OnTap Magazine

The brewpub, featuring a 1000-litre system from EJ Stainless in South Africa, is the brainchild of four beer lovers with fascinatingly different backgrounds. Mike Danes, a graphic designer and artist from Harare, grew up around beer thanks to his father’s job as a brewing engineer. Gus Le Breton makes his living from lotions and potions made with natural ingredients and is planning to incorporate plants like baobab and marula into the beers. While Gus had spent time working in a brewery in the UK, and both he and Mike had a deep interest in beer, it was clear that they needed a brewer. Enter Lionel McCauley, an Alaskan school teacher who picked up a homebrewing habit while working the international school circuit. “When Lionel arrived in Zimbabwe, six years ago as a teacher, he was a very accomplished home brewer,” says Gus, “but although he was teaching he was still nurturing a dream of becoming a full time brewer.” Gus and Mike wanted to start a homebrewing club in Harare and soon realised there was a emerging market for craft beer. The country only has one other microbrewery, Bespoke Brewers, which opened way back in 1997 at the Beer Engine in Harare. “Pretty quickly we knew we wanted to chuck in our day jobs,” Gus continues, “but we weren’t quite convinced Harare was the right place, so we looked around in Vic Falls where at least the tourists would know what craft beer was, even if the locals didn’t! And there we met Andy, who was sniffing around with the same idea in mind, but no idea how to make it happen.” Andy Conn was the crucial final piece of the puzzle, a hospitality veteran who had been working and living in Vic Falls for many years. Throw in an experienced chef (Mark Rimmer) and a 120-seater brewpub and you have the kind of setup that would make many South African brewers weep with envy. River Brewing Co. has launched with four beers: KAZA Blonde (4.6%), Painted Dog Pale Ale (5%), Jack Tar Porter (5.4%) and River IPA (6%). “Given Lionel’s heritage, it’s perhaps not surprising that we use a lot of Pacific North West hops,” says Gus, no doubt piquing the interest of many local beer fans. “We’re also experimenting with a few SA hops andmalts, but themajority of our ingredients come from the US, Germany or Belgium.” Access to ingredients has been one of the major hurdles thanks to the unstable economy, the lack of refrigerated transport and the bureaucracy that comes with customs. River Brewing Co. is open seven days a week and as Gus says, they’re excited to welcome all visitors from the brewing world and beyond. According to Gus Le Breton, there hasn’t been a microbrewery licence issued in Zimbabwe since the 1990s. Well, until now that is. River Brewing Company opened its doors in December alongside Victoria Falls. BREW NEWS The Craft Brewers Powwow takes place each May, offering brewers and beer lovers the chance to listen to top industry speakers, network and of course taste plenty of beers. And this year there’s even more reason to attend. The three-day conference includes two competitions – one for craft brewers and one for homebrewers and there are some spectacular prizes on offer. Full details are yet to be released but the top two craft brewers and first-placed homebrewer will find themselves in Germany on the kind of trip any beer lover would give their left fermenter for. For further details and to register for the conference, head to craftbrewerspowwow.co.za . RIVER BREWING COMPANY OPENS ATVIC FALLS Craft Brewers Powwow offers brewer’s dream trip as a prize WIN 12 / On Tap / Autumn 2018