By Aileen Boshoff and Ronen Fogel

 

Honours students from Rhodes University’s Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC) travelled to Bloemfontein over the weekend to compete in the annual Intervarsitybrew: Brewing & Tasting Challenge hosted by Central University of Technology (CUT).  They walked away with the FoodBev SETA Best Label Floating Trophy for designing 2023’s winning beer label, beating 17 other entries in this category. 

The weekend began with presentations by all the teams drawn from tertiary institutions across the country. There was a cheerful atmosphere on the first day as teams got to know one another during a ‘meet-and-greet’ session. The second day began with seminars by experts in the brewing industry. While these took place, the beers and labels were being judged from each category. Saturday evening saw the presentations of the awards.

The RUBIC team won the award for their Hazy IPA, Inombe. Inombe is one of the terms for a cow in isiXhosa – their label drew on the strength, value, and dignity of these important animals. The team members have been brewing throughout the year in preparation for the competition. Team leader Yamnkela Manana was thrilled that the team won the award. 

This team is the first group of students to use the newly-established microbrewery housed in RUBIC. The facility was equipped using a donation made by South African Breweries (SAB) for the purposes of building a microbrewery at Rhodes University.

The award money won by the 2023 team will be used to further boost the brewing capabilities at Rhodes University. The team wishes to thank Dr Shelley Edwards (Zoology), Dr Fogel and Prof Boshoff for all their help with the brewing activities and label designs. Thanks also go to CUT for hosting the event this year, and the sponsors SAB, Heineken, FoodBev SETA, CBASA and Lallemand.