Californians take on SA varsity brewers

The competition, the second, is an annual event sponsored by SAB. Its origins date back to 2003 following SAB Prospecton's brewery sponsorship of a micro-brewery at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Pietermaritzburg campus. Since then the brewer has gone on to sponsor nine other micro-breweries at universities around the country. This year's contest will be hosted by the University of Pretoria (overall winner of the 2008 competition) and SAB's Rosslyn brewery.

Additional support for the contest comes from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) and FoodBev SETA, which award bursaries to the winning students to further their brewing science and technology careers. The IBD is an international organisation that represents brewing and distilling interests around the world.

Website challenge

The incoming chairman of the IBD, Alastair Kennedy, SABMiller's head of technical stewardship, said the challenge to compete by universities from outside South Africa was communicated through the IBD website and that he was delighted that the University of California had taken up the challenge.

“The university's brewing science department is headed up by an American brewing legend, Professor Charlie Bamforth, and so we expect a tough challenge from across the water.”

The competition is, he said, an event that aims to promote an interest in brewing amongst university students and is a “good example of how the brewing industry, international and national accredited qualification bodies and universities work together to promote the development of skills and an awareness of beer through the participation of students brewing their own brands”.

Four categories

The competition consists of four categories: Lager Beer Class; Ale Beer Class; Speciality Beer Class; and Best Label. In 2008, the Tukkies team won the first three classes with the University of North West taking the award for best label. The classes are judged by a panel of experienced tasters from SAB, the IBD and the Wort Hog Brewers Association of South Africa.

The team that wins the Best Beer award wins the “Ben Lamaletie - IBD Legend floating trophy”; a R25 000 bursary from the IBD and FoodBev SETA for five students; R10 000 from the Rosslyn brewery and an additional R2000 from IBD Africa Section and Foodbev SETA.