One of the most difficult aspects of brewing is consistency. It is something that’s not entirely expected of a winery. A winemaker produces their wares once a year and variation from one vintage to the next is not only allowable, it is largely expected due climatic factors. Now despite the fact that beer, too, is made from raw agricultural materials that are at the whim of rainfall and sunshine and all the rest, a brewer generally has no such privilege when it comes to variations in the flavours and aromas of their beers.

People generally expect their chosen beer to taste the same every time, from week to week and year to year – and this is a huge challenge for brewers, especially those without automated systems.  Even if you take out the variation in raw materials – the base barley, the hops – you’re still left with a multitude of factors in the brewery itself that can affect the end beer. Slight temperature differences in the mash or during fermentation, for example, can have a large effect on the final beer.  So when a beer is consistently great – so great that it wins awards year after year in blind-judged competitions – then you know you’re onto something good.

One of only two craft breweries in Tanzania, and the country’s first brewpub, Crafty Dee’s Brewing Company was launched by Chintu Patel in 2016. By 2021 his brewing team was winning medals at the African Beer Cup – and one beer in particular bagged awards in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 – one of very few on the continent with such long-running consistency when it comes to medals.

The beer in question is of course, Crafty Dee’s Wheat Beer – the focal point of this review now that I have finished that almost Dickensian-length introduction. The name of this beer might have you expecting a weiss, but Crafty Dee’s Wheat Beer is in fact a Belgian style witbier. Flavoured with coriander seeds and bitter orange peel, it’s a classic Belgian wit, filled with glorious perfumed notes – ginger, orange blossom and lime zest all spring from the glass. A very slight, soft breadiness backs up the herbal additions and I would have loved a touch more of that wheat character to add a little depth. It does lack a little of the requisite body for the style, and the poor head retention – at least in can – does let the beer down.

It is a hugely refreshing beer though, made more so by the high carbonation level. I could totally imagine myself sipping this in Dar es Salaam’s equatorial heat and hope to get the opportunity one day soon to do so in their sleek, plant-filled taproom. The Wheat Beer is one of a six-strong core range, served at the taproom (and in cans) alongside seasonal specials like Mexican Lager and Double IPA. Alas, if you’re reading this in South Africa, you won’t find Crafty Dee’s beer here. But if you’re planning a trip into the continent and will be anywhere near Dar, it is definitely a place to put on your to do list.