The tale of Okavango Craft Brewery

Larona Makhaiza | Wednesday April 30, 2025 06:00

Established in 2019, the brewery has seamlessly blended traditional brewing techniques with a conservation-driven mission producing over 1, 000 litres of beer. Providing the media with the tour of facility organised by Avani Resort and Casino, an assistant brewer Olorato Ratama stated that the birthing of the Okavango beer was just an aim of coexistence between people and wild animals, more importantly elephants. 'As you all know, Botswana is all about conservation and it focuses on how people and animals can co-exist where they live. So, due to this, the government had a goal of building an economy for our people so that is how the brewery market economy (came about),” he said.

Ratama indicated that the brewery was identified as a niche market for people around the delta because it is the most sought-after drink from the local and international market since it is a tourism destination. “It was decided that the first would be the brewery because the product can be pushed fast and we would see results instantly because we had to prove to them that we could pull off the elephant economy. That is how it started,” he said. He pointed out that, soon after the brewery was established, other people tapped into industries such as growing chilli and millet, and collecting elephant dung to make paper. Going back to the Okavango Craft Brewery, Ratama stated their beer is one of a kind as it is using 55% millet compared to other beers, which gives it the originality it deserves. “Our aim is to produce our beers with 100% millet and we are getting there. The other remaining percentage goes to barley, which is present in all lagers but we want to eliminate it to make our beer different,” he said. He stated that the process of making beer takes longer than people envision, especially when one does everything from scratch up till the finished product. “This is a long process which goes up at least a month and two weeks but mostly because of fermentation because we have to get it right, if not, you correct it. Plus we do our own branding and packaging,” Ratama said.

Ratama further highlighted that the Okavango Craft Brewery beers are one of its kind as they have a longer shelf life compared to other beer competitors. “Our beer is really good because it isn't pasteurised as we kill all bacteria, kill all sugars from the ingredients we use, giving it a long shelf life making it stand out,” he said. The beers produced at Okavango Craft Brewery are Old Bull, Panhandle, Kingfisher, and Delta. The beer percentages range from 4.5 percent to seven percent.