OnTap Magazine

36 | Summer 2025 | ontapmag.co.za An individual’s path into the beer industry can come frommany different directions and have a myriad of influences. In this personal account, Khensani Mothomogolo , former Intervarsitybrew™ participant and current brewer trainee at Brewsters Academy, shares her joyful journey from donning a lab coat to a“brewhouse apron.” MY NOT-SO- STRAIGHT PATH TO BEER FEATURE KHENSANI MOTHOMOGOLO FROM PETRI DISHES TO PINT GLASSES: Photo credit: Maryke Venter Photography P eople often ask how a woman with a degree in Microbiology and Biotechnology ended up elbow-deep in malt, hops, and stainless steel fermenters. Honestly? Sometimes I ask myself the same thing. But like a good beer, this story needed time, a few unexpected ingredients, and just the right amount of chaos. Believe it or not, it all started at home. My dad was the classic “Friday night, special occasion, or ‘it’s-too-hot-to-function’” beer drinker. My mom, on the other hand, saw beer as a cultural passport — wherever she traveled, she insisted on trying the local brews. She swore that “beer is the only drink that truly brings people together.” I, of course, was the child who declared that I would never drink in my life. That did not last long. Somewhere between my dad’s cold ones andmymom’s travel tales, the seedwas quietly planted. I didn’t know it then, but they were brewing something in me all along. By the time I reached high school, my ambitions had taken a sharp turn towards the sciences. I was obsessed with CSI and NCIS, determined to become a forensic pathologist. I was ready for the lab coats, the crime scenes, the dramatic reveals — the whole thing. Then I discovered that it would take fourteen years of study to qualify. Fourteen! I didaquickmental calculationand decided that maybe dead bodies weren’t my calling after all. So, I pivoted. I chose Biochemistry and Microbiology, telling myself I’d cure cancer or work in the food and beverage industry — or, if all else failed, design nuclear bombs. (We don’t talk about that last one.) My first year of varsity was a blur of lectures, caffeine, and questionable canteen meals. When second year started, I planned to major in