A one-of-its-kind beer brewed in the Cape Winelands has been awarded the title of Best Beer in Africa at the 2025 African Beer Cup. Soul Barrel Brewing took the top spot with Wild African Soul, a collaboration with Johannesburg-based Tolokazi Beer.
The beer blends a traditional sorghum umqombothi with a farmhouse ale, aged for two years in wine barrels. It is a ground-breaking beer that marries ancient African brewing tradition with the country’s vibrant craft beer scene. Wild African Soul beat lagers, pale ales, stouts, Belgian ales and more, wowing the judges and emerging with the title of Best Beer in Africa. There were 260 beers entered in the competition, hailing from 14 African countries.
“We’re a small team with a big mission: to brew beer that expresses the soul of South Africa,” said Soul Barrel founder and brewmaster Nick Smith. “Winning Best Beer in Africa three times shows the world just how exciting African beer can be. Winning with a beer based on umqombothi sends a message that South Africa has a fascinating beer culture, and at Soul Barrel we aim to tell its story.” Soul Barrel is the only brewery to take the title more than once, with overall wins in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is the founder and brewmaster at Tolokazi Beer. She first brewed Wild African Soul with Smith of Soul Barrel in 2022. The beer has been recreated annually since then. “On behalf of Tolokazi Beer, I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition for Wild African Soul, our collaboration brew which was crafted at Soul Barrel Brewing. This award is a true reflection of our dedication to crafting distinctly African beers—celebrating our heritage and embracing the richness of indigenous knowledge.”
In addition to winning gold and Best Beer in Africa, Soul Barrel also took home gold for its Ale of Origin, last year’s Best Beer in Africa winner, and silver for Live Culture, the 2022 Best Beer in Africa, among other medals.
Rather than a trophy, each year the African Beer Cup organisers commission a local artist to create a piece of art for the winner. This year, rather than the usual painting, the winner took home a custom Ukhamba (traditional beer drinking pot) made by LungiJoe, who has a ceramic studio in Langa, Cape Town. In a moment of serendipity, the winning beer featured the very beverage traditionally drunk from an Ukhamba.
“We created a new category for Speciality African Beer in 2024,” said African Beer Cup co-founder and competition Director, Lucy Corne. “These are beers that use traditional African brewing ingredients such as sorghum, millet and fonio rather than malted barley. The majority of beers entered of course follow craft beer trends, with the most entered categories being IPA and APA, but the Speciality African category is growing.” This year the gold, silver and bronze in the category went to breweries in South Africa, Botswana and Rwanda respectively.
Other breweries that triumphed in the competition include Afro Caribbean Brewing Company, who took nine medals including golds for their Pirate Porter, Better Judgment Hazy IPA and Dark Moth Czech Dark Lager. Richmond Hill Brewing Company in Gqeberha won five awards including two golds for Fever Dream Black IPA and Forbidden, a fruited milkshake IPA was brewed in collaboration with the local homebrewing club. In total, seven collaboration brews won medals – a new competition record.
The African Celebration Award, sponsored by the Beer Association of South Africa, is awarded annually to a brewery that champions the use of traditional African brewing ingredients. This year the award went to Okavango Craft Brewery in Botswana, whose millet-based Matriarch Amber Ale took a silver medal. The brewery utilises locally grown millet in all its beers and is deeply entrenched in local conservation issues.
For a full list of the 2025 African Beer Cup winners, head to https://africanbeercup.com/2025-winners.
For further information and interviews:
Lucy Corne – lucy@africanbeercup.com | 076 093 7236
Nick Smith – nick@soulbarrel.co.za | 083 600 8716
High-res images available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14kHA-XAM4rNPJdO46rBZRi0QZxdtKqTH?usp=sharing
All images to be credited to: Marla Burger Photography
More about Soul Barrel Brewing:
Soul Barrel Brewing is a boutique craft brewery that focuses on South African ingredients, hoppy ales, and old-world barrel fermentations. The brewery is in the heart of the Cape Winelands outside of Franschhoek, built within the hundred-year-old tank walls of the a former winery co-op.
More about Tolokazi Beer
Tolokazi celebrates Africa’s rich brewing heritage with a range of premium beers and ciders crafted by a passionate team of women.
More about Wild African Soul
Wild African Soul is inspired by South Africa’s diverse beer culture. Think of it as a modern rendition of traditional sorghum beer, Umqombothi. It blends European barrel-ageing techniques with African brewing methods of sour mashing and open, natural fermentations for a first of its kind ale. A batch of Umqombothi was blended with our mixed culture farmhouse ale. This finished blend was refermented and matured in a wine barrel. This beer is fascinating and unique. Flavours of cream pear, citrus & honey meld into a sticky barrel character, balanced by acidity and funky grain notes derived from the wild sorghum malt and spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts.