Luca’s craft beer recipe a true brew-print
Brew master, Luca Tooley, supplies cases of Zwakala beer to establishments in Tzaneen, Haenertsburg and Polokwane.
POLOKWANE – The Pot & Plow pub and famed pizza restaurant in Haenertsburg’s doors open mid-morning as brew master Luca Tooley (27) effortlessly carries in several 38 kg kegs of his own craft beer.
Luca supplies this establishment as well as the Iron Crown Pub and Bistro with craft beer on tap once a week. He cleans out the taps and installs new batches of his three Zwakala brands brewed on the Glen Dennis family farm on the Cheerio Road outside Haenertsburg.
Zwakala, meaning “come closer” in Sepedi, brews three handcrafted brews: Limpopo Lager, Mountain Weiss, and Naked Ale. Luca who studied a BA degree in development and environment at the University of Stellenbosch, says the brewery was a joint family idea and took two years to establish. The brewery, with high ceilings and huge windows and doors, lets in lots of light and was built out of recycled material obtained from disused homes in Pretoria and elsewhere.
The brewery equipment was manufactured in China and took Wen Feng from mainland China just over three weeks to install. Wen only spoke Mandarin and Luca says communication was through Google translate. Germany has the best brewery installations but the cost of importing was prohibitive.
Limpopo Lager is the favourite among the locals. Lager means ageing and Limpopo Lager is a difficult beer to brew as it takes six weeks to ferment to get its clarity and that fine crisp taste. The other two beers take between three and a half to four weeks to brew. Luca explains that the Chinese brew their beer fast as they want strong beer. He is more focused on quality than strength with his Zwakala brands.
Zwakala is one of the only breweries that does not filter its water. The mountain water, from the nearby Broederstroom, is possibly the purest water on the planet. The brewery, with five staffers, started operations the last weekend of May this year. Besides Haenertsburg, Luca also supplies cases of Zwakala beer to establishments in Tzaneen and Polokwane. His most recent customer is the Kruger National Park where he distributed 10 cases of each beer (720 bottles) to the five biggest camps.
The leaders in creating unheard of craft beers are the US and Belgium. Yeast is the main ingredient of beer and brewing is very scientific. Luca muses: “I love what I make. I know the taste, a skill one has to have as a brewer. Beer is an important part of our evolution”.
Everything within the brewery is sanitised because if the yeast gets infected it negatively affects the beer. Sanitation involves a three part clean that includes an acid wash to break down the minerals. When asked if he spits out the beer when tasting, he says: “I never do that. It makes me sad to spit it out as I don’t believe in wasting”.
The hops come from George in the Western Cape and Luca wants to eventually grow his own hops as well as produce another beer with local ingredients. He particularly fancies a sour beer. The brewery bar is in progress and Luca will hold a big opening day by end September or October. The brewery is open on weekends and public holidays from 11:00 to 17:00.
Besides the brewery, the family farm also has Mina’s which is popular for its quarterly food markets and music events. The farm offers self-catering farm cottages, fishing and plenty of activities for children.
Perhaps the single biggest deterrent has been the bad 5,5 km Cheerio dirt road. After two and a half years of broken down equipment, excuses, communication and aggravation with the Roads Department, grading of the road began this week.
