My Brilliant Career: Capturing the personality and spirit of Africa in beer
Lethu kuthu la Tshabangu is the founder of Cape Town-based brewery Ukhamba Beerworx
Tell me how you ended up founding a brewery. I was working as a bartender in a place that sells craft beer and totally fell in love with beer. I wanted to learn more every day about the process from beginning to end. I soon realised that making great beer is an art form — liquid art. I saw there was an opportunity to start my own brewery where I could make beer my way — modern beer with an African identity. As one of the only black brewers in the country, I felt I was in a unique position to try and capture the spirit and personality of Africa in beer. The process of making beer is part art, part science. What appeals to you most about the process? What the customers love most about Ukhamba Beerworx is that we expand the boundaries of flavour. I love to experiment with flavours, to see how they interact. Our black India pale ale (IPA) has roasty chocolate and lightly spicy malt flavours with citrus hops. We also use sorghum malt, which is popular with making umqombothi (traditional ...
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