Varsity Brews
The six judges around the table carefully read the complicated description that accompanies the next beer in our flight. Samples are poured and sips are taken. And then something happens that has never happened with any of the hundreds of beers I have judged in competitions across the world: I get goosebumps.
I probably don’t need to tell you that this is no ordinary beer. It has been entered into a category you wouldn’t find in your average Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) competition – African Wild Ale. The category requires brewers to use only African ingredients, including yeast gathered from the natural environment. The beer that makes the hair on my forearms stand on end uses a blend of South African barley, red sorghum malt, and maize malt. The wort was boiled over an open fire, no hops added, and it was wild fermented, as is customary in traditional African brewing.
The young brewers behind this remarkable beer have succeeded in doing something that craft brewers around Africa have been attempting for years: They have harnessed the very essence of traditional African beer — an ancient brew that is thick, completely opaque, and distinctly sour — and turned it into something that is familiar to the everyday beer drinker.
A Training Ground for Brewers
It is an extraordinary beer for an extraordinary competition. This is South Africa’s Intervarsitybrew Brewing & Tasting Challenge, an annual event that sees teams from universities and colleges of higher education competing to see whose beers will take home cash prizes.
But it’s not just about the competition. Above all, Intervarsitybrew is about education. It began on a small scale in 2008 as a way to plug a gap in South Africa’s higher education system. There wasn’t a single university offering any kind of brewing science program, so faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal appealed to South African Breweries (SAB, now owned by AB InBev) to provide them with brewing equipment. Word quickly got around and within a year, six more universities had SAB-sponsored brewing systems.
A meetup was planned, where the student brewers could share brewing notes and taste each other’s beers. That first get-together, on a campsite in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, was worlds apart from today’s professionally run conference and tasting showcase. But one thing hasn’t changed — there still aren’t any South African universities offering formal brewing education, and so Intervarsitybrew remains a crucial training ground for upcoming brewers.
Teams are largely made up of those studying food science, chemical engineering, and biochemistry. Throughout the year, they experiment on homebrew-scale systems housed within their universities and each October bring their best beers to the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein, four hours south of Johannesburg.
A Taste of Africa
The weekend kicks off with an icebreaker pub quiz evening, then continues on day two with educational sessions. Ninety students from 18 universities don silent disco-style headphones for a sensory analysis, and later a mass tasting class with brewers and beer experts from around
the country.
The main event happens on Saturday, when students attend a series of seminars focusing on technical brewing topics as well as inspirational stories and insight into how to get started in the local beer industry. Meanwhile, 30 experienced judges congregate in a separate building to assess the students’ beers.
There are six categories in the competition: Lager, summer beer, IPA, sour beer, aged beer, and African wild ale. It’s my third year here and I am at last lucky enough to be judging in what I consider the most exciting category — the wild ales. It is a judging flight like no other: A sorghum-based beer fermented with yeast harvested from guava skins; a spontaneously fermented Belgian tripel with sorghum and honey; a braggot hopped with African Queen and Southern Passion.
And as if to emphasize that this is a uniquely African category, we are presented with an unlabeled quart bottle, around its neck a small Ziplock bag containing two ingredients featured in the beer: Marula nuts and dried mopane worms. Actually a caterpillar, the mopane worm is a common source of protein in the northern part of South Africa and throughout Zimbabwe. Once judging is done, we of course crack open the bag and have a nibble. They’re mildly fishy, with a texture somewhere between sawdust and wood chips. Let’s just say they taste better in a beer than straight from the bag.
Weird and Wonderful
There isn’t much deliberation when it comes to choosing the category winner though. The goosebump-giving beer inspired by umqombothi — a thick, creamy, sorghum and maize-based brew used mainly in traditional ceremonies — is outstanding. It captures the lactic and mildly barnyard-like notes of umqombothi and carries a light smoky note that’s common in the traditional version, but it has the appearance of a lightly hazy red ale, and the mouthfeel to match. We can’t wait to find out who brewed it.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait long. While the judges are busy with Best of Show judging, the students are setting up for the grand finale of the weekend. It’s essentially a mini beer fest: Teams set up a stand where they present their beer, pouring tasters for the judges, staff, organizers, and, of course, for their peers.
With more than 100 beers on show and only two hours to spend, there are decisions to be made. Some ask for each team’s best beer. I’m looking for the weird and wonderful — the stuff you would never find at a commercial beer festival. And it’s all here. There are two SCOBY sours (a fusion of beer and kombucha), an IPA with a grain bill that’s 80% sorghum, and a pale ale featuring a fig-like fruit I meet for the first time: African snuff (Oncoba spinosa).
My biggest surprise was the wood-aged IPA from the home team, CUT, who in the absence of an actual barrel, made a plan that wouldn’t quite work in a commercial setting of much size. As the bottle was opened, a sharp stave of wood popped out of the neck of the bottle, making it both a fairly tasty beer and a handy way to slay vampires, should the need arise.
