How Founders Of First 15 Brewhouse Became Passionate About Craft Beer
How Founders Of First 15 Brewhouse Became Passionate About Craft Beer. The First 15 Brewhouse has its roots in a long standing friendship between the company’s directors; Phumlani Khulu and Kgotso Mokhatle. The name “First 15 Brewhouse” combines their schooling and sporting memories / experiences. It speaks to what they are passionate about.
The story goes; while attending an English medium high school in a predominately Afrikaans town. Every other rugby playing school had the words “eerste vyftien” inscribed on their first team rugby team jerseys. Of course, theirs being an English medium school, they had “First fifteen” on their jerseys. The name (First 15 Brewhouse) resonates well with the values and ethos of the company, that of: hard work, teamwork, dedication while also still having fun with your friends. The idea of owning their very own brewery was conceived when they visited a beer yard once, where they ordered some craft beer. It just so happens that they ordered a beer brand which was owned and brewed by one of their colleague’s sister. That lead to deeper conversations about beer in general and the type of lifestyle one would live when making their own beer etc.
This is where their love of craft beer was born and then they started researching as much as they could about the South African craft beer industry specifically. They read as much as they could, met as many people in the industry they could. Attended as many beer festivals and spoke to the industry players. In the meantime, they began brewing and started experimenting on their own beer recipes. As luck would have it, people loved the bold new tastes. They broke the mold and created new exciting tastes. They made flavours never seen before in the market, but also not moving too far away from that “beerie” taste. The final product still had to taste like a beer, but also tantalise and intrigue the taste buds.
The brewery is based in Newtown Johannesburg. Newtown is trendy up and coming suburb and the perfect location for a company with a culture of creation and strong business ethos. Careful research has brought First 15 Brewhouse to this location to being the heart of where its current and future target market will be. Every discretion has been used in finding the best equipment and décor.
