OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2025 | 43 W hat could be more exciting than sharing a craft beer with friends and family while listening to some amazing live music? Well, what if I told you, you could make a difference to 11 charities while doing just that? Since its inaugural event in 2016, Ales For Tails has been an exciting part of the beer calendar in Durban, KwaZulu- Natal; a community-driven, family- friendly, craft beer and music festival dedicated to raising funds for animal welfares across KZN. Warren Eades, founder of the Ales for Tails event, has a passion for animals and the craft beer industry. He decided to combine his passions and subsequently created a space where people can enjoy good music and good beer, while simultaneously making a massive difference to charities who desperately need the help. The Durban Home Brewers whose passion and dedication have been the backbone of Ales For Tails since its inception, craft incredible beers with one goal in mind: supporting animal welfares in need. Every year they pledge their beers and offer up their time to join the event, where funds are raised for just this purpose. In fact, since the first event took place, they have managed to raise R1,204,451.56 for this important cause, this year alone raising the biggest amount to date, a whopping R312,200.99. Anyone that’s been involved in planning events or festivals will agree that it’s no easy feat, but when you bring like-minded people together for one goal, such as raising funds for a cause, that becomes a whole other ball game. In 2025, Ideal Pet Food came on board as the title sponsor, a proud local business with a strong commitment to animal charities. Partnering with them felt like a natural fit and with their backing the festival organisers were able to make some important improvements to the festival. This year, local businesses had the opportunity to partner with the 11 charities being supported, as well as bring fun activities for the public to partake in on the day. You could choose to ride a mechanical bull, paint a life- sized rhino, or partake in hobby horsing. (To mention only a small selection of the non-beer activities on the day.) This gave each charity an opportunity to raise funds, while engaging with the public. For the brewers who donated their beer, there was an organised competition to find the crowd’s favourite beer on offer. Durban Home Brewers, The Worthogs and Henley Hoppers Home Brewers showed up with 92 different beers for the public to enjoy with the purchase of a Top Dog ticket. Many of these beers you would not find anywhere else and the creativity of the brewers were shining brighter than a freshly bought brewing system. Lagers, IPA’s, Red Ales and Sours were but a few of the beer styles on offer. All the homebrewers were dedicated to bribing their way to the Vibiest Stand prize by offering various games and activities for the public, none of whom complained about the bribing tactics.