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who has traveled or is well-experienced in life. Danie applied the term to their hibiscus, watermelon sour. The beer is “peachy pink” in colour, it has a tart mouthfeel with just a touch of sweetness and a bit of the watermelon flavour coming through. For this one, the journey afield is much further. So far in fact that when some try it they say, ‘This is not beer!’ But of course it is, even if it is made with rice and cassava. “Suddenly the wine drinkers or the cider drinkers who had come [to the brewery] begrudgingly…taste this and think, ‘This is quite nice!’” Danie shares, with pride. Their Pineapple and Ginger Ale is their second biggest seller, also made with rice and cassava. They add local pineapple and ginger, the latter which undergoes a heat extraction, a process that reduces the burn effect so commonly experienced when consuming ginger. This beer is called “Bossu” meaning boss. Enough said. This leads us to their biggest seller: the Mango Ale. For this one they use over-ripe mangos, which is the moment when they are at peak juicy and sweetness according to Danie, and they are combined again with a rice and cassava grain bill. It was intended to be a once-off, seasonal offering but it was so popular it has become a mainstay. A more recent seasonal offering is respectfully called The Chairman. If this beer was a person, Danie explains, they would be a man or woman who had truly achieved something in life. They are a titan of industry; they have pulled up to the brewery in their Ferrari with the door open. This titan of a beer has an 8% ABV. They use a substantial amount of black Ghanaian honey and combine that with local tapioca, which is almost crystallized, on top of unmalted sorghum and roasted barley malts to provide an extra depth of flavour. The result? “An exquisite product,” according to its maker. This is not something you have multiple pours of; this is to be consumed when you are looking for a sophisticated beverage to sip and savour. “People have been blown away by it,” Danie adds. “This is what, for me, makes our beers so different. We’ve used all these raw materials, we make extremely drinkable beers, and some of them we push the boundaries on, and it’s all about creating that ‘beer effect’ where [people are actually excited to go to a brewery and drink beer.] It’s not a passive activity, it’s an exuberant one.” “I want to expand beer culture,” Danie confesses. “I want beer to be exciting again, and not think that it’s just a yellow beverage…They must drink beer that has a soul.” Walking into the brewery, Danie wants people to have in mind exactly what they desire to get out of the beer they drink; what should it deliver for them? When you are able to achieve that kind of dynamic, consumers are willing to pay a bit more for it, he argues. Yes, Heritage beers are more expensive than Star or Club, but they are offering something unique, in Danie’s view. The beers shouldn’t be seen as “expensive,” but rather, “premium,” and worth a second simply because it’s “so damn good.” In 2023, Heritage Brewing Co. won “BeeroftheYear”attheGhanaBeverage Awards. This is an award that individual consumers vote for, making it akin to a “people’s choice” award. To Danie, this acknowledgment underscores what he has already seen: people in Ghana are hungry for something different, and that is exactly what he and his team at Heritage plan to provide. BEERWITH A SOUL Danie overseeing the equipment The Heritage Brewing Co team takes home the "Beer of the Year" award ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2024 | 27