OnTap Magazine

OT: How did you get started in brewing? JdB: I had spent time in the States and started getting a real taste for beer. Then I had a beer from a local homebrewer in Gabs – it wasn’t great and I thought ‘I must be able to do it better!’ so I started researching. We bought a 50-litre Speidel Braumeister and I was hooked. We have since invested in a 500-litre brewhouse but I still play around on the Speidel. In fact I’ve just done brew no. 170 on it. OT: You’ve been doing a lot of experimenting – tell us about some of the small batch beers. JdB: I’ve recently got very interested in kveik and have brewed a few IPAs and fermented them with Voss kveik that I got from Norway. The fact that it ferments at such a high temperature makes it the perfect yeast for the temperatures we get in Gabs! OT: The heat must make distribution difficult – are you sending your beers elsewhere in Botswana? AP: We mostly sell in restaurants and a few liquor stores in Gabs, but we do send beer to Maun and to some of the wildlife camps in the north of the country. A cold truck is high on our list of priorities but for the moment it’s a lot about educating our customers to get the beers in the fridge as soon as possible and keep them there. OT: Being the first to market, you must have a lot of educating to do – is that the biggest challenge? AP: It’s definitely one of our main hurdles. A big part of it is explaining to people why our beer is more expensive than the lagers they’re used to and convincing them to pay more for it. Licencing was also a challenge since the authorities didn’t really understand what we were doing. OT: You’re pretty isolated up there – are there any homebrewers in Gabs? JdB: There were a few but they all kind of stopped brewing when we opened – they come and drink our beers instead! We are trying to encourage people to brew though, so we sell starter kits with malt, hops and yeast and will happily give advice to anyone getting started. OT: Since you’ve started, which breweries have inspired you? JdB: Our partner in the brewery, Alex Moss, is from Australia and brings beers back when he goes home for a visit. I love the beers from Black Hops and Balter and would love to one day visit and maybe brew with them. Closer to home, we’re big fans of Mad Giant and Little Wolf. I have this idea to brew a beer using herbs and botanicals you find in the central Kalahari and it would be great to do this as a collab with Stefan from Little Wolf using his botany knowledge. Big Sip launched in late 2017, becoming Botswana’s first craft brewery. Two years on, they’ve opened a tap room and increased their range. We sat down with Jan de Buhr and Angelique Punt to find out what it takes to be a beer pioneer in Gaborone. 8 | Summer 2019 | ontapmag.co.za