Two For Two

It happened again! Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager has been crowned the highest-rated ‘American Light Lager’ in Africa – for the second year in a row! And no, it’s not just us saying it. This prestigious title comes from 50 professional local and international judges at the 2025 African Beer Cup.

The African Beer Cup

Founded in 2019 by Lucy Corne and Shawn Duthie, the African Beer Cup is the largest beer competition on the continent. It celebrates the finest brews from both micro- and macro-breweries across Africa. Each year, a panel of carefully selected beer judges and industry experts bring their trained noses and palates to the table for two rigorous rounds of judging to find the continent’s best beers. And yes, Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager made the cut once again!

This win is no small feat. The competition is fierce. Sure, the brewing community is friendly, but when it comes to awards, we’re a competitive bunch, and we guard our brewing secrets closely. Winning at the African Beer Cup is a deeply prized honour, and we’re beyond proud to bring it home again.

The Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager

Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager was born out of a desire to offer something better in a sea of forgettable light lagers. With the rise of low- and no-alcohol beer options and an increasing focus on responsible drinking, we knew we had to deliver a beer that’s both light and full of flavour.

Crafting the Platinum wasn’t just about lowering the alcohol; it was about preserving character. We spent months refining the recipe and carefully balancing drinkability with complexity. The result? A beer that’s easy going but never boring. We experimented with different malt profiles, hop varieties, and fermentation profiles to get the flavour just right. And because we are a small, passionate team, every batch is brewed with the same love and attention to detail.

At just 3.5% ABV, the Platinum is the kind of beer you can enjoy all day long (trust us—we do). But don’t let the low alcohol content fool you: it doesn’t compromise on taste. With a clean malt/hop balance that leans slightly bitter, this beer is refreshing, crisp, and incredibly moreish. Expect low to medium malt sweetness, a subtle hoppy spice, and a brilliantly clear pale yellow colour. It pours with a persistent head that leaves delicate lacing on the glass with every sip. Moderate carbonation makes it an easy drinking beer that does not cause discomfort and leaves you wanting another one.

Tasting Notes at a Glance

ABV: 3.5%

Appearance: Pale yellow, brilliantly clear, persistent and fluffy white head with delicate lace

Aroma: Subtle malt and hop aroma, floral and light spice from the hops

Taste: Light malt sweetness, crisp bitterness, delicate hop spice

Mouthfeel: Moderately carbonated, smooth, refreshing

Finish: Clean, dry, and moreish!

Judging

Judging is based on the 2021 BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) guidelines – a globally recognised and comprehensive beer judging system. Beers are scored out of 50 and awarded gold, silver, or bronze based on their individual merit. That means some categories may not have a winner at all. The judging process also uses an Olympic-style scoring system, where the highest and lowest scores are removed, and the rest are averaged. This helps reduce bias and outliers, and ensures a fair and balanced outcome.

To further ensure fairness and to reduce bias or influence, every beer is scored by two different panels of judges. The scores are then compared and if there is a difference of more than 7 points, a third panel of judges is employed to re-evaluate the beer, and an overall average of the three scores is used to determine the final score. The African Beer Cup is uniquely thorough in this regard, as not many other beer competitions go to these lengths when evaluating their entries.

This year, our Platinum Light Lager scored silver in the ‘American Light Lager’ sub-category – and (importantly) no other beer scored higher. That makes us, unequivocally, the top-rated Light Lager in Africa once again. We won it last year. We’ve done it again. Yes, lightning really does strike twice!

What People Are Saying

“This beer is fantastic! I came here looking for the baking shop, but I got distracted by this beer and now it looks like Timmy isn’t going to get his birthday cake.”

~ Clive

“It’s a great brew. I need a case for the weekend, the family back home are going to love it!”

~ Nhlanhla ‘Lucky’ Dludla

“We had one goal when brewing the Platinum: to make a light lager that people looked forward to drinking. It’s certainly my favourite brew.”

~ Michael Biljon, Head brewer

We Beat WHO?!

It’s worth noting that the African Beer Cup is open to all commercial breweries, including macro-breweries – some of whom also picked up awards this year (well done to them!). While we don’t know exactly who we were up against in our category, we’re pretty sure there were some well-known household light lager brands in the mix. The fact that we came out on top? That’s got us buzzing with pride.

What’s next?

The next biggest competition on our radar is the South African National Beer Trophy (SANBT) which is expected to take place in October or November of this year. You can be sure that the Brewhogs team will be calibrating their refractometers and doing some serious quality control to make sure their beers are just right for the next competition.

Calling All Beer Nerd & Collectors

If you’re the kind of person who chases standout beer, make sure to tick this one off your list. A two-time top-rated Light Lager in Africa? You KNOW that’s something that you’ll want on your shelf, or in your fridge, AND definitely on your Instagram feed.

Finally, a massive shoutout to all the other breweries that took home awards this year. There are some truly fantastic beers coming out of Africa right now – and we encourage you to try them all… just make sure you start with the Brewhogs Platinum Light Lager. 😉

Get some!