Final Note on the VLB Africa Brewing Conference 2025 in South Africa
Final Note on the VLB Africa Brewing Conference 2025 in South Africa

On behalf of the VLB team on-site, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all 130 participants who joined us from June 2-4, 2025, in Johannesburg for the 5th African Brewing Conference. We received fantastic feedback, and for us, it was a true pleasure to connect with our colleagues from the brewing industry in South Africa. One thing is certain: we’ll stay in touch!

In addition to current market assessments, the conference programme focused on brewing technology topics, including raw materials such as brewing grains, water, and hops, yeast and fermentation technology,, sustainability, and modern filling and packaging solutions. The supporting programme included tours of the Alrode Brewery (AB InBev) and the Sedibeng Brewery (Heineken), which offered exciting insights into two of South Africa's largest breweries. The discussion-oriented audience and a convivial evening at Gilroy’s Pub Brewery rounded off the VLB Africa Brewing Conference 2025.

Special thanks go out to all our brilliant speakers for their inspiring presentations, especially our esteemed guest lecturers: Charlene Louw (Beer Association of South Africa, BASA), Christopher Day (Euromonitor International), Surinder Singh (Carlsberg New Technologies), Phumlani Zwane (Heineken South Africa), and Petr Vesely (AB InBev).

We also extend our sincere gratitude to our sponsors and exhibitors. A special shout-out to our Platinum Sponsor Ziemann Holvrieka and our Gold Sponsors Pall, KHS, and Steinecker. Many thanks also to Fermentis, Alfa Laval, Hopsteiner, Bucher Denwel, Siemens, Pure Malt, and corosys/M&L Consulting.

And last but not least, a big thank you to AB InBev South Africa and Heineken South Africa for opening the doors of the Alrode Brewery (ABI) and the Sedibeng Brewery (Heineken) for the well-organized technical tours and for sharing their excellent beers with us at the convention hotel!

Impressions and memories of the Africa Brewing Conference are captured in this video.

We’re already looking forward to the next VLB Africa Brewing Conference in 2027. 

A few impressions from the 5th African Brewing Conference