Intervarsity Alumni
As I move from stand to stand, my drinking partners are constantly rotating but one thing is made quite clear — Intervarsitybrew is having a lasting impact on the South African beer scene. I share a SCOBY sour with Kyle Mozkovitz, a member of the University of Cape Town’s team in 2012 and 2013, who is now Brewing Manager at SAB’s Cape Town brewery. At the University of Limpopo stand I chat with Monique Schmidt, who competed for the University of Pretoria from 2011 to 2013 and is now Implementation Coordinator with SAB. At the University of Stellenbosch stand I compare notes on a Cryo IPA with Megan Gemmell, who joined the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s team in 2009 and now runs a successful nanobrewery, Clockwork Brewhouse.
There are many more Intervarsity alumni who now work in South Africa’s brewing industry who aren’t here today. Eben Uys, once on the University of Stellenbosch team, later opened Johannesburg’s most successful craft brewery, Mad Giant; Chris Nong competed at Intervarsity in 2022 and went on to work at one of the country’s largest craft breweries before moving to SAB; and Olaf Morgenroth, who captained his university’s team in 2013, is now Head Brewer at Fermentis by Lesaffre in France.
“I was studying Wine Biotechnology and before joining the Stellies team I knew very little about beer brewing,” says Morgenroth when I chat with him after the event. “But then I discovered my passion for brewing and suddenly my career ambitions became much clearer to me. I attribute a lot of my personal success to Intervarsity. If it didn’t exist at the time, I’m not sure if I would have ended up with brewing beer as a career option.”
And the Winners Are
Moving around the room, I discover that some students simply joined the team to learn a bit about brewing, while others are intent on entering the industry. And the program is undoubtedly helping them along the way. It’s not just the competition and the conference; Intervarsitybrew has become a key event on South Africa’s beer calendar and the networking opportunities are excellent. There are high-ups from SAB and Heineken; the CEO of the Beer Association of South Africa, representatives of international companies like Anton Paar and Fermentis, and plenty of people from the local craft beer scene.
Students, staff, judges, and sponsors all gather in the glass-ceilinged atrium on Saturday evening to hear the results of the 2024 competition. There are roars as the University of Limpopo take home two silver medals for their Pale Rider lager and Heaven Hops Rye IPA, as well as a bronze for Funky Blondy, a mixed fermentation sour. It is the first time the country’s northernmost team has placed in the competition, and their elation is reflected in the faces of every other student in the room. “Winning at Intervarsity felt like reaching the summit of a mountain after a long and tough climb,” says Limpopo team member Gavaza Mabunda. “This win was not just a source of pride, but a testament to the group’s dedication, preparation, and love for brewing.”
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) team, headed up by Thembelani Xolo and Lamla Mayekiso, are overjoyed that their Imbizo — the sorghum beer that so impressed me at the judges’ table — picks up first place in the African Wild Ale category. “For us to win anything was a surprise,” says Mayekiso. “The flavor profiles of sorghum are not for everyone so our main goal was just to try out our latest version and then use the feedback to improve, as we have in previous years. We actually prepped the team to not go with expectations of winning anything!”
But the big winners, as they have been for the past few years, are the team from the University of Cape Town (UCT). They take first place in the sour, lager, aged, and summer categories, as well as third place for their African Wild Ale. And just when they think they’ve made their last visit to the stage, their low-ABV witbier, Wit Restraint, wins Best of Show, bagging them yet another check to add to the pile. Prize money goes towards equipment and ingredients for future brews and the team will need to start from scratch next year since competition rules state that teams
can’t reuse winning recipes.
Our Future Brewers
UCT’s team has benefited from the meticulous recipe planning and brewing skills of former captain Jac Sussens, but this year Sussens stayed behind to allow other team members to experience the Intervarsity weekend. Each team can only take four members — plus their faculty mentor — to the event, with UCT captained by Winnie Motswagae, originally from Botswana. A Master’s student at UCT, she is focusing on improving the shelf life of “marula beer” (actually more similar to wine in process) and is one of the students that is considering a career in beer.
Teammate Tafadzwa Chapora, is likewise planning to go into the beer industry. “I’m an entrepreneur,” Chapora says, “and I am thinking of launching my own beer starting out as a contract brand.” Like Motswagae, Chapora started brewing with the UCT team last February and winning the top spot at the 2024 Intervarsitybrew has given him the final push to launch his own brand. “I’ve been hesitating and thinking this thing over for a long time but after this weekend, I have sufficient motivation to just do it!”
As for Imbizo, the beer that gave me shivers of joy, it might not have taken the overall prize, but for the CPUT team, winning the African Wild Ales category means just as much. “Using sorghum in all of our beers is our niche,” says Mayekiso, “and winning has really validated what we’re doing. We have been working on this recipe since 2019 and now we know we are capable of upping the sorghum to 100%, which is what we’ll be working on for next year.”
