27 Jul 2022

‘The world is your oyster’ they say, words that got Ms One Kgosibodiba to try her luck in the assistant brewer’s job at Okavango Craft Brewery in Maun.

A qualified chef, 29 year-old Ms Kgosibodiba was at the time, employed by one of the restaurants in Gaborone, and her lucky stars shined bright the day she received a call that changed her life forever.

“Congratulations, you got the assistant brewer job,” Okavango Craft Brewery director said on the other side.

Expeditiously, she packed her bags and was on the NKK bus from Gaborone to Botswana’s number one tourist destination, to start a new chapter at the brewery.

Four months on, the Mahalapye native is just as happy as she was, the day she set foot at her new job and is learning brewing techniques that involve soaking and roasting millet grains, cooking up mash, boiling hops, fermentation and eventually canning and packaging.

A go getter, Ms Kgosibodiba embraced her new role as a brewer and continue to decorate her resume.

The young brewer highlights that after graduating from a culinary school in Garankuwa, South Africa she landed a job at a café in Johannesburg and Southern Sun Montecasino Hotel.

She adds that she has amassed substantive experience from Botswana Safari Tours and wildlife Camps having worked for Wilderness Safari and Abu Camp as a chef.

To her, brewing is a form of cooking that involves preparation of ingredients and following the brewing process precisely to achieve a beer that stands out.

She states that beer making requires precision because one step missed, messes up everything.

That however, she says does not strip the craft of the pleasure that comes with making beer, the liberty to play with recipes in order to achieve a certain colour or aroma.

Having landed in a distinct industry in Botswana, Ms Kgosibodiba treasures the opportunity accorded to her by Okavango Brewery and adds, “the past four months working here has opened my mind because I am learning while at the same time I get to live my dream.’’

Albeit being a newcomer in the beer making industry, Ms Kgosibodiba reveals that her employer allows her to go an extra mile, to unlock her full potential which led to her developing a milk stout with special ingredients.

“I thought I would make a beer that is in the middle with the same components but not as strong as the other beer, it’s an equivalent of an espresso but with alcohol content,’’ stated Ms Kgosibodiba.

Armed with 10 years of experience, the chef turned brewer does not rule out the possibility of owning a restaurant someday, and why not? She possesses cooking and brewing skills after all.

Ms Kgosibodiba states that she takes pleasure in knowing that Okavango Craft Brewery gives back to the community by buying millet from small scale farmers in the Panhandle villages at a much higher price thus enabling them to continue practicing human/wildlife conflict mitigations. ENDS