North East Beer Review

For the 2nd week of Sustainable Sunday, I am performing a review and sustainable of brewery I am now quite familiar with called Beyond Belief Brewing, who are famous for their pasta beers. However, for this brew they teamed up with a brewery in Ghana called Tale which utilises surplus rice instead of pasta. Firstly, If you haven’t read last week’s Sustainable Sunday I would appreciate it if you could check it. The brew in question is called Kofi which is branded as an African Pale Ale. So what did I think? For this review I will cover the history of this beer and brewers, the pour, the flavour profile and finally my verdict.

Sustainable practices which stretch to Ghana

Beyond Belief Brewing Co (BBB) was founded by Freddie Ugo who is the great-grandson of Luigi Ugo whose family ran a London based pasta deli in the 1920’s. Freddie aimed to repurpose surplus pasta ,which ranges from misshapen spaghetti to offcuts, into beer.

After starting with homebrew experiments and overcoming technical challenges such as like pasta coagulating and clogging equipment, the brewery received an Innovate UK grant (~£350,000), enabling them to develop a facility in Hertfordshire and patent their method, which replaces up to 50% of base malt with surplus pasta/dough. Their process also saves up to 1.35 litres of water for every litre of beer brewed. Their brews are often found in the likes of Zizzi, Sainsburys and Waitrose with Zenith appearing to be their most popular.

Tale Brewery is an independent Ghanaian craft brewery founded by Belgian entrepreneurs Koen De Grave and Kristof Henot, who both developed strong personal and business ties to Ghana over many years. The brewery was created with the aim of blending traditional Belgian brewing knowledge with local African ingredients and flavours.

The idea for Tale Brewery began more than a decade before launch, when Koen purchased land in Nsawam, north of Accra, on a former mango plantation. The project was temporarily delayed due to economic conditions in Ghana, but development resumed in 2020 when the founders began refining recipes in Belgium and building the Tale brand.

Tale officially launched in Ghana in 2022 under Specialty Beers Ghana Limited (SBL). The brewery was developed using advanced Belgian and Italian brewing equipment, making it one of the more technically sophisticated independent breweries in West Africa.

Each beer takes inspiration from classic Belgian beer styles while incorporating distinctly African ingredients and flavours.

Tale quickly gained international attention after winning multiple medals at the African Beer Cup in 2023, becoming the first Ghanaian craft brewery to achieve that recognition. Their Farmhouse Ale won gold, while the Ginger Triple and Cocoa Stout also received awards.

Kofi is a 5.3% African Pale Ale which was developed by Beyond Belief Brewing and brewed in Ghana. According to BBB, Kofi is brewed with the most surplus ingredients out of all their lineup. Kofi utilises surplus broken rice, surplus mango and grains sourced from the region within Ghana. It is hopped with African Queen, Citra, Mosaic and Hibiscus. All of this to create a tropical and floral flavour. In Akan culture, Kofi is the name given to boys born on a Friday.

A smooth and amber pour

Kofi pours an orange to amber colour which has a slight haze to it. The appearance is that of a west coast pale ale. The brew forms a foamy white head which lingers to form a thin cap around the top of the drink. Furthermore, Kofi left a fine lacing ring down the glass. The carbonation appears lively however is actually quite smooth. Overall, the presentation the style of beer, vibrant, lively and fruity.

A vibrant mango flavour profile

Aroma

This aroma opens with a bright and tropical nature, especially the likes of mango and touch of a pineapple. This is followed by a citrus note which accompanies the fruity nature. A floral edge is also observed alongside a delicate malt base which balances the aroma out. Overall, the aroma of Kofi is fresh and presents to expected fruity archetype for fruit forward pale ale.

Taste

When it comes to taste, Kofi delivers a smooth and juicy mango profile which is followed by a tropical and citrus flavour, think maybe passionfruit, peach, lemon and touch of grapefruit. The mango character gives this an extra level of freshness and an accompanies the tartiness well. This is followed by an earthy flavour alongside a smooth and bready malt bill. The finish is crisp and leaves a fruity taste which lingers inviting for another sip. The mouthfeel is smooth and soft. Overall, Kofi drinks like a juicy west coast style pale. The mango flavour dominates due to the surplus fruit however this is fresh, refreshing and tasty.

Time for my verdict

Overall, this is Beyond Belief Brewing’s most sustainable brew yet and this done using broken rice and mango. This is also particularly interesting as it also gives you an insight into Ghanaian brewing culture. I am a big fan of mango infused ales such as Laine Brew Co Mangolicious. Kofi is better in my opinion as it offers more depth of flavour whilst knowing you are making a difference. To conclude I rate this a solid 4.5 out of 5.

Where did I purchase this beer?

I bought this directly from the Beyond Belief Brewing webstore.

Thanks for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review you will love my review of Beyond Belief Brewing Fancy That!