It’s been a busy month in Brewmistress land and I’ve neglected the blog a bit, for which profusely apologise (and would like to say thanks to those of who who still stop by every day regardless).

It seems a long time since I attended the IBD’s Africa section convention and while the event is perhaps no longer topical, I reckon it’s still fairly interesting so wanted to share an overview. I had grand plans to write a series of blog posts, but since it’s already been a month since the proceedings wrapped up, I thought I’d better just get on with it.

In case you don’t know much about the IBD (Institute of Brewing & Distilling), here’s a slightly fuzzy photo of a slide summing up the organisation’s vision statement:

It’s a largely volunteer-run body which, among many other things, holds conventions around the world dedicated to the production of beer and spirits. I was honoured to find myself at the lectern for the 15th convention of the Africa section, held in Maputo, Mozambique from March 1st-5th. My presentation on the growth of the South African craft beer scene followed talks on the Australian and American industries, given by Stephen Exinger and Charlie Bamforth respectively. And anyone who has seen Charlie, IBD president, brewing science lecturer at the University of California and “pope of foam” speak, will know he is a damn tough act to follow.

Presentations throughout the four-day event were wide-ranging, with topics covering everything from South Africa’s intervarsity brewing competition to hop-breeding; from the use of PET in packaging to “high gelatinizing adjunct liquefaction in brewing” (to say that some of the talks were a little beyond me would be an understatement). Speakers and delegates came from around the world and from all sorts of backgrounds – mega-brewers, hop-growers, enzyme producers and yes, even a beer blogger. One notable absence was any representatives of the craft brewing industry, but the high costs of attending sadly prevented them from making an appearance.

Some of their beers did attend though – samples from BrewHogs, Loxton Lager, Jack Black, Nottingham Road and Draymans made the trip to Maputo and were served up alongside some Mozambican brews during a tongue-in-cheek debate entitled “Craft vs Crafty: Only craft brewers make ‘real’ beer”. The surprise star of the craft samples was Loxton Lager – a surprise not because it’s not good (it is!) but because buchu in a beer is such an unusual flavour and I wouldn’t necessarily expect everyone to like it. To be fair, not everyone loved the herbal additions, but I was approached by half a dozen people after the debate, all of whom commented on the beer, its unique flavour and its excellent balance.

Sharing a beer and a laugh with Charlie Bamforth

I also took along a few samples of my own, specifically to share with Charlie Bamforth. When it came to tasting Stellenbrau’s Governor’s Red Lager and the aforementioned Loxton Lager, Charlie didn’t hold back (he doesn’t mince his words), but admitted that while these beers weren’t to his tastes, he could appreciate that they’re both well-made brews (he’s not ashamed to admit that when it comes to beer, he is a traditionalist). An unfortunate set of off-flavours awaited in the next beer, so I had my hopes pinned on him loving sample number four. I didn’t want to send such  prominent beer figure away with a literal bad taste in his mouth when it came to South African craft, So I whipped the ace from up my sleeve. “Now this is more like it,” said the pope of foam over what is probably SA’s most lauded beer, Devil’s Peak’s King’s Blockhouse IPA. He went on to say that he felt it could easily stand up to many American IPAs and that you certainly wouldn’t pick it out as being different in a blniid tasting alongside some top US examples of the style. We probably all knew that anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to have it confirmed by beer royalty.

The beer tasting continued most evenings when judging took place for the second African Beer Awards, a competition organised by SABMiller trade brewer (and all-round good Burton-on-Trent lass) Kate Jones. Forty-one judges with a whopping total of almost 900 years tasting experience between them got together after each day’s presentations to taste the 56 beers entered in the contest. Beers came from 22 breweries across 15 countries and even featured at least one craft beer (confidentiality was taken very seriously so I don’t know whose it was). Judges commented on the improved standard across every category and the competition was close, with several rounds of judging ending in a taste-off. Tasting was not done BJCP-style, but in a hedonistic “would you drink a pint of this” sort of way and in the end, Mozambique reigned victorious – here are the results:

Standard lager – less than 5% ABV

3rd – Mosi (Zambian Breweries)
2nd – Club Pilsener (Nile Breweries)
1st – 2M (Cervejas de Mocambique)

Dark Beers
3rd – Castle Milk Stout (SAB)
2nd – Castle Milk Stout (Accra Brewery Ltd)
1st – Laurentina Preta (Cervejas de Mocambique)

Standard lager – 5% and over
3rd – Satzenbrau (Diageo-Guinness Cameroon)
2nd – Nile Special Premium lager (Nile Breweries)
1st – Manica – (Cervejas de Mocambique)

Beers brewed with local raw materials (less than 50% barley/malted barley)
3rd – Ruut Extra Premium (Guinness Ghana)
2nd – Allsopps Lager, (Kenya Breweries Ltd)
1st – Eagle Extra Lager (Nile Breweries)

The African Beer Awards winner was announced at a lavish gala dinner

The overall winner was a beer that delegates certainly got to sample plenty of – Mozambique’s 2M lager (I did ask for stats on how much beer the convention attendees manages to put away throughout the week, but strangely enough, no-one was keen to let that out…)

And here’s perhaps the most exciting part of all – the convention ended with the announcement of where the 2017 edition will be held, and as a rather familiar flat-topped mountain came into view, I realised I wouldn’t have to board any planes to attend next timie around. Cape Town has been chosen for a number of reasons – infrastructure, availability of conference venues, accommodation and the like of course played a bit part, but the SA craft beer scene had more than a little to do with the decision. The IBD hopes to attract more craft brewers to the 2017 convention, both as speakers and delegates. Maybe next time we’ll see some familiar faces raising the African Beer Awards Trophy…???