Hey Bartowelers!
Wondering if anyone has some good beer reccommendations in East Africa (besides Tusker or Castle of course!), as I will be there next month.
I did a search on Rate Beer and saw a number of decent ranked stouts and beers...so I know there must be some choices over there! Anyhow...
Going to be on safari in November and December. Some stops to possibly grab some decent brews include Nairobi, Kenya; Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania; Lilongwe in Malawi; Lusaka and Vic falls in Zambia; Joburg in South Africa.
I always look for places that might have some local glassware, as a souvenir, and also like to grab a couple bottles from everywhere I go, to bring back home.
Does anyone have some suggestions about spots to stop in the any of the above places, where some good beer and glassware might be picked up?
Cheers!
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Good beers in Africa?
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El Pinguino
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El Pinguino
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dhurtubise
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I was in Kenya and Tanzania three summers ago. You will have some difficulty finding good beer there (in the remarkable sence) but you will be able to try a myriad of different international lagers that will vary quite a bit in the finish.
The lagers are generally fine and at least usually better than the cheapened crap the macros make here (I think they use more malt) but they definitely won't blow your mind.
The best lagers are brewed in the countries which were once colonized by the germans (Namibia for example) - look for these. They are still mostly brewed by the german law of purity. Windhoek for example was a very fine surprise for me while travelling.
If you go on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater, I recommend you go to the three star lodge rather than the five star (Serena). Not only was it more fun (good entertainment - more sociable clientel, better lookout on game etc. etc.... and cheaper but the beer selection was about as good as I saw it anywhere in East Africa. I recall drinking weisbier (Frankensteiner) and a host of other german gems there.
As Jer. said, Guinness Extra Stout is available pretty much everywhere and usually below a buck. Problem is that you won't always feel like drinking it due to the extremely hot weather you will most certainly encounter - especially in Dar Es Salam.
If you want to climb one of the East African peaks, I suggest you try Mt. Kenya as oposed to Mt. Kilimanjaro. My wife and I had the entire National park to ourselves, pretty much the same scenery (maybe even a litle better since the peak is much more dramatic. It is only a couple thousand feet less than Kili. (and therefore a little less problematic in terms of altitude associated problems)...
The lagers are generally fine and at least usually better than the cheapened crap the macros make here (I think they use more malt) but they definitely won't blow your mind.
The best lagers are brewed in the countries which were once colonized by the germans (Namibia for example) - look for these. They are still mostly brewed by the german law of purity. Windhoek for example was a very fine surprise for me while travelling.
If you go on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater, I recommend you go to the three star lodge rather than the five star (Serena). Not only was it more fun (good entertainment - more sociable clientel, better lookout on game etc. etc.... and cheaper but the beer selection was about as good as I saw it anywhere in East Africa. I recall drinking weisbier (Frankensteiner) and a host of other german gems there.
As Jer. said, Guinness Extra Stout is available pretty much everywhere and usually below a buck. Problem is that you won't always feel like drinking it due to the extremely hot weather you will most certainly encounter - especially in Dar Es Salam.
If you want to climb one of the East African peaks, I suggest you try Mt. Kenya as oposed to Mt. Kilimanjaro. My wife and I had the entire National park to ourselves, pretty much the same scenery (maybe even a litle better since the peak is much more dramatic. It is only a couple thousand feet less than Kili. (and therefore a little less problematic in terms of altitude associated problems)...
Resurrecting an ancient thread as I am fortunate enough to be going on a vacation after Christmas to Kenya, which will include stops in Nairobi, Maasai Mara and Mombasa.
It's obviously not a beer focused trip, but anyone have any insights about interesting beer to look out for?
It's obviously not a beer focused trip, but anyone have any insights about interesting beer to look out for?
When my wife visited Kenya in 2023 she brought back a bottle of Sand Trap, brewed by 254 Brewing. She found it in a grocery store.
I thought it was a perfectly acceptable old school-ish AMerican IPA. I wished she had bought more than just the one.
I thought it was a perfectly acceptable old school-ish AMerican IPA. I wished she had bought more than just the one.
Thank you! I couldn't find any local breweries from some quick Google map searching, but this is great! Hopefully I'll be able to find them.
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El Pinguino
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Congrats on a Africa trip!
Kenya now has pretty good options for craft beer. 254 Brewing was mentioned already. The other big craft brewer I'd suggest is Bila Shaka.
If you have a bit of free time, just Uber it to a taproom, or head to a Naivas (the biggest grocery store chain in Kenya). They'll have a handful of local options, and are generally in safe areas, perhaps gated with security - https://naivas.online/beer/craft-beer
You can also get beer delivered from places like Drinks Vine https://drinksvine.co.ke/beers and
Have fun...don't forget to drink some Tusker, I'm sad we haven't bene able to get it here for so many years!
Kenya now has pretty good options for craft beer. 254 Brewing was mentioned already. The other big craft brewer I'd suggest is Bila Shaka.
If you have a bit of free time, just Uber it to a taproom, or head to a Naivas (the biggest grocery store chain in Kenya). They'll have a handful of local options, and are generally in safe areas, perhaps gated with security - https://naivas.online/beer/craft-beer
You can also get beer delivered from places like Drinks Vine https://drinksvine.co.ke/beers and
Have fun...don't forget to drink some Tusker, I'm sad we haven't bene able to get it here for so many years!
