Africa Brew is a weekend long craft brewer's festival in South Africa. The aim of the festival is to get home and commercial brewers together from all over South Africa in a fun environment where all can learn new skills and tricks.
The festival is held in November in a different town every year. With each festival, we select a brewery that will host the event and that will brew our AFRICA BREW! The brewer will receive a basic recipe and must put his own spin on it.
The brewery then sells the AFRICA BREW and donate the money to a charity of their choice in the town we are hosting the festival. Attendees receive a printed version of the altered recipe.
2016, Dog&Fig donated the proceeds to Epilepsy South Africa - Parys
2017, Nottingham Brewery donated R8000 to the SPCA in their area
2018, Old Potter's Inn donated R6000 to the Red Cross
2019, Brauhaus donated to the Rustenburg Soup Kitchen
2020, Zwakala donated to Choice Trust
2021, Clockwork, Doctrine & 1000 Hills donated R7000 to IKhethelo Children's Village
2022, Clarens Brewery donated to Clarens Conservancy
2023, Richmond Hill Brewing Company donated to MTR Smit Children's Haven
2024, Hazeldean Brewing Co donated R5,000 to Kungwini Welfare Organisation
It started in 2016 after Elbie and Megan had this great idea at the annual Beer Boot Camp after a couple of pints.
The first Africa Brew drew over 50 attendees and was held at Dog & Fig brewery in Parys. 2017 was held at Nottingham Brewery in the Midlands, KZN.
2018 was in Greyton in the Cape. 2019 we are honored to have two female brewers close to each other and spent Saturday with Imke at Brauhaus in Rustenburg and Sunday with Nuschka at Black Horse in Magaliesburg.
2020 against all odds with COVID-19 keeping us locked up for most of the year, we managed to have the festival at Zwakala Brewery in Limpopo.
In 2021 we were back in Kwazulu Natal and festival was held at the 1000 Hills Chef School, home of Clockwork Brewery with Megan, Doctrine with Dion and 1000 Brewery with Trevor. 3 BREWERS IN ONE GO!
2022 we headed to the Freestate where LEGENDS Stephan and Natalie Meyer hosted us. Then in 2023 we took it to it to Richmond Hill Brewing Co (RHBC), winners of the BEST BEER IN AFRICA award at the Africa Beer Cup that year.
In 2024 we were in Gauteng for the first timee ever where Hazeldean Brewery hosted a very fun and successful Sour Power Africa Brew.
This year Africa Brew turn 10 and we are taking it to Sabie Brewery, in Mpumalanga! The theme this year is A DECADE OF BEER - How did we get here and where to now?
We have some of the best brains in the industry to give workshops and talks. It is a HUGE party where you get to learn new stuff and get inspired.
During the festival we run workshops and demonstrations in a relaxed environment, all geared towards developing your skills, whether you are an absolute beginner trying to get off the ground, or an accomplished brewer looking to move to the next level of brewing. The workshops will be run by commercial brewers who are experts in their field.
In the evening, we all get together and share our brews while talking BEER around the braai fire. We will limit the tickets for this event to maintain this awesome time for interaction.
On Saturday we have a BJCP judging session where homebrewers can compete with commercial brewers. Our sponsors normally go out of their way to supply AMAZING prizes!
While the beerjudging takes place on Saturday morning, we have a beer run! And if you're up for some exercise and scenic views, we're planning a beach run this time. Join in on the fun – it's optional but definitely worth it!
