The easiest way to make beer at home

Homebrewing has never been more popular in South Africa. Since people can’t legally buy beer, they are choosing to make their own at home. But not everyone wants to invest in homebrewing equipment and not everyone has the time to brew a batch of beer from scratch. Luckily, the homebrew suppliers and craft brewers of South Africa have come together to bring you the absolute easiest way to make beer at home.

Click the image to head straight over to the BevPlus online store!

As you might know, beer is made with four ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast. To get the sugars, which will later help create alcohol, you need to steep the malted barley for an hour. The sugary, malty liquid then needs to be boiled for a further hour, during which time hops are added. This whole process, including the time it takes to cool the liquid down, can take upwards of four hours. At the end, what you have is a non-alcoholic, malty liquid called “wort”. And now, you can go to your local brewery or homebrew supply store and simply purchase the wort, cutting out virtually all of the work.

Once you have your pre-made  wort, all you need to do is ferment it at home, and in a couple of weeks you will have your very own batch of homemade beer. As well as the wort, you will need:

  • a clean, sanitised plastic fermentation bucket or glass carboy
  • food-grade sanitiser
  • yeast
  • an airlock
  • hops for dry-hopping (optional)
  • sanitised bottles and caps
  • tube or siphon for bottling

 

Wort is a highly perishable product, so when you purchase it, you need to be sure that it is either very fresh (ideally brewed that same day) or has been sterilised prior to packaging. Sanitation is extremely important in the fermentation of beer, so be sure to clean and then sanitise anything that will touch the wort. Suitable sanitisers are sold at homebrew stores (check out Brewing Ingredients on the Directory page for some local suppliers).

Yeast are finicky beasts and as well as a clean, sanitised environment, they do their best work within a certain temperature range. If you don’t have the capacity to control the temperature of your fermenter, I’d highly recommend opting for kveik yeast, which performs well at high temperatures without contributing a load of nasty off-flavours. Bloem-based yeast lab Liquid Culture stocks various strains of kveik yeast and you can also purchase it through homebrew supply stores like BevPlus.

New to homebrewing? Check out this guide to getting started.

Where to get your wort

Breweries around the country are now offering customers the chance to purchase wort. It’s a perfect solution that allows you to legally produce beer at home (it is not illegal to homebrew in South Africa as long as you don’t sell it) and also offers a way to support your local brewery. They can’t sell beer at this time, but they can sell wort, which is a non-alcoholic product. Here’s a list of breweries and homebrew suppliers that are now selling wort:

Nationwide

BevPlus (Delivery nationwide)
Cost of wort: 20-litre kits including yeast and hops start at R516  and vary depending on the beer style
Extras: Fermenters, bottles, caps – everything you need to produce that first batch is available on their site
How to order: Check out the “Brew in a box” kits on their website
Availability: Ongoing, while stocks last

Gauteng

At Hops End (Modderfontein)
Cost of wort: R25/litre
Extras: We’re doing a ‘Build your own IPA’ which includes 20 litres of wort, a choice of two yeasts and a choice of three different hops.
How to order: SORRY – SOLD OUT!!
Availability: Book ahead and collect on 11 August

Copperlake Breweries (Lanseria)
Cost of wort: R840/20 litres, includes fermenter
Extras: Choose from lager, English ale, weiss, IPA
How to order: Call 083 633 1706
Availability: Ongoing

Lazy Hunter (Kyalami, with local and national delivery available)
Cost of wort: R600 per 20-litre kit
Extras: Kit comes with a packet of yeast and a cap that allows you to ferment your beer in the container it ships in.
How to order: https://lazyhunter.co.za/
Availability: Ongoing

Eastern Cape

Richmond Hill (Port Elizabeth)
Cost of wort: R15/litre (minimum 20 litres)
Extras: Yeast is also available
How to order: Email Niall@richmondhillbrewing.com
Availability: Brewday is 8 August – collect on the day

Featherstone Brewery (Grahamstown)
Cost of wort: R300/20 litres
Extras: We can supply hops and yeast – just get in touch in advance
How to order: https://featherstonebrewery.co.za/product/sa-wort-challenge-20-litres/
Availability: Brewday is on Saturday 8 August – collect on the day

KwaZulu-Natal

Clockwork Brewhouse (Bothas Hill)
Cost of wort: R15 – R20/litre depending on the beer
Extras: Yeast is also available
How to order: https://chat.whatsapp.com/L2x4W7y6k8dGJCDJp607Mb
Availability: Ongoing

That Brewing Co. (Durban)
Cost of wort: Details TBC
Extras:
How to order: Bookmark this page and check back for update
Availability: Coming soon!!

