Franschhoek, South Africa – In an extraordinary run that has captured the attention of the African beer world, Soul Barrel Brewing has just been awarded Best Beer in Africa at the 2025 African Beer Cup — for the third time in the competition’s history, and second year in a row.
From their modest cellar in a historic winery outside of Franschhoek, Soul Barrel has quietly built a global reputation for brewing beer that’s innovative and deeply rooted in South African tradition.
Their latest champion, Wild African Soul, is a boundary-breaking collaboration with Johannesburg-based Tolokazi Beer, which blends a traditional sorghum umqombothi with a farmhouse ale, aged for two years in wine barrels. The result? A complex, soulful beer that beat out 259 entries from 14 countries to claim Africa’s top prize.
“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.”
Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, founder and brewmaster at Tolokazi Beer said: “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.
“We created a new category for Speciality African Beers 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. We want the African Beer Cup to be a competition that celebrates our wonderful continent. It was great to see a beer from this unique category taking the top spot in the competition this year.”
For a full list of the 2025 African Beer Cup winners, head to https://africanbeercup.com/2025-winners.