It’s been a momentous year for Eshowe-based brewer Richard Chennels, who made a daring foray into the UK brewing market and relocated his blossoming family to Hillcrest. Garth Johnstone caught up with him . . .
I met Richard a year or so ago at his hotel and brewery The George in Eshowe, Zululand . . . I’d been invited with a group of journalists to take part in one of the George’s legendary Golf and Beer weekends. There was some golf and a lot of beer . . . say no more.
But Richard and his wife Louella, along with their beautiful baby girl Rebecca, recently moved to the Plantations estate in Hillcrest, for both business and personal reasons.
“Louella’s thrilled to be here next to the folks (also at Plantations), and I also wanted to be here to help market my business,” says Richard.
With regular trips to and from Eshowe, he’s still “hands on” at the hotel, but is loving life in the Crest.
Richard’s other big news is that in April this year he was invited by the JD Wetherspoons pub group to brew his Zulu Blonde beer in the UK. With 800 pubs scattered around Great Britain, the group also hosts the biggest ale fest in the world.
Richard, his brother “Dodo” and father Graham jumped at the chance, and Richard brewed 120,000 pints of ale at the Marston’s Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent.
“The scale of the operation over there is insane, it’s like being on another beer planet,” says Richard. “When I brew at home, for example, I use 500 grams of yeast in a batch. Here they were using 350 kg. It was another ball game altogether. Burton-upon-Trent is the beer capital of the world. It’s also the home of the Marmite factory. They use all the spent yeast in the Marmite making process.”
Richard took his special Zulu Blonde recipe over to England and then worked with the brewmasters there to produce his ale. Out of 50 ales in the competition, Zulu Blonde was voted No. 1, and to put the cherry on the cake Richard was invited to brew another 120,000 pints of the ambrosial nectar at Everards Brewery in Leicester. This batch was ready in time for the Soccer World Cup and, like the first lot, went down the hatch in record time.
Richard is now planning to export his beer to the UK, as well as sell a bottled version of Zulu Blonde throughout KZN by the end of the year.
“Having my brother and dad over there was a real bonus, and we had quite a few adventures,” said Richard. Like when Graham – who’s a former Dusi Canoe Marathon winner and a former Natal rugby player – suggested they sample 100 beers in ten days. “We drank 100 beers in four days,” said Richard. “Drank, not tasted.” And then they got a chance to meet one of the last coopers (wooden barrel makers) still working in England.
A highlight of the trip for the Michaelhouse old boy was a trip to Brecon in Wales to visit the home of the fighting unit that made such a big contribution to the battles of Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana.
“There’s a memorial to David Rattray there, and Rattray’s sons also went to Michaelhouse. As a Zululander, it was a special moment paying tribute to Rattray – a Zululand legend – at Brecon.”
A proud Zululander Richard may be, but we’ve no doubt he’ll become a Highway man . . . faster than you can flirt with a Zulu Blonde.
Telephone: 031 767 5174
www.zulublonde.com