OnTap Magazine

CRAFT IN SHAWN DUTHIE It is fair to say that, in Africa, South Africa is the top craft beer destination. We have the oldest craft breweries, the most craft breweries and, arguably, the best craft breweries. But, fortunately, the beer revolution is beginning to take shape in other African countries. There’s a microbrewery specialising in sorghum in Ghana, a nanobrewery or two in Namibia and several microbreweries in Kenya that are all making flavourful inroads into Africa’s ubiquitous pale lager monopoly. Kenya seems poised to become the next star of African craft, though there are still some major obstacles in its way. When I visited Kenya, there were three microbreweries in the capital but just a few weeks after I left Nairobi, Sirville Brewery, a brewpub operating from the top floor of a Nairobi mall, sold its equipment to the oldest microbrewery in Kenya, Big Five Breweries. Big Five Breweries, founded in 2009, operates out of Brew Bistro and Lounge which has two locations in Nairobi, catering for a hip crowd largely made up of students. The restaurant is more lounge than bistro, with funky low lighting, loud music and, during happy hour, some ridiculously cheap specials. While not a place to hold a BJCP competition, it serves as a gateway for those looking to move away from Tusker and its pale lager peers usually consumed across the city. The beers are German-style, and while I couldn’t help but notice some fermentation issues with the bock and Weiss beers, the German pils is very drinkable – crisp with a palatable bitterness. There are plans to open a new bar, Brew Tap Room, with the old Sirville equipment very soon. Meanwhile Sirville’s founder and a former chemical engineer with East African Breweries, Charles Njogu, is in the process of setting up a larger brewery on the outskirts of Nairobi. The other microbrewery has chosen not to walk down the brewpub path, operating a 3000-litre brewhouse near the airport and then distributing across the country. Sierra Premium also has an upscale restaurant in the affluent Westlands suburb, though when I dropped in for a pint, they were pushing the extensive wine menu over their very good range of beers. The lager is obviously the biggest seller, though the amber ale is quaffable and the imperial stout is excellent, if not particularly imperial at only 4.5% ABV. Brewer and owner, Alan Murungi, learned to brew in California after seeing a gap in the Kenyan market. He has travelled around South Africa and admits that while Kenya still has a long way to go, there are plenty of opportunities in Kenya for craft beer to grow. The biggest is a rising middle class, who are looking to expand their tastes – be it in wine, whisky or beer – and are young enough to not have developed a devotion to Tusker. There are certainly signs that Kenya’s craft beer scene could begin to bloom, but there are also areas for improvement: there are few (to no) homebrewers – historically the next generation of craft brewers; brewing supplies are difficult to obtain and the electricity supply is expensive and unreliable. These are not new issues for craft brewers from around the world and, ultimately, those who start breweries do it for the love of beer more than the love of money (though money helps!). Kenyans already have a love of beer and, while still many years behind South Africa, the Kenyan craft beer revolution has begun. WORLD OF BEER The lager is obviously the biggest seller, though the amber ale is quaffable and the imperial stout is excellent 28 / On Tap / Autumn 2018