Tasting

What does Umqombothi taste like? On the first sip, tart, thick, and slightly grainy, like a thin, sour porridge, only cool and fresh. It's cloudy, beige to light brown in color, and has a pronounced fermented aroma. Anyone used to clear beers will need a few sips before the acidity and body settle into place. Alcohol strength, according to various sources, is moderate at around 3 to 4 percent.

It's traditionally drunk communally. The pot gets passed around, or it's ladled into bowls and cups to be shared. Chibuku, by contrast, comes in a carton that you shake and then open. Both are communal beers, not tasting beers, and belong to an occasion rather than a lineup of samples.

With the lagers, it's more straightforward. Castle Lager tastes malty and smooth and is drunk cold, from the bottle or on draft, at around four to seven degrees Celsius. A dark Milk Stout tastes softer, sweeter, and rounder, with roasted notes and little hop bitterness.

In Soweto, it's worth making the trip to the Soweto Brewing Company in Orlando West, near Vilakazi Street. There you'll find Soweto Gold, a pale lager, the Orlando Stout, and Gogo's Ginger, named after a shebeen queen from 1950s Sophiatown. According to the brewery, this is their way of honoring the people of the neighborhood.

In Kyalami, Brewhogs brews classic beers without additives, as the brewery describes it. The SAB World of Beer in Newtown, which once showcased the history of beer, closed in September 2019.

The vessel is whatever's at hand: bottle, mug, or cup. There's no fixed glass shape here the way there is for a Kölsch, and that suits the region perfectly: you drink whatever fits the occasion.