snacks, a little light learning and a few stories on how the initial collab came about and how the beer is brewed, grab your tickets on Quicket now.
