For various reasons, beer has not formed part of many luxurious spaces. However, the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) has put forth a challenge to change this narrative and infiltrate the fine dining space on their shoulders.
BASA hosted their annual Beer Trophy Awards ceremony recently, where beer brewers and enthusiasts convened at the Cullinan Hotel for an exciting night of all things beer-related. This is the largest beer competition in South Africa, and it saw breweries of all shapes and sizes around the country come together to compete against one another for the title of the best beer.
Spearheaded by their CEO Charlene Louw, BASA has expressed their ambitious goals for the beer industry at large, revealing that their next mission is to successfully penetrate the fine dining space and elevate the ‘beer experience’, hopefully having beer in the same conversations as wine and whiskey in the future.
Leading by example, the association put together quite the evening as attendees arrived at an opulent Cullinan Hotel dressed in their best black tie ensemble, and ready to enjoy a sophisticated three-course meal which creatively incorporated some beer in each cause. The dessert, a sweet treat paired with traditional beer ‘umqombothi’ was a fan favourite as it had guests surprised at how great the unusual pairing tasted.
This night was just a mere glimpse of what and where BASA is headed as Charlene emphasises the need for this kind of growth for the industry not only for the smaller brewers and breweries but for the enthusiasts as well, since they are usually left out of certain spaces due to the kind of perspective a majority of people have about beer.
“I do believe there is more to do around building the reputation of beer. South Africa has a beer culture. We know that about 71% of the consumption of beverages is beer, that is how prevalent it is but even with that, I believe there is some negativity around beer,” Charlene told Food For Mzansi.
Also see: Takealot living up to its name this Black Friday, consumers are not impressed
