By Kristy Hesom

Where did the inspiration for Beer Safari come from?

It partly came from the readers of my first beer book, African Brew. Many used the book to plan trips around the country, gathering brewers' signatures along the way, so I wanted to make it easier for people to do this and to encourage more people to use craft beer as a theme for their travels. Also, I'm both a travel and beer writer so this was a wonderful way to combine my three great loves - travel, beer and my adopted home, South Africa.

Were there any challenges/obstacles on your safari? How did you overcome them?

Once of the biggest challenges is keeping up to date with how many breweries there are. Many of them are tiny and don't have much of an internet presence, so keeping the list current is quite a mission. I have to rely on contacts in the industry and am constantly scouring the web for new breweries. The deadline was also pretty tight, so fitting in all the travel (I went to every brewery in the book) as well as finding time to write was very challenging.

What were the highlights/lowlights of the trip?

The highlights are undoubtedly meeting the brewers - people who have given up their day jobs to follow their dreams. They're such an amazing bunch of people, so welcoming and giving. People took me into their homes, invited me to dinner with their families and in some cases paid for me (and my family) to stay in a guest house. The only lowlight is that for most of the trip I had to leave my husband and toddler son at home.

Would you be interested in plotting out an Official Craft Beer Route in South Africa?

I think that would be awesome. There are now pushing 150 microbreweries across the country and I think an official route would be a great boost for the industry.

What’s next for The Brewmistress?

The blog takes up a lot of my time, but in 2016 I'd like to run some more courses. I already organise brewing courses for avid home-brewers and those wanting to open microbreweries, but in 2016 I'm starting a course called 'Love Your Beer', run over six weeks, one evening a week, as well as more corporate events - team-building and such. I'd also like to get quite a bit of international travel in so that I can explore what's going on in the beer scenes elsewhere in the world.

For more information on Corne, and if you’d like to purchase one of her books, visit brewmistress.co.za. Alternatively, connect with her on Twitter using the #beersafari hashtag.