Amstel Brewery (Amstelbrouwerij) is a Dutch Brewery founded on June 11, 1870 on the Mauritskade in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and named after the Amstel River, the waters of which also served for refrigeration. It was taken over by Heineken international in 1968, and the brewing plant closed down in 1982 with production moving to the main Heineken plant at Zoeterwoude. On March 12, 2007 Heineken N.V announced that it has taken an in-principle decision to construct a new brewery in South Africa where Amstel Lager will be marketed, sold and distributed in South Africa by the Cape Town-based Brandhouse Beverages (Pty) Ltd, a joint venture between Heineken, Diageo and Namibia Breweries.

Charles Glass came to South Africa in the late 1800's during the Gold Rusch. Howeveer, he discovered gold of a different form when he hit upon the brewing recipe for a pale-gold coloured liquid - Castle Lager. Originally from Kent in England, his restless nature brough him to Newcastle, South Africa, where he met a man called H.B. Marshall who first ignited his interest in brewing. He left Durban for Johannesburg, which was a mining town in those days, that very same year to set up a brewery. In 1884 he started the company Glass & Co. with H.B. Marshall and Jim Welsh in Marshall's Township, Johannesburg. It was a difficult time as Glass struggled to set up the brewery, plagued by shortages of proper building materials at the time. He had the further challenge of sourcing the hops, malt and other ingredients necessary to brew the beer. He had to import these all the way from England. The brewery was eventually completed and he started the work of producing a beer that would sell. It took a while. Miners in those days were more accustomed to drinking "hard tack" - a raw potato spirit mixed with tobacco juice and pepper - which was very cheap. At the time he was developing the brew, Charles Glass could be seen wheeling a barrow full of beer through the mining villages of Johannesburg observing the various reactions to his different brewing recipes. The miners developed an appreciation for the recipe with a "somewhat bitter, somewhat dry but never sweet" taste as it had the perfect lanace of being full-flavoured and thirst quenching. The beer grew rapidly in popularity. This brew was named Castle Beer in 1884 and the brewery was named Castle Brewery.

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Although cider can be made from any variety of apple, certain cultivars are preferred in some regions, and these may be known as cider apples. One of the two main types of cider produced and distributed in South Africa by Distell group Limited, Hunters Dry was first introduced in South Africa in 1988 as an alternative to beer.