OnTap Magazine

26 | Autumn 2025 | ontapmag.co.za B ehind every pint of Brewhogs beer lies a remarkable story – one that spans continents and decades. Brewhogs’ brewing equipment starts its story in 1984 when Robert Morton DG Ltd (RMDG) fromBurton- On-Trent, UK, was commissioned by South African Breweries (SAB) to design and supply a classic showpiece brewery for the newly opened Gold Reef City theme park in Johannesburg. Known for its expertise in stainless-steel fabrication and process design since 1830, RMDG was well positioned to produce this one-of-a-kind brewery for SAB. The town of Burton itself is known for its long history of brewing; historically exporting its beer throughout the world and at one point accounting for a quarter of all beer produced in the UK. The brewing equipment was manufac- tured, shipped to South Africa, and finally installed at the Heritage Brewery in Gold Reef City in 1985. Under the watchful eye of development brewer Bill Higgins, the Heritage brewery produced the famous “Diggers Draught” for the nearby Barney’s Tavern and Rosy O’Grady’s Restaurant (it was also fondly referred to as “Barney’s Draught” by customers). South Africa’s craft beer scene was very much in its infancy in the 1980s. With only Mitchell’s Brewery in Knysna, which opened its doors in 1983, beer enthusiasts did not enjoy the same variety of flavourful craft beers as they do today. A common past time for Johannesburgers in the 1980s was to take the 40-minute drive south to Gold Reef City – typically on a Friday night – to see the can-can dancers at Barney’s Tavern and Rosie O’Grady’s, and of course, to sam- ple the famous Digger’s Draught. At the time, South Africa’s beer landscape was dominated by mass-market Lagers, with few options for craft beer enthusiasts. Although owned by SAB, the Heritage Brewery in Gold Reef City was one of the pioneers of small-scale brewing, offering unique beer styles when most consumers were accustomed to mainstream products. This effort laid the groundwork for the vi- brant craft beer culture that has since flour- ished in the country. The showpiece brewery was a bespoke 3,000L system capable of complex stepped mashing which enables a wide range of different beer styles, such as Weissbier and Lagers. With heat energy supplied by steam, stepped mashing is a process of predetermined temperature setpoints, which can be used to specifically target cer- tain enzyme activity and malt flavours. The lauter vessel (which separates the sweet wort from the spent grain) featured a patented, fully adjustable rotating rake and vessel construction for fine control over this separation process. Despite being four decades old, the brewing equipment still holds its own against modern brewing technology, thanks to its robust design and thoughtful engineering. The adjustable rake in the lauter vessel, for instance, was ahead of its time and remains a rare feature in smaller scale breweries. The fermenters featured full temperature control, allowing programmable tempera- ture setpoints for optimal fermentation conditions. This also allows for beer tem- peratures to be reduced to 0°C for perfect cold-conditioning – a vital step for pro- ducing clean filtered beer. All the vessels featured high-grade stainless-steel shells, polished copper-nickel domes, were fully insulated, and externally clad in English oak wood. Brewhogs Today Heritage Brewery Inside Heritage Brewery A special thank you to Angela Frost of Briggs of Burton PLC (Briggs of Burton PLC acquired Robert Morton DG Ltd in 1988) for providing these photos. It is believed that there are no other photographs of the original brewery, as all current images were unfortunately destroyed in a fire at Gold Reef City.