Forging a Path for Craft Brewing in Kenya

by Davina Leonard, Creative Manager, Bateleur Brewery

Bateleur Brewery does things differently. You will already know this if you have tasted one of their seven bottled beers currently available in supermarkets - or the further 10 draft beers at Sina Shaka Tap Room: no stabilisers, no animal derivatives and no shying away from using unique ingredients: adjuncts such as Arabica coffee, mango pulp, coriander or orange peel add complexity and balance to their traditional and new age brews, and if that wasn’t enough they also use multiple hop varieties (some of their beers use 5!) in both traditional and dry hopping methods. The brain behind these concoctions is Head Brewer Lidka Stepien, a Master of Chemistry with a specialisation in enzymes. At the same time that Lidka was becoming frustrated with the lack of creative expression in writing Chemistry papers, she tasted her first Baltic Porter beer, and that, luckily for Kenya’s Bateleur Brewery, is what propelled her to become a brewer.

LIDKA: “I’d always been drinking lagers, but when I tasted that porter I thought ‘How can a beer taste like chocolate!?’ I was hooked so I bought books and equipment. I brewed my first brew of 20 litres at home - it was an American bitter and it tasted like actual beer! I gave it to my friends and family and they loved it. The first time with everything is always difficult but it got easier. Then I got deeper into it - contacting other homebrewers, researching, experimenting. I knew I wanted to make it my profession. You discover things in Chemistry but you can’t drink your discoveries! It was so cool. In brewing, you have a product that you have made yourself and you can enjoy it and give it to other people to enjoy.”

And people are enjoying her recipes - Lidka’s favourite Bateleur beer, the Fruit Fly Mango IPA, recently won Silver Medal at this year’s African Beer Cup in South Africa.

LIDKA: “I decided to use raw mango pulp in that IPA because of the good quality mangoes we are lucky enough to have in Kenya. This coupled with aromatic hops is what makes the Fruit Fly so special.”

Bateleur Brewery started selling their beers just over a year ago and are intent on introducing Kenya to all of the exciting alternatives in the beer world.

LIDKA: “Kenya is currently a lager dominated country. But I am seeing that people are becoming more interested in different flavours and styles - I mean, there are so many out there! That’s actually my favourite part of my job - watching people order a glass of beer you made yourself, enjoy it, and then order another. We are training our team to be the best. And that means being extremely hygienic. Another unique thing about Bateleur Brewery is that we don’t pasteurise our beers because we want everything as natural and authentic as possible in our beers, but that puts more pressure on me and my team to be extra conscious and precise (even a handful of air can spoil a whole tank of beer!) Brewing involves a lot of cleaning! People think brewing is such a cool job - like all you do is make beer, drink beer and go to festivals! But actually there’s so much cleaning! It’s hard work!”

Having taken her Masters in Chemistry in a unique and interesting direction, Lidka continues to make unique and interesting directions in her career at Bateleur Brewery.

LIDKA: “If you’re interested in something, you will explore it, just the way I did. So taste as much as you can, read as much as you can and always explore!”