OnTap Magazine

D anie Odendal has been in the brewing industry for 25 years. He has an MSc in biochemistry and started his beer-career as an apprentice brewer with South African Breweries (SAB) in 1999. While there he obtained his Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) Diploma, and subsequently his Master Brewer qualification. During those two-and-a-half decades, he had the opportunity to work in SAB’s day-to- day production for about 15 years, and otherwise had his hand in almost every aspect of the business, from new product development, to consumer science, innovation, raw materials, and equipment. For the last 10 years of his SAB experience, he became heavily involved in the homebrewing scene – even brewing at home himself. (This continues: he currently has three brewhouses at his home.) Roughly two years after AB InBev took ownership of SAB, Danie pivoted and started consulting, wanting to focus more on the craft beer scene as opposed to commercial. Given his background, he was well positioned to be able to help clients do such things as select, acquire and install equipment for a new brewery or develop recipes for their brand. In 2022, Danie was contacted by the director of the Heritage Brewing Co. in Ghana who wanted to build a brewery there and hoped Danie could help them out. Danie agreed and traveled north several times, assisting with the selection of a location and the equipment they would need. Virtually he weighed in on their floor plan and re-designed their layout into an operational brewery. At the end of 2022, while in the car on the way to the airport after wrapping up one of his site visits, his colleagues asked him what he thought about joining them full-time as their Brewmaster and Head of Product. Next thing he knows he is bringing his wife and 14-year-old daughter to Accra for a visit, to see if they would be willing to move, which luckily they were. In April of 2023, the entire Odendal family relocated north. “There are of course things that are different from home, but Accra is an awesome city and the people are fantastic, so it was actually very easy to integrate,” Danie says. Equipment arrived in June after many delays – working with customs can be “quite unique” Danie explains – at which point they immediately began building. The brewpub itself is located on the top floor of a shopping center, a space they share with other restaurants (all managed by the same company). Customers can bring food into the pub, or beer into the neighbouring restaurants. (Heritage has even included on the back of their menu what food and beer pairings they recommend.) By August they were up and brewing and in late September they held a soft launch with eight beers. Heritage Brewing Co. is not the only craft brewery in Ghana, but they are the only brewpub. There is a craft beer brand called Tale, which is made at a Belgian-inspired brewery located outside of Accra. They have a sizable brewery and output, but they work on a distribution model and do not have a pub or taproom. Another craft outfit is Django Brothers, based in Tema, who also seem to sell exclusively off-site. Much like in its national neighbours, the Ghanaian beer drinker is very used to commercial lagers – yellow liquid, low bitterness, easy-drinking – with Club and Star being the most popular. The style suits the warm weather there and in general, Danie says the beers are good, although he caveats that much of it does end up being light-struck. The Heritage Brewing Co. team very much wanted to break the mold and present something exciting that would not only entice people through the door, but get them to come back. First, they were intentional about the layout of the pub. They built a long bar counter with the actual brewery folding around it so when you’re there, you feel like you are truly inside a brewing facility. “People can see where their beer comes from,” Danie explains. He continues: “We want to take people on a journey when they drink beer…To a certain degree, beer had become boring, or utilitarian in Ghana. ‘Here’s my yellow liquid, great, and now my thirst is quenched.’ Our beers are designed in such a way that if 10 people come in, there will be a beer for any one of them.” Of the eight beers they launched with, six are intended to be part of their core range, with two rotating and/ or seasonal. They want to ensure that even if you become a regular, there will periodically be something new in the system for you to try. Danie was committed to using local raw materials. For one, doing so results in a tax benefit, which in turn provides a price benefit for both the brewery and the consumer. But more importantly, from a taste perspective, why not use local materials that folks grew up with? For example: garri is a toasted cassava that is often used in breakfast dishes. Danie and his team decided to brew a beer with it. “When people sit down and you tell them that this beer is made with garri, their eyes light up!” And while Danie and his team were eager to incorporate new, local, raw materials and engage in some experimentation, Danie was adamant that none of the beers they make be substandard. They brewedwhat they call the “Heritage Pilsner” as something of a “measuring staff.” They used imported barley malts, imported hops, and with them brewed a standard, good-quality German Pilsner. Everything else they produce must be as good if not better than that Pilsner. BREAKING THE MOLD Danie and his team frequently use cassava in their brews Hibiscus is paired with watermelon for "Boga," Heritage's sour beer ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2024 | 25