Stellenbosch University
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Stellenbosch University consistently brews greatness
Author: Food Science Brewing team
Published: 26/10/2021



The Stellenbosch University (SU) brewing team yet again brought their A-game to the fourteenth consecutive Intervarsity Brewing and Tasting competition, which is sponsored by South African Breweries (SAB), part of the ABInBev family. The event was once more hosted in Bloemfontein, by the Central University of Technology (CUT), through CAFSaB, in association with the University of the Free State. Further sponsorship was also made possible by the Beer Association of South Africa, representing the greater beer brewing community, along with FoodBev SETA. Being the only event of its kind, globally, the event has shown to be ever growing with the possibility of more entrants for 2022.

            The event took on a hybrid nature this year, being both online and in person to accommodate Covid-19 regulations and to allow all team members and interested parties to attend virtually. The event took place over two days, 22-24 October, and was chaired by Linda Jackson from Foodriskforum. 

Four members (Jana van Rooyen, Marbi Schwartz, Dewald Botha and Sebastian Orth) travelled to Bloemfontein to represent SU. The remaining members of the team attending virtually were Dr Stefan Hayward, Dr Timo Tait, Anishka Eksteen, Nadia Degenaar and Kyle Corbett. (Photo 1). With eleven South African Universities participating in the competition and a total of 50 different beers being submitted, the competitive nature of the event was truly felt by all attendees.

            This year the team set out to increase the number of brewing members to enhance the brewing capacity. This resulted in a rigorous brewing and tasting schedule to ensure that optimal brewing quality was maintained. The original all male, four-member team has now increased to nine and has diversified to include four female members (Jana van Rooyen, Anishka Eksteen, Marbi Schwartz and Nadia Degenaar).

             Universities were challenged to brew according to five different categories and to design a label to meet regulatory standards. The beers were sensorially evaluated by a panel of certified judges to the Beer Judge Certification Standards criteria. The categories this year included a Lager, Indian Pale Ale (IPA), Sour beer, African Wild Ale (only ingredients grown in Africa) and a Summer beer (low alcohol beer). This allowed for a lot of brewing, numerous mishaps, and the exciting application of science towards brewing a glass of perfection. The SU team walked away with top honours in the lager category (sponsored by Castle Lager) and won the award for the best label design (Photo 2) (sponsored by FoodBev SETA). The SU team was placed second in the African Wild Ale and third for their IPA category. The cash prize of R20 000, will allow for the team to continue brewing at the Department of Food Science, where the brewery is located. Congratulations to the Stellenbosch brewing team, we look forward to seeing your future endeavours in brewing. (Article and photos provided by the Brewing team)

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Photo 1: The Brewing team: Dr Stefan Hayward, Kyle Corbett, Dewald Botha, Anishka Eksteen, Jana van Rooyen, Marbi Schwartz, Dr Timo Tait and Sebastian Orth.

 

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Photo 2: Winning label, designed by the Food Science team