Craft beer in Zambia:
Wild Dog and Rebel Beers
Craft beer in Zambia: Wild Dog and Rebel Beers
Have you ever thought about traveling to Zambia? Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered by Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and DR Congo. For international visitors, it’s best known for the mighty Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River, adventure & resort tourism in the town of Livingstone next to the falls, and several National Parks with abundant wildlife. Definitely a great country to explore, but can you find decent craft beer in Zambia?
Well yes, the new wave of craft beer has reached also Zambia, and especially in Lusaka, the capital city, it’s quite easy to find locally brewed beer from supermarkets and restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, there are not many artisan breweries yet and market is small, but still, you can quench your thirst with local artisan beer in different styles. Craft beer culture is still very young in Zambia, but we were impressed by the dedication of the brewers and the quality of Zambian craft beers. In this post we first discuss the beer culture of Zambia and then introduce two great microbreweries that we visited in Lusaka; Tieman Beer / Wild Dog and The Brewery at Ciêla / The Rebel Beer. These two actually are the only microbreweries in the country so far, but hopefully more will follow during the coming years!
Challenges in running a microbrewery in Zambia
What else then can make the life of a brewery-owner hard? Well in case of Zambia, at least the taxation. The super high excise duty on all the inputs of making craft beer, including raw materials, cans, labels, labor etc, makes brewing business very challenging. The costs of production are high, but at the same time it’s necessary to keep the product price as low as possible. So the struggle is real for the pioneers of craft brewing, and attitude, stubbornness, a touch of madness and love for craft is most definitely needed!
Tiemann Beer brews Wild Dog craft beers in Lusaka
Tiemann Beer is a Lusaka-based craft brewery that produces Wild Dog craft beers, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages. This small brewery is committed to making quality craft beer for the local market, using a lot of local ingredients. Tiemann Beer was the first microbrewery of Zambia, and has been a true pioneer in bringing craft beer in Zambian market.
Tiemann Beer is founded by Velten A. Tiemann and Wendy F. Tiemann. Velten, the head brewer, has over 30 years of experience in wine and beer industry, and after working with wine making in Australia and Germany he relocated to Zambia, where he is originally from, and opened an own brewery. Veltens wife Wendy is the Head of Operations and Logistics of the brewery, with over 20 years experience in beer and bottled water industry. Also part of the team is the brewer Imran Nganjo.
Wild Dog core beer series includes four tasty artisan beers; Lager with Zambian Barley and African hops, English-style Amber Ale with Zambian barley malt infused with caramelized imported specialty malts, Pale Ale with well-balanced bitterness and Shempa Ale, a stronger Ale that combines local malted barley, cassava and malted sorghum and is spiced with South African hops. In addition, there is a seasonal Wheat Beer called White Ale, brewed for the time of Oktoberfest.
In addition to craft beers, Tiemann Beer also produces ready-to-drink coctails; Wild Dog Copper Mule, that includes vodka and ginger, and Wild Dog Gin & Tonic. The non-alcoholic drinks include Soda Water and Tonic Water. The main market for Wild Dog beers and other drinks is in Lusaka, but there is also some distribution to elsewhere in Zambia. Tiemann Beer does not have an own taproom restaurant, but you can find their beers in 10 restaurants in Lusaka and from supermarkets (check a valid list from the Wild Dog webpage). The drinks are also sold in events like the Lusaka Food Markert, from the handsome moving bar built in a 1972 Land Rover.
The Brewery at Ciêla / Rebel Beer in Bonanza Estate
The Brewery at Ciêla, aka the Rebel Beer, is a microbrewery led by a long-term brewing & beer professional, master brewer Brad Dinner from South Africa. The brewery is located in Ciêla, a modern resort and golf course area also known as the Bonanza Estate, in the countryside a bit outside Lusaka. The brewery was founded in 2020, and brewing operations started in 2021. The brew house is right next to a large, beautiful taproom restaurant, that in addition to beers offers a tasty food menu from snacks to mains and resorts, and a wide selection of other drinks.
Brad first came to Zambia to support Velten with starting the operations of Tiemann Beer, and then stayed to work as a head brewer in the new Berwery at Ciêla. The craft beer culture in South Africa is way ahead the neighboring countries, and Brad was eager to help to develop the craft beer industry in Zambia towards something similar. Brad shares the view that bringing craft beer to a new market is a challenging task. In addition to the efforts to increase the awareness, there is also a lot of job to be done related to teaching how craft beers should be stored and served.
At the time of our visit there were six beers available in the The Brewery at Ciêla taproom restaurant; Light Lager, Pilsner, Premium Lager, Dark Lager, Spicy Blonde and Zapa, a Zambian Pale Ale. We liked all of them really, but our favorite was the Zapa Pale Ale, a very pleasant and balanced APA with a strong malt backbone, fruity aroma and just the perfect level of bitterness.
Rebel Beers are available on tap in The Brewery at Ciêla taproom restaurant and in several other restaurants, and in early 2024 a canning line has been installed and taken in use too, so by publishing this article, Rebel Beers should be available in cans too!
Due to the work of these two pioneer breweries, the popularity of artisan beer is slowly growing in Zambia, and more and more people start to appreciate different beer styles and more intense beers than the basic Lager – hopefully in a few years we’ll see more small breweries and a wide variety of Zambian artisan beers!
Tiemann Beer / Wild Dog
Mulopela, Lusaka
https://wild.find.co.zm/
https://www.instagram.com/wilddog_beer/
The Brewery at Ciêla / Rebel Beer
Bonanza Golf Course, Lusaka
https://cielaresort.com/eatanddrink/
https://www.instagram.com/thebreweryatciela/
About Craft Beer Nomads
Craft Beer Nomads is a blog about artisan beer, microbreweries and craft beer culture in Europe and beyond. The blog is written by FinnsAway, a nomad couple who has been on the road since 2017, and enjoys tasting new craft beers all around the world.
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