OnTap Magazine

18 | Spring 2025 | ontapmag.co.za discontinued, but makes limited-release appearances at the Diep River taproom.) They named these new beers after local surrounds, keeping with the time. Ross explained the practicalities behind this: “Local became more and more important to us and to the consumer. We are a local company and a local brand, so we integrated products like Skeleton Coast, or Cape Pale Ale into the brand.” By 2017, Jack Black’s taproom and brewery were up and running, but the craft beer category in South Africa had started to flatten a bit and growth slowed down. “So now we had a lot of capacity, we’d built the brewery with enough capacity that we were only using about 25% of then.” Disrtributing nationally was another problem and Jack Black wanted to grow nationally. “We had a good footprint in the Cape and Joburg was a bit of a stretch for us to transport the beer. Distributors were OK, some were good, some not so good, because [with us] being a relatively small brand the focus was difficult.” And then the context started to change. In 2017, SAB was now owned by Ab Inbev. With that there was suddenly the potential of several of the Ab Inbev craft breweries (or craft beer brands) entering the South African market. The Jack Black team were quite concerned about this. Around the same time, Ross had become aware of Heineken acquiring Stellenbrau, a Stellenbosch-based craft brewery and brand. With all this in mind, Ross, while trying to find a solution to national distribution, investigated the possibilities of pursuing a distribution deal with Heineken. He knew that with the Ab Inbev threat, Heineken would most likely be developing their own craft beer strategy. “I contacted Heineken at that time for a distribution discussion and seeing if there could be some kind of a distribution partnership. We then got to meet with Ruud [van den Eijnden], who was the MD at the time and [we] had dinner together.” After their dinner and fruitful discussions, a partnership was formed, where Jack Black could focus on their production and marketing, and Heineken could assist with the sales and distribution. Heineken took a minority share and this helped propel the brand further. The Heineken deal eventually led to Heineken taking full ownership of Jack Black in 2024, but that has only made the brand stronger. The business remains the same with a new CEO, the same staff and team, but with a little bit of extra amplification around sales and distribution. For the most part Jack Black operates as an autonomous microbrewery, still brewing all their beers on site and with autonomy on how they go about building and growing the brand. NOW: “I am very excited about the current team of brewers,” Malcolm says about the recent additions with some brewers from elsewhere in the industry having joined the Jack Black brewing team. At the head of the team of eight brewers, is former Darling head brewer, Johan van Schalkwyk. “Johann has a real methodical approach and instils this in his team,” Malcolm explains. Throughout the Jack Black journey, they have made it a point to keep improving their beers and recipes and Johan’s methodical approach lends itself perfectly to this core belief. One of the exciting new projects that Jack Black is developing to grow the brand, is to open other taprooms, or as they call them, brand homes. The first outside of the brewery’s taproom in Diep River, recently opened at Nederburg Wine Estate. Their aim is simple; to bring fresh beer to the beer loving communities in the winelands area. Malcolm is also very excited about the future and what else might come from a continued steady course of growth. “There are so many opportunities. We would love to open a taproom in Johannesburg in future and perhaps more.” The brewery also continues to innovate, with seasonal releases both in bottle and on tap at their brand homes. The lager is a very important part of their portfolio of beers, but the other beers have all played just as vital a role in expanding the craft beer horizons in general, bringing Pale Ales, IPAs, Bitters and special Stouts to the beer drinker. You could say, they have allowed their success to drive new flavours into the market, widening it for all craft breweries in South Africa. At the time of writing this, the 2025 version of Wolves of Winter, an Oatmeal Stout, has just gone on sale. Malcolm excitedly tells me about the process, the way that only a brewer can: Johan van Schalkwyk