According to research, South Africans are the fifth highest guzzlers of beer in the world, with the average drinker consuming an average of 30 litres of the golden stuff per year. In metros like Joburg, craft beers are slowly overtaking demand. In this episode, we take a slight shift in form to tell a truly extraordinary tale of one brewmaster’s almost 20 year journey in the industry. Someone who has had a hand in creating some of the country’s most renowned craft beers. His special recipes won awards but also led to betrayal more than once, but he refuses to be deterred and has just helped launch a raft of new brews taking the inner city by storm.

Show Notes:

Host: Pheladi Sethusa

Producer: Kabir Jugram

Editing, writing and sound design: Pheladi Sethusa

Graphic design: Mutsa Katsidzira

Theme music: Trench Work by Ketsa, Free Music Archive, CC BY

Additional music: A je to by Paweł Feszczuk, Free Music Archive, CC BY; Reflection Documentary Background by Jake Hunter, Free Music Archive, CC BY

Additional sound effects: Freesound_Community, Pixabay, CC BY

This series is a Showing Shortly production and made possible thanks to grant funding from Africa No Filter and forms part of the Work Reimagined Storylab. Another big thanks to our publishing partners, the Currency News.

Sources cited in the episode:

• Statistics South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Survey
• Adebiyi BO, Mukumbang FC. Alcohol ban during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: Lessons for preventing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in South Africa.
• Festive alcohol trends – Eighty20
• Modelling the impact of beer excise taxes on consumption and revenue in South Africa (Policy Brief)
• South African Beer Market
• Craft brewing – Agribook
• Deadly drinks: A call for public awareness on the dangers of impure alcoholic beverages – University of Pretoria