Thanks for the tip on Bila Shaka!
I believe we will have a bit of time in Mombasa so will try and find some of the local beers there. I'm sure there will be a lot of Tusker the rest of the time!
I believe we will have a bit of time in Mombasa so will try and find some of the local beers there. I'm sure there will be a lot of Tusker the rest of the time!
I am sure I am not the only one looking forward to a full report on your return.
Back from the great Kenya adventure, and what an adventure it was! We did 2 nights in Nairobi (Karen Blixen Cottages), 2 nights in Amboselli NP (Tawi Lodge), 3 nights in Maasai Mara NP (Emboo Camp) and 2 nights in Diani Beach (Maji Hotel) which is down the coast from Mombasa.
The safari stuff was absolutely incredible - I really didn't expect to see the sheer amount of animals around, from lions, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, hyenas, hippos, etc. etc. It's really quite something. A truly memorable time and unique experience.
Suffice it to say that it was not a beer-focused trip, but I'll summarize the beer scene as Tusker, Tusker and more Tusker. It's absolutely ubiquitous and is served everywhere. It's completely fine, but it's your standard national lager that every country has. I had it a lot and although not much in the way of flavour it was generally always fresh as everyone serves a lot of it.
Besides Tusker (4.2%) many places serve their offshoots, which include WhiteCap, Tusker Malt (an all-malt edition, slightly stronger at 5.0%) and Pilsner (4.7%). They're basically all the same - I made the Simpsons Duff-Duff Dry-Duff Lite joke a number of times.
We had a fairly rigid itinerary so didn't really get much of a chance to explore outside of our plans. We did have lunch at one restaurant in Nairobi (Cultiva Farm) that had 254 Session IPA and Hopsmith Nyatipa IPA. I tried them both and they were ok, but not really what we're used to out of an IPA.
Where I was in Kenya in Nairobi and Mombasa weren't your typical urban areas, so there really wasn't much around and couldn't get to any grocery stores to see if they had any expanded selection. And I couldn't find anything on Google Maps that remotely looked like pubs or beer-focused places so stayed at the hotel bars - which were all nice, comfortable and friendly.
I had high hopes at Emboo Camp at Maasai Mara, which touted itself as a "modern take" on the safari camp experience and listed three 254 beers on their menu, including a Belgian tripel. But alas when I asked they had none of them, just Tusker and their variants. I'm sure the folks trying to make local craft beer a go in Kenya are giving it a shot, but it seems like an uphill battle. Hopefully the locals will start to demand better beer (no offence to Tusker, but it would have been nice for something else). The staff I spoke to generally didn't have much knowledge of beer outside of the Tusker brands, and really weren't able to describe any differences to me.
The moral of the story is don't go for the beer! But Kenya was an incredible place and was my first safari & trip to Africa. Learned a lot about the culture, had lots of interesting food (don't miss Carnivore in Nairobi!) and all the animals and scenery are unforgettable.
The safari stuff was absolutely incredible - I really didn't expect to see the sheer amount of animals around, from lions, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, hyenas, hippos, etc. etc. It's really quite something. A truly memorable time and unique experience.
Suffice it to say that it was not a beer-focused trip, but I'll summarize the beer scene as Tusker, Tusker and more Tusker. It's absolutely ubiquitous and is served everywhere. It's completely fine, but it's your standard national lager that every country has. I had it a lot and although not much in the way of flavour it was generally always fresh as everyone serves a lot of it.
Besides Tusker (4.2%) many places serve their offshoots, which include WhiteCap, Tusker Malt (an all-malt edition, slightly stronger at 5.0%) and Pilsner (4.7%). They're basically all the same - I made the Simpsons Duff-Duff Dry-Duff Lite joke a number of times.
We had a fairly rigid itinerary so didn't really get much of a chance to explore outside of our plans. We did have lunch at one restaurant in Nairobi (Cultiva Farm) that had 254 Session IPA and Hopsmith Nyatipa IPA. I tried them both and they were ok, but not really what we're used to out of an IPA.
Where I was in Kenya in Nairobi and Mombasa weren't your typical urban areas, so there really wasn't much around and couldn't get to any grocery stores to see if they had any expanded selection. And I couldn't find anything on Google Maps that remotely looked like pubs or beer-focused places so stayed at the hotel bars - which were all nice, comfortable and friendly.
I had high hopes at Emboo Camp at Maasai Mara, which touted itself as a "modern take" on the safari camp experience and listed three 254 beers on their menu, including a Belgian tripel. But alas when I asked they had none of them, just Tusker and their variants. I'm sure the folks trying to make local craft beer a go in Kenya are giving it a shot, but it seems like an uphill battle. Hopefully the locals will start to demand better beer (no offence to Tusker, but it would have been nice for something else). The staff I spoke to generally didn't have much knowledge of beer outside of the Tusker brands, and really weren't able to describe any differences to me.
The moral of the story is don't go for the beer! But Kenya was an incredible place and was my first safari & trip to Africa. Learned a lot about the culture, had lots of interesting food (don't miss Carnivore in Nairobi!) and all the animals and scenery are unforgettable.
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S. St. Jeb
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Thank you @S. St. Jeb! It was soooo cool to see all those animals up close.