A SMALL Cape Town brewery has won the title of Best Beer in Africa at the 2021 African Beer Cup.
Kenilworth-based Afro Caribbean Brewing Company took the top spot with their Space Llama double India Pale Ale (IPA). This is a kind of beer made with higher alcohol content and contains more hops.
The African Beer Cup is the continent’s largest beer competition, accepting entries from across Africa. Any commercial brewery is eligible to enter, regardless of size.
This year’s competition attracted 210 entries from 12 African countries: Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. A total of 67 medals were awarded in 31 categories, with winners hailing from eight different countries.
Beers were judged in May by panels of beer experts, brewers and qualified judges in Cape Town and Johannesburg. All beers were judged to the Beer Judge Certification Programme guidelines, which place a strong focus on stylistic accuracy.
The 16 finalists went head to head in a best-of-show round to determine the overall winner, with Cape Town’s Afro Caribbean Brewing Company taking the coveted top spot.
“Being a relatively new brewer in the industry, it feels amazing to have won this prestigious award and I’m proud of us as a team,” said Afro Caribbean’s head brewer, Rochelle Dunlop.
“I’d also like to send big congratulations to all of the other winners.”
Honourable mention went to Hazeldean Brewing Company and Frontier Beer for their collaboration brew, The Haymaker Round 4.
Winners of the Best Beer in Africa receive a once-off piece of art to commemorate their win. This year’s piece was designed by Thembisa artist Pappas Khoza.
“Every entry gets judged twice by two different panels,” said competition co-founder and director Lucy Corne. “This really gives the most accurate results possible.”
A special award was also added to the 2021 competition – the African Celebration Award, sponsored by the Beer Association of South Africa (Basa) to celebrate the outstanding use of African ingredients in beer.
The award went to Nigeria’s Bature Brewery for their Black Gold Stout. The beer, which also won a gold medal, showcases sorghum and Nigerian coffee.
“We created the African Celebration Award because we wanted to showcase the versatility and abundance of African ingredients that can be used in beer,” said Basa spokesperson Troye May.
“We believe that our continent has so much to offer the wider beer culture.”