Western Cape

Hopman Brewery (Milnerton)
Cost of wort: R10/litre (minimum sale 10 litres)
Extras: We can supply hops and yeast on request while stocks last
How to order: Email mike@hopmanbrewery.co.za, Facebook @hopmanbrew or Instagram @hopmanbrewery
Availability: From 3 August

Long Beach Brewery (Noordhoek)
Cost of wort: R700 for 20 litres, includes fermentation bucket and yeast
Extras: New recipe available weekly. You can also bring your own fermenter and buy wort for R30 per litre. Extra hops available.
How to order: Order online at schoolofhops.co.za/shop
Availability: Ongoing

Lunar Brew(Grabouw)
Cost of wort: R10-R35 per litre depending on volume and variety. Custom malt bills also possible
Extras: Hops and yeast for sale. Also, same malt bill in all grain form.
How to order: WhatsApp Craig on 078 414 2698
Availability: Ongoing

Shackleton Brewing Company(Salt River)
Cost of wort: R20/litre
Extras: Hops, yeast and equipment also available – orders must be 2 days before the brew day
How to order: Contact Steve – 071 347 4089 / steve@shackletonbc.co.za
Availability: Get in touch to find out when we’re next brewing a batch

Buchanan’s Brewery (Tulbagh)
Cost of wort: R400  for 20L including yeast
Extras: Yeast is included
How to order: rodtulbagh@gmail.com
Availability: Ongoing

Looking for a few extra tips to help you get started? Check out this list from pro brewers around SA.

16 Comments

  1. Marius

    Great. Thanks Lucy!

    Reply
  2. Rudi

    Lucy you are a genius@

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Ha. Thanks Rudi. It was an idea a lot of brewers had at much the same time I did. I’m just publicising it really!

      Reply
  3. Jacques Kleynhans

    Hi Lucy,
    What a great idea !! As we know the wort is at its highest “infection” risk from the time its cooled down to pitching temp and actually pitching. How is this mitigated considering it may be a few hours before the yeast is pitched.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Good question. So, the BevPlus wort is aseptically packaged to guarantee that it is sterile when it reaches you. For the breweries, I can’t personally vouch for their processes. However the idea is that people book their wort and will be given a day and time to collect – this should be on brewday, the time being just after cooling. Then people can pitch their yeast straight away, or at least get their fermenter full of wort and then pitch as soon as they get it home. We have done this a few times at ACBC in Cape Town with the Southyeasters and there were no issues with infection, at least from the wort as it left the breweries (admittedly there were a few sour beers, but that was down to what people did or didn’t do once they got their wort home!!)

      Reply
  4. Rudi

    Great ,informative website.
    and the right time!
    i buy from beerlab for past few weeks,great service.
    im also a homebrewer in the cape
    thank you for this site,clears up a lot of misconceptions about homebrew beer.

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Hey Rudi
      Thanks for the comment – happy to hear you’re finding the blog useful!
      Cheers
      Lucy

      Reply
  5. Jonathan

    I think this is a fantastic idea.

    Has anyone made and tested one of these beers? I am interested to know how they came out.

    I must say, I would gladly make someone 10L of a decent wort for R560!

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Haven’t had any feedback from homebrewers yet, but the brewers are doing really well selling their wort, so that’s awesome!!

      Reply
  6. Giovanni

    Hi,

    where does one start? how much space do I need? What all do i need? I’ve always been interested in brewing my own beer.

    Please help!!!

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      Hey Giovanni – sorry for the slow reply. Your first stop should be your local homebrewing club. Whereabouts are you based?

      Reply
  7. Sathie Naidoo

    Hi / craft brewers will survive selling wort to thirsty customers / what happens when they bottle too early and bottles begin to explode? / most customers may not know about / have hydrometers? Is my concern valid?

    Reply
    • Marius

      Then they need to clean up! 🙂

      Based on what I have seen, the instructions are fairly good to the point that if you follow it you should not be getting any bottle bombs.

      Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      It is a valid concern for sure. I strongly hope and believe that the brewers will be schooling those that purchase wort. I think the best option would be for brand new brewers to use PET bottles. This way you can feel when the pressure mounts and vent out a little CO2. Plus you won’t shower your garage with glass shards if you get it wrong. Either that or purchase a hydrometer for about R300…

      Reply
  8. Sathie Naidoo

    Thanks Lucy . Advising customers to use PET bottles would be the best solution , especially if a set of instructions are included. The cheapest way to sanitize bottles is common unscented bleach. I’m sure wort suppliers have got this covered.
    Sathie

    Reply

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