And I, for one, can’t wait to try it.
Intervarsity Recipes
Chefs Tipsy Elephant
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.010
IBU = 52 SRM = 5 ABV = 6.2%
This specialty IPA features the African marula fruit — yellow stone fruits about the size of golf balls that are high in sugar, sweet, syrupy in texture, and with an almost citrus-like flavor. Marula was said to accentuate the hop character. Brewed by the 1000 Hills Chef School, it took first place in the IPA category at the 2024 Intervarsitybrew competition.
Ingredients
9.2 lbs. (4.2 kg) Castle Malting Château pale ale malt
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) Castle Malting chit wheat malt flakes
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) flaked oats
2.2 lbs. (1 kg) marula fruit (whirlpool)
5.3 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./15 g at 10% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (5 min.)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (5 min.)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (whirlpool)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (whirlpool)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (dry hop)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (dry hop)
1 tsp. Irish moss (10 min.)
1 g yeast nutrient (10 min.)
Bootleg Biology OSLO yeast (or your favorite kveik strain)
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains with 3.6 gallons (13.5 L) of water at 151 °F (66 °C) for 60 minutes. Skip any mash out step and sparge with 4.6 gallons (17.4 L) of water at 168 °F (76 °C). Collect wort and bring to a boil for 60 minutes, adding hops, Irish moss, and nutrients as indicated. Prep the marula by peeling and squeezing as much juice from the fruit as you can (they are quite fibrous). When the boil is complete, turn off heat and stir wort to create a whirlpool. Add whirlpool hops and marula (the juice as well as the flesh and skins), cover, and let rest 20 minutes.
Chill wort to fermentation temperature (which can be anywhere from normal fermentation temperatures up to about 100 °F/38 °C). Ferment at this temperature.
When fermentation is complete, add dry hops. Two days later, transfer to a keg and force carbonate or bottle condition as usual.
Chefs Tipsy Elephant
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.010
IBU = 52 SRM = 5 ABV = 6.2%
Ingredients
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) Pale ale dried malt extract
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) wheat dried malt extract
2.2 lbs. (1 kg) marula fruit (whirlpool)
5.3 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./15 g at 10% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (5 min.)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (5 min.)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (whirlpool)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (whirlpool)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Amarillo® CryoHops® (dry hop)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Citra® CryoHops® (dry hop)
1 tsp. Irish moss (10 min.)
1 g yeast nutrient (10 min.)
Bootleg Biology OSLO yeast (or your favorite kveik strain)
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 5.5 gallons (21 L) of water to a boil and then turn off heat. Carefully stir in the malt extracts until completely dissolved. Return to heat and bring to a boil for 60 minutes, adding hops, Irish moss, and nutrients as indicated. Prep the marula by peeling and squeezing as much juice from the fruit as you can (they are quite fibrous). When the boil is complete, turn off heat and stir wort to create a whirlpool. Add whirlpool hops and marula (the juice as well as the flesh and skins), cover, and let rest 20 minutes.
Chill wort to fermentation temperature (which can be anywhere from normal fermentation temperatures up to about 100 °F/38 °C). Ferment at this temperature.
When fermentation is complete, add dry hops. Two days later, transfer to a keg and force carbonate or bottle condition as usual.
Recipe Note: Marula is native to sub-Saharan Africa and scarcely available in North America. It belongs to the same family, Anacardiaceae, as the mango, which you could try substituting. Or try another fruit of your choice, knowing that the resulting beer may not taste the same.
University of Cape Town’s Wit Restraint
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.035 FG = 1.010
IBU = 8 SRM = 3 ABV = 3.3%
This low-ABV witbier was the Best of Show winner from the 2024 Intervarsitybrew competition brewed by students at the University of Cape Town and features the unique South African hop Southern Passion in addition to the coriander and orange zest witbiers are known for.
Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) pale wheat malt
2.8 lbs. (1.25 kg) Pilsner malt
7 oz. (200 g) acidulated malt
5.3 oz. (150 g) maltodextrin
3.5 oz. (100 g) flaked oats
1.5 AAU Southern Passion hops (60 min.) (0.2 oz./5 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
1.5 AAU Southern Passion hops (10 min.) (0.2 oz./5 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) coriander seeds (5 min.)
1.4 oz. (40 g) orange zest (5 min.)
1.25 g yeast nutrients (15 min.)
2 sachets of SafAle K-97 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains with 3 gallons (11.5 L) of water at a mash temperature of 156 °F (69 °C) for 60 minutes. Raise to a mash out temperature of 168 °F (76 °C) and hold for 10 minutes. Sparge with 4.2 gallons (16 L) of 176 °F (80 °C) water. Collect wort and bring to a boil for 60 minutes, adding maltodextrin at the start of the boil. Add hops, coriander, orange zest, and yeast nutrients as indicated.
