Zulu Blonde soon on British lips

Johannesburg – The Happy George bar’s Zulu Blonde is on its way to the UK.

The golden brew, with its slight aroma of honey, was for years available only as a draught beer at this pub in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Eshowe.

An agreement was recently concluded with the JD Wetherspoon British pub chain to make the beer available to 900 of its UK pubs. It will be brewed in Edinburgh.

Zulu Blonde is the handiwork of its owner and master brewer Richard Chennells. In 1997 the Chennells family established the Zululand Brewing Co which can brew a maximum of 3 000 litres a month.

“Because our brewery is so small, we sometimes brew up to four times a day so as to fill two 150-litre fermentation tanks,” said the family.

In 2010, at JD Wetherspoon International’s beer fest, Zulu Blonde made its overseas debut.

Zulu Blonde was nominated the best of 50 and sold out within the first week of the three-week long festival.

The beer has a mainly malt flavour and is less fruity than the norm, with a slight honey aroma and subtle underlying bitterness, said JD Wetherspoon.

At this year’s beer fest, which began on March 14 and lasts to April 1, Zulu Blonde is only one of five international British ales that will be available.

The others are Imperial Russian Stout (from the Burov Brewery in Russia), Murrikan Mild (from Smuttynose in America), Bitter (Nogne O in Norway) and Pale Ale (John Martin’s in Belgium).

The Zululand brewery’s other beers include the Chelmsford Porter, the Bull Horn Bitter, the Jantoni Pale Ale and the Ultimatum Pilsner.

 - Sake24

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