Winners of the 2015 SA National Homebrew Champs!

First of all, I must apologise to the South African homebrewing community for the extreme delay in posting this. The results were actually released on November 30th but it’s been a manic week since then and this is the first chance I’ve had to post anything about the 2015 National Homebrew Champs.

BJCP competitionThe first national competition took place in 2012, though it was only in 2014 that it really started to get traction. This year there were well over 100 beers entered from brewers dotted throughout six of the nine provinces. “I think what pleases me about the competition is the guys who don’t live anywhere near a main city get a real chance to compare their brewing to others, and get some good honest and educated feedback,” says competition organiser Kevin Ryan, a long-time member of Gauteng homebrewing club The Wort Hogs. “I have had quite a few brewers thank me for the feedback and feel sure they will improve as a result.”

The competition was a BJCP-sanctioned event, with 26 qualified judges giving up their time to evaluate the beers. Preliminary rounds of the competition were judged in both Cape Town and Johannesburg in early November, with the final round judged in Jozi on November 28th. Judges were impressed with the quality, innovation and sheer diversity of the beers entered. “We may not have the number of brewers that the USA and other countries have, but we can match them on quality,” says Kevin.

Entries came from all over the country, with brewers from the Free State taking the top two spots – proof that the beer revolution is infiltrating every part of South Africa. “I am glad to see the competition is truly national,” says Kevin, ” with entries from KZN, Western Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng, and the winners are equally diverse with three provinces represented in the first four places.”

You’ll find all the details of those who won, placed or made it to the finals over here, but for now, here are the winners:

Placing Brewer Beer Brewery BJCP Category
1st Place SP de Waal Oak-aged Doppeleisbock Br3 34C Experimental Beer Oak-aged Doppeleisbock
2nd Place JP Lewtak Rum-Oak-Cask Aged Imperial Stout Ignacy Brewery 33B Specialty Wood-Aged Beer Rum-Oak-Cask Aged Imperial Stout
3rd Place Russell Naude Black Heart IPA Fishbone Beerworks 21B Specialty IPA: Black IPA

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