UCT history professor Anne Kelk Mager has argued that the official SAB story overemphasized the role of Charles and that it was his wife Lisa Glass who was primarily responsible for the creation of Castle.
Prior to incorporation in 1895, Castle Brewery had operations in Cape Town to serve the steady expansion of a settler community from the mid-17th century.
The demand for beer prompted the first Dutch governor, Jan van Riebeeck, to establish a brewery at the Fort (later replaced by the Castle in central Cape Town) as early as 1658 - beating the first wine production by six months.
One of the key figures in the story of Newlands, and in South African beer manufacturing history, was Swede Anders Ohlsson, who sailed for Africa, aged 23, in 1864.
The lager has 5% ABV with a unique light hops taste, advertised as "somewhat dry, somewhat bitter, never sweet" and as "the beer that stood the test of time".