A small brewery nestled in Cape Town won the title of Best Beer in Africa at the 2021 African Beer Cup. The Afro Caribbean Brewing Company is based in Kenilworth, and claimed the top spot with their Space Llama Double IPA.
The African Beer Cup is the largest beer competition in the continent, accepting entries from all across Africa. The size of your establishment is not a factor in this competition, and all commercial breweries are encouraged to enter.
This year’s competition welcomed 210 entries from 12 different African countries including Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
The winners hailed from eight different countries, with a total of 67 medals awarded in 31 different categories.
The beers were judged by experts, brewers and qualified judges in Cape Town and Johannesburg according to the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) that strongly focuses on stylistic accuracy.
“One thing that really sets our competition apart is that every entry gets judged twice by two different panels,” says competition co-founder and director Lucy Corne. “This really gives the most accurate results possible.”
Afro Caribbean’s head brewer Rochelle Dunlop commented on their victory saying, “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.
“I’d also like to send big congratulations to all of the other winners,” she added.
Winners of the Best Beer in Africa were awarded a once-off piece of art, designed by Thembisa artist Pappas Khoza, to commemorate their victory.
The Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) sponsored the African Celebration Award, which was a special addition to the 2021 competition.
“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.”
Picture: Supplied