SAB launches Beers for Africa 8-pack

Earlier this month, SAB launched a limited edition eight-pack of beers from across the African continent. Beers For Africa features lagers from Tanzania, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. The best bit isn’t the beers though – it’s that funds raised from the initiative go to Stop Hunger Now, with a donation from each pack sold buying a wholesome meal for three school students. The goal is to provide a million meals  by 2018.

Beers for Africa_Carry Pack

It’s a nice chance to sample a few pan-African beers, although for the beer nerd there’s not too much variety – lager, lager and a bit more lager. Happily, there is also Laurentina Preta, which is a dark lager and definitely the star of the mixed pack (which we didn’t include in the tasting because a} it’s quite obvious what it is and b} I’d already drunk it.)

To find which other beers shone and which fell flat, I got a group of five beer lovers together for a blind tasting. They talked about the beers and ranked them on a scale of 1–5:

1: Would return it to the bar and ask for something else

2: Wouldn’t return it but probably wouldn’t finish the pint

3: Would finish a pint then move on to something else

4: Would order a second pint

5: Could drink this all day

The results

sab beers for africaOne beer stood out as being blander than the rest (some might say that’s no mean feat). This beer is so weak in colour that I initially thought I had poured some into a glass containing water. Some of my favourite comments from the panel included “could drink this all day but what’s the point – I could save some money and just drink water”; “it tastes like sparkling water that’s had a mealie dipped in it” and the simple but clear “it’s lame”. Sorry Botswana – St Louis (3.5% ABV) was the resounding loser of the pack. The marketing bumf insists “it is brewed with a special blend of hops” and that it has “full flavour hop association”. I have no idea what that latter statement means, but I can assure you it does not apply to St Louis.

There were a lot of middle-of-the-road beers – Maluti (4.8% ABV, from Lesotho), Kilimanjaro (4.5% ABV, from Tanzania) and Manica (5% ABV, from Mozambique) were all solid 3s: we’d all happily finish the pint – particularly on a fishing trip, after a game drive or watching the sunset on an African beach – but wouldn’t make this a go-to beer unless there was nothing else to drink. (N.B: I got a dud pack with no 2M and two Malutis. If it had been lacking in Laurentina, you’d have been hearing from me, SAB…)

So who came out on top? The second-place beer scored a whopping five from one of our judges and he obviously he likes the taste of home – Castle (5% ABV) was the runner up with an average score of 3.5. And the resounding winner, with 4s across the board was Zambezi (4.7% ABV) – “Zimbabwe’s own lager”.  What we liked most was the bitterness – something lacking a little in Manica and certainly the weirdly sweet Kilimanjaro. Interestingly, most of the tasters were convinced that this was Castle – proof that beer geeks appreciate that Castle is a well-made lager.

The Beers for Africa pack is a great gift to take to a braai, and even when you’re forcing down those last few sips of warm St Louis, know that you’re doing it all for a good cause.

 

16 Comments

  1. RolyTheBeerGeek

    Your so called beer experts / lovers sound like they are a bunch of clowns… #FakeReviews ?

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      There were indeed a weird bunch of lovable misfits. Amazing palates though… 😉

      Reply
  2. PB Moran

    I like your rating system. It is the “go to” way of getting it right. Other values/comments although carry some weight really do not come into the equation. If you can drink it all day, that is what matters.
    Was the blind tasting done with open eyes? As this obviously will effect the rating.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Thanks PB. It was with open eyes, which was probably only an issue with the St Louis, which looked like it had been diluted, 50% beer, 50% water. It also kind of tasted like that though so I don’t think it really mattered… 😉

      Reply
      • Patrick Brian Moran

        I am enjoying the 8 pack rating from your “bottoms up”. Agreed on the pe’a’green St Louis but Kilimanjaro a miserable 3!? Having climbed the mountain I drank it all day on our return back. If we did not differ those brews would no longer be with us! Go well

        Reply
        • Lucy Corne

          We did say when we were tasting that things would be very different if we were wildlife watching in the Delta or sitting on a Mozambique beach. And I can’t imagine a beer that wouldn’t taste good after climbing Kilimanjaro!! Setting and experience has a lot to answer for when we enjoy a beer I think. The amount of times I have thought a beer was great while travelling, then tasted one back home and thought I must have temporarily lost my senses!!

          Reply
  3. Jonathan

    Let me put this out there. I had a castle while watching Stormers beat the Blues and even in that context it tasted kak.
    I had a Maluti in Maseru a few years back and remember being pleasantly surprised and wanted a few more, but it was a work trip and my colleagues don’t drink.
    In April I went to Botswana on holiday and I could and did drink St Louis the whole day while being driven around game parks and on the delta. I even drank it in the evening instead of wine. Yes, I enjoyed it. Maybe it was the context, but I was inspired by it to brew a low alcohol, crisp and refreshing lager!

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      I believe there is something to be said for the surroundings massively affecting your opinion of a beer. I was in Lesotho last year and thoroughly enjoyed sipping Maluti alongside a river, surrounded by snowcapped peaks. I was surprised to find how average it tasted in a can in Cape Town. That said, the best pint of Castle I ever had (and it was really good) was at Gonzo’s Pool Bar in Plumstead – not a particularly nice place to hang out but one that I imagine gets though a crapload of Castle and therefore serves it super fresh.

      Then again, I also drunk St Louis in Botswana as the sun went down after a game drive and I still thought it was crap. Just goes to show that beer drinking is very subjective. Best idea I can think of is to buy the Africa pack and do a blindfolded tasting – then you’ll know for sure what you like!

      Reply
      • Jonathan

        Ah, but did you see a cheetah kill during that game drive?

        I can live at peace accepting that I prefer Woodstock brewery beers to anything in that pack and will save myself the money!

        Reply
        • Lucy Corne

          It is for a good cause though. I think you’re afraid you’re going to like Castle the most 😉

          Reply
  4. Rudi Kramp

    I would have included a Namibia beer, Tafel Lager. (I prefer it to Windhoek Lager.) That is instead of a Mozambique one, but not 2M. Or, as an extra 9th one. I would have also had the pack around longer.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      It was an SAB product though, so they wouldn’t include products from a competitor (Windhoek and Tafel are Namibia Breweries Ltd)… Tis a shame they diiscontinued it so quickly.

      Reply
  5. Rudi Kramp

    Oh well, at least 2M beer is still around, as Liquor City sells it, imported from Mozambique.

    Reply
  6. Rudi Kramp

    It would no doubt be good if more were still around, even if just St Louis, as it looks American. It might have some American origin links. And, if still another then Zambezi, and if still another then Kilimanjaro. That can even just be for the namesakes. That’s of course if they would sell.

    Reply
  7. Christina Vissers

    Where can i buy this?

    Reply

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