This weekend, Soul Barrel Brewing in Simondium is launching the strongest beer in South Africa. This perhaps reads a little like clickbait – a beer based on gimmick and sold with hyperbole, but I can tell you this beer wasn’t some flash-in-the-pan project to get likes and make sales. In fact, the intention was never to make the country’s strongest beer, but after years of ageing and months of tasting, blending, tasting, freezing, blending and tasting some more, Icenator is ready – and it just happens to be 20.4% ABV – stronger than even Triggerfish’s biggest beer (a 19% eisbock).

Soul Barrel’s Icenator, like many of their outlandishly experimental beers, doesn’t really conform to a specific style (the label states ‘Wild Eisbock’ but its ABV is a full 6% higher than even the stronger eisbocks) but it started life as a doppelbock.

It all began at the now sadly defunct Drifter Brewing Company in Woodstock. They racked the 10% ABV Off the Dock Doppelbock into barrels for a short ageing period, apparently with the intention to create an eisbock themselves. But in the interim, Covid happened, Drifter ran into problems and the whole brewhouse – lock, stock and bock-filled barrel – was moved to new premises in Paarl. Alas, the move didn’t work out and in late 2022, the kettles, fermenters, kegs and indeed the barrels of bock were destined for auction.

“When we visited their Paarl premises in January of this year there were these barrels sitting out in the hot sun,” says Nick Smith, owner of Soul Barrel. “They were going to dump the liquid and sell the barrels probably to use as decor, so we decided to salvage some of them. Many were basically vinegar by then, but some still had beautiful malt and fermentation flavours. We bought some of the barrels, but we didn’t really need the wood so with others we just turned up with kegs and filled them right there in the parking lot!”

Freeze and blend

Nick is a big fan of acidity and funk in beer, but the doppelbock had been in barrel for way too long even for him, and needed to be mellowed out. And so the Icenator project began. The typical process for an eisbock is to brew a high ABV beer (usually a doppelbock), then freeze it. Since alcohol has a lower freezing point than water, the water freezes first, leaving the boozy bit still in its liquid state. Brewers will take this highly concentrated portion to transform into eisbock. Luckily, with Icenator, some of the acidity was left behind too – although not quite enough.

In April, the Soul Barrel team entered an early version of beer into the African Beer Cup, largely to get feedback. At this stage only a small portion of the bock had been frozen, with the water removed and the alcohol blended back into the barrel. The judges commented on the vinegar-like quality of the beer and quickly eliminated it from the competition.   “We realised we had a long way to go.  It was then we started to understand how much we would have to freeze it to remove most of the acidity, and take it from a “sour” beer category to a proper eisbock.”

Nick and his head brewer Devin Hendricks knew there was a great beer to be made here, and so six months of intensive tasting, freezing and blending followed. The doppelbock was frozen twice more, until the team was happy with the flavours and acidity level. “We really liked the cherry flavour it had, but obviously it needed to be smoother,” says Nick. So next, they blended the beer with a three-year-old rum barrel-aged imperial stout that had been fortified with Pinotage juice – the sort of thing Soul Barrel just seems to have lying around. “The project kept escalating based on what we were tasting,” Nick tells me.

Another round of freezing ensued, largely to get the beer to the desired viscosity. But the beer still wasn’t ready. “We wanted to fortify the maltiness, so we started freezing small amounts of barley wine and a different imperial stout and then blending those in,” says Nick.

Soul Barrel is known for untamed experimentation – beers featuring rye and barley malted on site, beers flavoured with local fynbos, foraged flowers and chardonnay grapes, and to date the only commercially available umqombothi/clear beer hybrid (which won the African Celebration Award at the African Beer Cup this year). But while they’re all his babies, it is clear from talking to Nick that Icenator is the one he’s been waiting for. “It’s honestly one of my favourite beers of all time,” says Nick. “I’ve been inspired by similar beers that I’ve had in the US. What I really wanted to do is to expand people’s perceptions on what beer can be. Icenator has more in common with a fine cognac or wine although it still has that soul of a beer – malty, chocolaty and a good balance of fruitiness and sweetness.”

