OnTap Magazine

AFRICAN BEER CUP 2024 The biggest beer competition on the continent – the fifth African Beer Cup – took place in Cape Town over the last weekend in May. This year’s winner of the “best beer in Africa” award was Soul Barrel Brewery, a microbrewery based in the Cape Winelands. The brewery specialises in barrel-aged beers and beers featuring South African ingredients. It is also the only brewery to win the accolade twice, previously in the 2022 competition. The winning beer, Ale of Origin, exemplifies Soul Barrel’s brewing philosophy. The beer uses all South African ingredients, including local malt and wheat, hops from the Western Cape, Simonsberg mountain water and natural, wild yeast that floats in on the wind. “Ale of Origin was brewed according to the world-renowned and fiercely traditional Belgian Lambic methods: raw wheat, aged hops and spontaneous fermentation, and is the only beer in South Africa brewed in this way,” says Soul Barrel founder and brewmaster Nick Smith. The beer went up against 270 other beers entered from 16 African countries. A team of highly experienced and prestigious judges from around the world evaluated the beers over three days in Cape Town earlier this month. The judges awarded 62 medals across 32 categories, including the new African Grains category. “In line with many other major competitions, we use the American Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines in our judging process,” says competition director and co-founder Lucy Corne. “However, the beer scene across Africa has developed beyond following global beer trends, and we’re now setting some trends of our own. This year, to reflect what is happening in craft beer around the continent, we introduced a new category to showcase beers that are using traditional African brewing grains, including sorghum, millet and fonio.” The winner of the African Grains category is awarded the African Celebration Award, sponsored by the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA). This year’s winner was Johannesburg- based Swagga Brewery for their Sorghum Ale, an unhopped beer using 100% South African sorghum, described as “a modern brewer’s take on the classic sorghum beer, fermented with English Ale yeast”. “The craft beer industry in Africa is still in its infant stages and the fact that the African Beer Cup has grown to 16 participating countries with 15 awards going to breweries outside of South Africa is testament to the fact that we can expect a lot of growth in our continent and will see a lot of exciting beers coming from the rest of Africa in the future,” says African Beer Cup partner and financial manager Romina Gaggero-Delicio. “Winning with a beer that features local yeast and grain is a major achievement for South African beer. We believe in South African agriculture and this is just the start of what we can accomplish with local ingredients,” said Nick Smith. Charlene Louw, CEO of the Beer Association of South Africa says: “BASA not only values the African Beer Cup as a mark of quality and excellence, but also as an annual reminder of the huge potential African beers have when it comes to tourism. Our continent’s beers are world- class and offer taste experiences to all types of visitors.” C R O W N I N G T H E B E S T B E E R S I N A F R I C A NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER (Category sponsored by the Beer Association of South Africa) Silver: Heineken South Africa Heineken 0.0 (South Africa) Bronze: Darling Brew Just Naked (South Africa) STANDARD AMERICAN BEER Gold: Brewhogs Brewhogs Blonde (South Africa) Silver: Heineken Beverages Sedibeng Sol (South Africa) Bronze: Brewhogs Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager (South Africa) INTERNATIONAL LAGER Gold: Seychelles Breweries Limited Seybrew (Seychelles) Silver: Darling Brew Break Free Gluten Free Lager (South Africa) Bronze: The South African Breweries Limited Sibebe Lager (Eswatini) CZECH LAGER Bronze: Hoghouse Brewing Co. (South Africa) PALE MALTY EUROPEAN LAGER Bronze: The South African Breweries Limited Castle Double Malt (South Africa) AMBER BITTER EUROPEAN BEER Bronze: Whale Coast Brewing Company WCBC Marzen (South Africa) PALE BITTER EUROPEAN BEER Gold: Darling Brewing The Wanderer (South Africa) Silver: Roof of Africa Craft Brewery Roof Draught (Namibia) Bronze: Saggy Stone Brewing Co. Desert Lager (South Africa) AMBER BITTER EUROPEAN BEER Silver: Whale Coast Brewing Company WCBC Lager (South Africa) Bronze: Roof of Africa Craft Brewery Roof Dark Lager (Namibia) STRONG EUROPEAN BEER Silver: Mad Giant Mad Viking (South Africa) THE FULL RESULTS WINNER OF THE BASA AFRICAN CELEBRATION AWARD: WINNER OF THE 2024 BEST BEER IN AFRICA: Swagga Brewery - Sorghum Ale (South Africa) Soul Barrel Brewing - Ale of Origin (South Africa) Soul Barrel COO Kate Robertson with the custom painting by beer artist Troye May 16 | Winter 2024 | ontapmag.co.za