13/03/2024
A final goodbye
👋👋👋
It's 3 o’clock on a Friday and no regular crowd shuffles in. My staff have packed their bags and headed home to have the weekend off.
I sit alone in the quartyard waiting for Sharfaa to make her appearance, but she isn’t coming. There will be no sound of clinking glass as she gets the bar ready for the afternoon onslaught.
There is no noise from Jesse, frantically finishing off his brew of the day, so he can have a beer and mingle with his broad smile and a new tale to tell.
No Charles to cover for me as my brain goes into overdrive and switches off, or to fill in behind the bar or fix whatever breaks.
No familiar faces from Molenaar, Afriplex or Douler, hankering for a cold one after a week at the grindstone.
No sign of Ben coming in for a ‘Big Ben’, immediately taking a gulp and declaring “Heerlik Herman” while wiping the foam from his top lip.
No friendly chuckle from Mac, as he reaches to take his Helles Lager that Sharfaa had ready and waiting for him.
No Tertia and Johan, who supported us through thick and thin and helped us get through our stock of Pale Ale every month.
No Bonnie and his wealth of knowledge. My go-to man if I needed any technical advice, along with Leon who kept the Blonde stocks flowing.
No German Shepherd with Charlie in tow.
No Evan, our trusty Thursday client, who kept our till ticking over on a quiet day.
No Werner and Dewald to have a regular quick one whenever those doors were open, or even supposedly closed.
No Alan and Bret to take the p**s out of all and everyone who passed their way. Luckily for us they were not too regular.
No Wessley to bring yet another work college that had not been to the brewery.
No Yolande or Veronique coming in late, just to stretch the closing time that little bit longer…
No hum of the brewery pumps, just quiet. Everything is still, it’s as if the heart and soul has been ripped out. There is just silence and the sound of my memories.
I raise my glass to you all, to those I mentioned but should not of, and to those I did not mention but should of. I thank you for 8 years of support and fun. All of us at Berg River Brewery bid you a sad farewell.
- Glen