When the boil is complete, chill wort to fermentation temperature of 68 °F (20 °C). When fermentation is complete, add dry hops. Two days later transfer to a keg and force carbonate or bottle condition as usual.
University of Cape Town’s Wit Restraint
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.035 FG = 1.010
IBU = 8 SRM = 3 ABV = 3.3%
Ingredients
3.6 lbs. (1.6 kg) wheat dried malt extract
5.3 oz. (150 g) maltodextrin
0.75 tsp. 88% lactic acid
1.5 AAU Southern Passion hops (60 min.) (0.2 oz./5 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
1.5 AAU Southern Passion hops (10 min.) (0.2 oz./5 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) coriander seeds (5 min.)
1.4 oz. (40 g) orange zest (5 min.)
1.25 g yeast nutrients (15 min.)
2 sachets of SafAle K-97 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 5.5 gallons (21 L) water to a boil and then turn off heat. Carefully stir in the malt extract, maltodextrin, and lactic acid until completely dissolved. Return to heat and bring to a boil for 60 minutes, adding hops, coriander, orange zest, and yeast nutrients as indicated.
When the boil is complete, chill wort to fermentation temperature of 68 °F (20 °C). When fermentation is complete, add dry hops. Two days later transfer to a keg and force carbonate or bottle condition as usual.
Recipe Note: Southern Passion, and all South African hops for that matter, are scarce on the homebrew market. As of this writing, they can be purchased online in packages as small as 1 oz. (28 g) from just a handful of homebrew suppliers and in larger packaging from a few more. If you are unable to find them, look for hops with similar characteristics of passion fruit, guava, red berries, and melon. Strata® is one recommended alternative.
Funky Blondy Mixed Fermentation Sour
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.033 FG = 1.008
IBU = 20 SRM = 5 ABV = 3.3%
Brewed by students from the University of Limpopo, this blonde sour beer was awarded bronze in the Intervarsitybrew competition’s sour beer category. The recipe uses a blonde ale base to express light to moderate malty aroma, possibly with a light bread or caramel note, and it also expresses low to moderate fruitiness, with medium hop aroma. Such low characters will not interfere with the sourness, acidity and funky character contributed by fermenting yeast and bacteria.”
Ingredients
3.1 lbs. (1.4 kg) Crisp extra pale malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) German Pilsner malt
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) Munich malt
5.8 oz. (164 g) Weyermann Vienna malt
2.9 oz. (82 g) crystal malt (30 °L)
2.9 oz. (82 g) Weyermann Carafoam® malt
2.7 AAU Cascade hops (60 min.) (0.4 oz./12 g at 6.5% alpha acids)
6.1 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.4 oz./12 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
0.4 oz. (12 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (15 g) lactic acid bacteria
WildBrew Philly Sour yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains in 2 gallons (8 L) of water at 153 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Sparge and collect 6.3 gallons (24 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes and add hops as indicated. Cool the wort to 77 °F (25 °C) and transfer to your fermenter. Rehydrate lactic acid bacteria and pitch into the fermenter.
Allow to ferment for two days at room temperature and then bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Cool to 64 °F (18 °C) and pitch Philly Sour yeast. Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C) for five days before increasing the fermentation temperature to 73 °F (23 °C) for three days. Add priming sugar and bottle or keg and force carbonate to 2.8 volumes.
Funky Blondy Mixed Fermentation Sour
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.033 FG = 1.008
IBU = 20 SRM = 5 ABV = 3.3%
Ingredients
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) pale ale dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) German Pilsen dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich dried malt extract
2.9 oz. (82 g) crystal malt (30 °L)
2.9 oz. (82 g) Weyermann Carafoam® malt
2.7 AAU Cascade hops (60 min.) (0.4 oz./12 g at 6.5% alpha acids)
6.1 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.4 oz./12 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
0.4 oz. (12 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (15 g) lactic acid bacteria
WildBrew Philly Sour yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Add the crushed grains into a grain bag and submerge in 5.5 gallons (21 L) water in your brew kettle as you bring the temperature up to 170 °F (77 °C). Remove grains and then bring to a boil. Turn off heat and carefully stir in the malt extracts until completely dissolved. Return to heat and bring to a boil for 60 minutes. Add hops at times indicated.
Cool the wort to 77 °F (25 °C) and transfer to your fermenter. Rehydrate lactic acid bacteria and pitch into the fermenter.
Allow to ferment for two days at room temperature and then bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Cool to 64 °F (18 °C) and pitch Philly Sour yeast. Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C) for five days before increasing the fermentation temperature to 73 °F (23 °C) for three days. Add priming sugar and bottle or keg and force carbonate to 2.8 volumes.