Embracing innovation

I feel that lately – and we can’t just blame Covid for it was already happening pre-2020 – South Africa’s craft beer scene has been in a slump. Remember the days when Devil’s Peak would release a new limited-edition beer every second Thursday and people were so excited that social media was full of photos showing queues outside liquor stores? These days – with some notable exceptions – there seem to be fewer collabs, fewer special releases. Food and beer pairing dinners seem to be a thing of the past. Hell – Cape Town doesn’t even have a beer festival anymore. So innovation on this level is really something to get excited about, whether you’re a drinker or a brewer.

Craft beer worldwide is synonymous with experimentation and above all else, craft beer should be fun. Actually, I’m wrong. Innovation and fun are crucial, but above all else, craft beer should taste great. Unbridled innovation is pointless if the end product isn’t drinkable. So what does the strongest beer in South Africa taste like?

Before we get into it, you have to approach Icenator with a completely open mind. At 20% ABV, this isn’t a beer you drink absent-mindedly while braaiing some chops. It’s a beer to share and appreciate, perhaps with a properly stinky blue cheese (none of this Danablu nonsense) or since December is almost upon us, a plate of mince pies. Sure, it started out as a malt-based beverage, but the many rounds of freezing and blending have rendered it more akin to a complex port than to any beer you’re likely to have tasted lately.

Tasting in progress

I’ve been lucky enough to sample the beer at three stages during its lengthy creation period. I first sipped it at the African Beer Cup after seeing its less-than-favourable remarks and I agreed with the judges – the acidity was overpowering and the beer harsh to drink.

In August this year I popped into Soul Barrel to taste another of their creations and ended up doing a bit of barrel tasting. The last beer we sampled was as viscous as sherry but much more complex, with dark chocolate, underripe plums and a cherry character taking centre stage. I didn’t actually know what I was tasting and when Nick told me it was the latest version of the beer that hadn’t fared well in the competition, I will admit I was shocked. Shocked and hugely impressed at what a bit of time and a tremendous amount of creativity and care can do to a beer.

I visited again in October and tasted the almost-finished Icenator. I was with American brewer and beer expert Pete Slosberg, and he was wowed by the beer. We both thought that it could do with a touch more of that rich, chocolate-like malt character, but otherwise we wouldn’t mess with it at all. Once we’d left, Nick set about the final adjustments to the beer – one last blending of an particularly chocolaty imperial stout, again frozen to remove the water and just leave the alcohol. Nick is amped with the results. “What really drew me to Drifter’s Doppelbock in the first place was that cherry character,” he says. “And I think we’ve really managed to retain that fruitiness while removing the acidity that initially came with it.”

Get some!

As I write this, the first bottles of Icenator are already being ordered and I, like you, have yet to taste the final product. But I’m excited. I’m excited to see where this beer, which was once abandoned in a hot car park, has ended up. I’m excited to taste the final version of a beer that has improved immensely every time I’ve sampled it. And I’m excited for you to taste it and let me know what you think of South Africa’s strongest beer.

Icenator launches on Friday 24 November, with just 120 bottles available. You can order on Soul Barrel’s website or pop into the brewery this weekend. It retails for R298 for a 340ml bottle (remember, this beer has been a year in the making and that it took more than 700 litres of doppelbock, imperial stout and barley wine to end up with less than 150 litres of the finished product).

On Saturday you’ll also have a one-time-only chance to taste the beer on tap, or I would highly recommend booking for the R500 VIP experience, which includes a guided barrel tasting with Nick (including a very rare chance to taste an earlier version of the bock), a commemorative glass and a bottle of Icenator to take home. It’s nearly Christmas – treat yourself!