Local brewery Soul Barrel Brewing has won the African Celebration Award at the 2023 African Beer Cup – the biggest beer competition on the continent. Soul Barrel bagged two medals in this year’s competition – a silver for Live Culture Cuvee and a gold for African Wild African Soul, a collaboration with Johannesburg-based Tolokazi Beer.
Wild African Soul went on to win the African Celebration Award, one of the marquee awards of the competition. The award goes to the highest scoring beer in the competition that showcases traditional African ingredients. Wild African Soul is a blend of farmhouse ale and umqombothi (traditional sorghum beer), aged in wine barrels for two years. Soul Barrel, who won the Best Beer in Africa in 2022, specialise in showcasing local ingredients and brewing traditions in their beers.
“Winning the African Celebration award is one of the most significant accomplishments a brewery can achieve. We believe South Africa has a fascinating beer culture, and we aim to tell its unique story. As a collaboration brew, Wild African Soul explores the similarities between different brewing traditions, making this beer a first of its kind and unlike any in the world”, says Soul Barrel Founder and Brewmaster Nick Smith.
“Its amazing seeing local brewing traditions celebrated at the African Beer Cup. I hope this win encourages people to support beers using local ingredients”, says Tolokazi founder Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela and South Africa’s first female black Brewmaster.
This is the fourth edition of the competition, which is held annually in Cape Town. This year, 52 judges from 16 different countries joined forces to evaluate 232 beers from 20 African countries. A total of 60 medals were awarded at an awards night held on 22 April at Woodstock Brewery in Cape Town.
The African Beer Cup is unique in that every beer in the competition is judged twice. All judging is blind, with judges knowing the beer style but not the manufacturer or beer name. Beers are judged to the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines, which focus on stylistic accuracy rather than personal preference. Beers must reach a certain score threshold in order to be considered for a medal, with a maximum of one gold, one silver and one bronze per category.
A full list of the 2023 African Beer Cup award winners is available at https://africanbeercup.com/2023-winners.
• Soul Barrel Brewing is a boutique craft brewery that focuses on South African ingredients, hoppy ales, and old-world barrel fermentations. They aim to create a world-class South African beer culture by brewing artisanal, innovative beer that reflects a sense of time, place, and personality. They believe in brewing with soul and that great beer can change the world. The brewery is in the heart of the Cape Winelands between Paarl and Franschhoek, built within the old tank walls of the former Drakenstein Cooperative Winery
nick@soulbarrel.co.za.
