Craft Brewing

Bosheuvel Estate, Hillcrest Estate, De Vry Distillery and Loxtonia Cider are some of several farming operations that include craft brewing on the sidelines. Alongside Pinzgauer stud cattle, sorghum fields, vineyards and dairy, craft brewing is an additional revenue stream and attraction. We provide the reader with a short overview of this sector. As usual, we list sources and role players from which you can find out more.

Local business environment
Role players
Websites & publications

Local business environment

Before the Covid-19 lockdowns and the ban on alcohol sales, the South African craft beer market had its value estimated at R1,4 billion (Botha, 2019), with a forecast to grow at more than 3% a year between 2019 and 2024 (Botha, 2019).

The growth in craft breweries has been attributed to, amongst other things, “localism (in terms of brewing setting and sourcing of ingredients)”, “naturalness and sustainable production methods”, and the “social context of consumption” e.g. festivals, sports events, craft beer tasting at brewpubs or local markets (BFAP, 2017). The bulk of craft breweries were in the Western Cape, followed by Gauteng.

In January 2021, the Craft Brewers Association South Africa (CBASA) reported that 60% of the staff of CBASA-affiliated businesses had been retrenched, and that 88% of craft brewers would not make it through the second lockdown (CBASA 2021). An entire industry was in need of financial relief and support until the country was past coronavirus.

After four years, 2023 saw the return Cape Town Festival of Beer, and the resumption of the awards given out at the South African National Beer Trophy (SANBT).

Find the latest South African craft beer news at https://brewmistress.co.za. Statistics and the economic and social contribution of the wider South African beer industry can be sourced at https://beersa.org.

Source: A Business for SA presentation “Alcohol Industry Value Chain” (2021); Farmer’s Weekly article by Lindi Botha and BFAP Baseline Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026.

Role players

Companies

Note: Click to expand the headings below. To get a free listing on our website like the ones below, visit here for more information or place your order here. Disclaimer: The role player listings are not vetted by this website.

The Home Brewer’s Shop – https://thehomebrewshop.co.za

Stellenbrau – https://stellenbrau.co.za

Richmond Hill Brewing Company – https://richmondhillbrewing.com

Tolokazi Beer – https://tolokazibeer.co.za

Representative Bodies

Beer Association of South Africa – https://beersa.org

Craft Brewers Association South Africa – https://cbasa.org

Training, Consulting & Research Service Providers

Cape Peninsular University of Technology (CPUT) AgriFood Technology Station – www.cput.ac.za

Brewing Courses – https://brewingcourses.co.za

Central University of Technology (CUT) Centre for Applied Food Security and Biotechnology – www.cut.ac.za/cafsab

University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry – www.ufs.ac.za

Community, NGO and NPO Service Providers

Free State Fermenters – www.facebook.com/groups/305132382867636

South African National Beer Trophy (SANBT) – https://sanbt.com

Further reference:

Associations

A Liquor Traders Association of South Africa was set up to respond to Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

Training and research

View beverage processing equipment sold by CPUT on the AgriFood Technology Station’s pages at www.cput.ac.za/academic/faculties/appliedsciences/research/ats/food-equipment/beverage

Some craft beer breweries

See also https://craftbru.com , https://brewmistress.co.za and https://brewroutes.co.za for hundreds of craft beer breweries

Other role players

The Brewmistress offers craft beer training, and its website http://brewmistress.co.za contains a directory of homebrewing clubs, where you can source ingredients and equipment and more…
Besides its other offerings, Craftbru organises Craft Beer Tours. See https://craftbru.com

Websites and publications

Order online at www.arc.agric.za, call 012 842 4017 or send an email to stoltze [at] arc.agric.za for the following publications, available from the ARC Agricultural Engineering: (i) Agro-processing of fermented beverages –Beer (ii) Agro-processing of fermented beverages – Wine (iii) Agro-processing of distilled beverages –Whiskey & Brandy (iv) Agro-processing of regional and traditional fermented beverage.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC)/Agbiz report (December 2019) on water efficiency in the agri-processing sector included a look at malting and brewing. Find it at https://agbiz.co.za/uploads/images/sponsors/191213_Agri-processing%20Sector%20in%20South%20Africa%2011.12.19%20Single%20pages.pdf
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) 2017-2026 Baseline took a look at craft brewing. Visit www.bfap.co.za.

Directories of craft beers:

Find role players, be it for raw materials, brewing equipment, services etc, at https://cbasa.org/directory
https://brewroutes.co.za is a platform for craft breweries in South Africa. Select province and craft beer wished for and find the result.
Find Craftbru’s directory of craft brews and craft beer festivals at https://craftbru.com