OnTap Magazine

T he Levant is a region that has been synonymous with human development. For over thousands of years there have been empires expanding around it. This was largely due to good climatic conditions and abundance of wild grains that coaxed the early nomadic cultures into settling down for longer periods of time. While writing this, I am reminded of my interviewwith Jeff Alworth in 2023 and his proclamation that human development and beer go hand in hand. “It’s like a human impulse!” In fact, beer is widely accepted to have come from a region that covers the Southern Levant, a region that contains modern day Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Given the war we have seen unfold over the last several months, it is easy to forget about the human beings on the ground, doing the hard work of just living and trying to carve their place in the world. For instance, who has ever put any thought into whether or not Palestine has a brewery? At the end of 2023, I was fortunate to read an article in The Guardian newspaper, telling the tale of Taybeh Brewery, a second- generation brewery run by Madees Khoury in the West Bank of Palestine. I had to find out more, so I reached out to them through their website and quickly set-up a Zoom call with Madees herself. Madees’ father Nadim and her uncle David were studying business in Boston in the 80s while her Grandfather Canaan Khoury worked as a travel agent and entrepreneur in the West Bank. During those days, to retain your citizenship it was vital to return to Palestine once a year and with Canaan’s travel business and know- how, he ensured that his sons returned annually. This was no easy feat, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, as most of the time Palestinians had to travel through Jordan. While the peace negotiations gained traction in Palestine, the early 90s saw Nadim and David homebrew in their dormitories in Boston. They also brewed beer for their dad inWest Bankon their visits home, bringing with them the same craft beer spirit they would have seen develop in the US. In fact, they were planning on opening a craft brewery in the Boston area, when their father Canaan floated the idea of opening such a brewery in the West Bank instead. The brothers agreed that if Canaan could get them licenses and a premises, then they would return home. Canaan, of course, having ensured their yearly returns, put a similar dedication into this mission, he set to work and even managed to get the licenses signed off by Yasser Arafat, the future president of the Palestine National Authority. They set up their family brewery in their hometown of Taybeh, to bring high quality craft beer to their countrymen and women. Their first beer, called Golden (a Palestinian lager) was brewed in 1994 and the journey began. “Business was good in those days,” Madees recalls. Following the Oslo Accord there was a sense of hope among Palestinians, something that then changed between the years 2000 and 2005 as various conflicts erupted across the region. The village name Taybeh, means “good people,” in English, however, when you use theArabicword in reference to food, it takes on the even more appropriate meaning of “delicious.” Apply that definition to their beer range and essentially their brand translates into English as “Delicious Beer.” This is an incredible promise on the label and something that I can hear is an enduringmotivation when I talk toMadees. Having completed her own studies in Boston, and then an MBA at Birzeit Universit in Palestine, Madees is quick to point out that this is a family business. Her brother, Canaan N Khoury, was a Harvard graduate in mechanical engineering and founded the Taybeh Winery. When they first got involved with the brewery in a professional capacity, Madees recalls how her father, Nadim, used to joke about their beer-related challenges in Palestine: “Jordan has a country, but Palestine has a brewery.” Jordan looms large as a comparison, because the West Bank was part of Jordan between 1948 and 1967 and even the name refers to their location on the “west bank of the Jordan River.” (Since those early days, however, Jordan has gained a brewery.) Today, the major challenge facing any brewery currently operatingout of Palestine is the challenge of import and export. “We import our hops from the Czech [Republic] and Bavaria,”Madees says. “Our malts [we get] from France and Belgium.” “It’s not easy to import,” Madees states with a friendly, yet underlying frustration rarely rising to the surface. “We have to go through Israeli ports and check-points. This ontapmag.co.za | Autumn 2024 | 33