OnTap Magazine

WORLD OF BEER How did you get started in beer? Vincent from Keghouse in Johannesburg gave me my first opportunity in Kya Sands. I was just out of university and was struggling to find work in what I studied. I was doing a lot of homebrewingas ahobby and thought while I look for work in my study field, I may as well have some fun andmake some beer. I loved it so much I never left the industry! After that I went to Agar’s Brewery where I did the bulk of my South African brewing. I also joined Dynamite Distilling for a bit and helped them get off the ground. How did you end up in Scotland? It was January 2020 when I decided to move. I took the first job I could get, packed my bag and went on an adventure. What an adventure that is turning out to be. I wanted a bigger beer market to explore and grow my skills in, and that’s why I moved. What's the biggest difference between working in South Africa and Scotland? The biggest difference was in my first UK brewery. They were purely cask ale and the cold side is handled a lot more differently than keg beers. Some of the things I saw there you wouldn’t dream about doing with kegged beers. But it’s the traditional way and it has worked for hundreds of years so I had to let go of what I knew and learn from scratch again. Once Covid happened I decided to move to Brewdog as I was sick of being on furlough. Now I run a brewing team in a brewery that does one million HL a year. Let me tell you, managing those KPIs is a different beast from whence I came! What's the local beer scene like compared to South Africa? You can actually open a small brewery and be successful here as people love to support local and will always spend their money locally. You can be a brewer, dowhat you love, and actually get paid decently for your sweat! Do you see yourself ever coming back? I can’t do what I’m doing right now as successfully in South Africa. I am quite content on my move and have fallen in love with the beauty of Scotland, the people of Scotland, the history of Scotland and strangely enough, the weather! 15˚ C is now shorts and plakkies weather! How did you get started in beer? In February 2010 I bought myself an extract homebrew kit from some dude in Fishhoek. I made it and, surprisingly, it tasted like beer! From then on, I was hooked and continued homebrewing in South Africa and in Canada until 2006 when I started Little Wolf Brewery. How did you end up in Denmark? The move came about in 2022. My wife and I had been toying around with the idea of moving to Europe and I saw a job post for To Øl and applied. I didn't get it but a couple of months later they called back and said "If you can get here in two months, we have a brewer position for you". Two months later I was in Denmark. What's the biggest difference between working in South Africa and Denmark? First, Denmark is so expensive! Second, home and family life are so much more respected and the everyday challenges are understood and catered for. And not only for people at the top of the ladder. What's the local beer scene like compared to South Africa? Consumers have more basic beer knowledge and there is a big variety of local and imported beer but some of the challenges are the same. Distribution of craft beer, while maintaining quality, is hugely difficult. Getting people to cold- store beer is a challenge. And people just don't understand that great beer is a delicate "live" product, not a shelf-stable pantry item. What do you miss most about South Africa? I miss the wild places: being able to get out into nature so easily, with such variety and beauty. QUINTIN HAYWOOD Manager on Duty, Brewdog HQ STEFANWISWEDEL Quality Manager, To Øl Ellon, Scotland Svinninge, Denmark 38 | Summer 2023 | ontapmag.co.za