Local journalits brew own beer

| Monday November 22, 2010 00:00

The journalists have produced their own lager, tentatively called 'Karma' which will hit the shelves in three weeks time. The journalists started their journey to become brewers a few months back when they won a beer tasting competition organised by Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) for local media houses.

The prize included being taken on a tour of the SAB plant in Johannesburg for a crash course on beer brewing.

After the training, the journalists were given an opportunity to brew their own brand and that is how 'Karma' was born. The Mmegi/Monitor team had veteran journalist Lekopanye Mooketsi and reporters Boitumelo Khutsafalo and Isaiah Morewagae.

The Journey To 'Karma'Throughout the week, KBL representative Mokoro Ketsitlile had been painstakingly making last minute confirmations to find out whether we will make it. By Tuesday, he had e-mailed the itinerary and the departure times.

The Mmegi team comprising yours truly, Boitumelo Khutsafalo and Isaiah Morewagae, were accompanied by KBL duo.

Our flight left the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at around 11.15am. Within an hour, we had landed at the busy Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. We were immediately whisked to Palazzo Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg. After checking-in there was no time for lunch as we had to rush to the SAB training institute in Kyalami. SAB which has subsidiaries in Africa, Asia and Europe is the second biggest brewing company in the world.

At the training institute, we were welcomed by the SAB learning and development specialist, Tanith Mohale. She took us through the paces, explained the theory of beer brewing and showed us a video footage on the subject. 

She then took us to the brew house where we met veteran brewer, David Mpeko who told us that he has been in the business since 1974. Brewing is an elaborate process and Mpeko took us through every stage. We learnt about fermentation, maturation, filtration and packaging.

The whole process takes about three weeks.   

Mpeko said at their brew house, they deal with new product development. He said brewing a beer is just like preparing a meal.  'It needs a recipe like cooking food.  You need different ingredients,' he explained.

He started showing us the ingredients that he was talking about like pale malt, crystal malt, black malt and roasted barley. Other things that form beer ingredients are water, malted barley, maize and hops. Malt provides extract and colour while hops is for bitterness. We learnt that malt is the biggest raw material that is put into the beer. 

Within no time, Mpeko was telling us to weigh our malt and mill it.  This was the beginning of our brewing process. The following morning when we pitched up at the training institute, Mohale took us through the remaining theory sessions. We learnt about the history of beer.

We were told that one of the oldest places to brew beer were Mesopotamia (what is today Iran) and Egypt. At the brew house, Mpeko instructed us to put on white dust coasts. It was time for business.

We went through the other processes with our brew including pitching yeast and testing for starch. 

Ketsitlile was assigned the task of recording data on the brew sheet while Mpeko monitored him closely to ensure that everything was accurate. He has an eye for detail. But our brew will only be ready for consumption after three weeks. After we were done, Mohale took us through the paces again. 

After lunch, we were taken on a guided tour of the SAB World of Beer, a tourism attraction site, situated in Newtown in downtown Johannesburg. This is a wonderful place that depicts the history of beer in South Africa.

There is information about everything that you want to know about the history of brewing in South Africa. Charles Glass, the man who brewed South Africa's brand, Castle Lager, is featured prominently.

We were shown the prized vehicle that he used to transport his lager in Johannesburg.

After the tour of the SAB World of Beer we drove back to the training institute where we went for a tasting session in Boss Mick's Pub. Mohale brought us various international labels to sample.

A Thai brand, Singha proved to have the favourite taste amongst our team. 

There was also another laager which had nine percent alcohol. Fortunately it did not do any damage because we were only tasting. Mohale grilled us on what to look for when you are tasting beer.

After a long day's work, it was time to play. Then the boys hit town where we mingled with a number of South African top celebrities.

On Friday morning, we headed back home as proud brewers, only waiting for a while before tasting the fruits of our labour. For us it has been mission accomplished.