• He graduated as a teacher in 1977

• In 1979 he joined TBL as trainee technician

• He later became a senior brewer

• Since 2002 he is TBL’s brewer master

From teaching students to grooming brewers  By Alvar Mwakyusa  Mr Gaudence Joseph Mkolwe abandoned the teaching profession in 1979 to join the then state-owned Tanzania Breweries ltd (TBL) as a technician trainee. Now after thirty years of climbing the ladder he has become TBL group brew master.  He completed Bachelor of Science in Education at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in 1977 before he taught at Bagamoyo Secondary School in Coast Region for two years.  

 

He then joined TBL where he got on-job training between 1979 and 1980 at the company’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam. He later became a process supervisor, the position he served for about two years.  Mr Mkolwe gradually acquired the knack of brewing and was later promoted to the post of deputy senior brewer.  He went back to UDSM in 1985 for a two-year Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree course before he pursued a Post-Graduate Diploma at HerriotWAT University in Scotland between 1989 and 1992 to become a senior brewer. 

 

He was then transferred to the TBL's Arusha plant as a brewing manager after he returned from his further studies abroad. 

 

He worked at the Arusha plant for only a year before he was transfered to the Dar es Salaam-based plant to hold the same post in 1993.  He served in the post for almost a decade before he went on climbing the ladder to become the TBL’s group brew master in 2002.  He has since then been supervising other TBL brewers in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and the newly commissioned Mbeya plants.   Mr Mkolwe was in 2006 declared a Legend Brewer by the TBL parent firm, SABMiller, in recognition of his long service. 

His work includes ensuring the TBL's brands meet and maintain the required standards by looking at the brands' composition and formula and guiding his subordinates.  Mr Mkolwe is also involved in the creation and improvement of new brands. The former teacher has so far trained 12 brewers while other trainees are on the waiting list.  “A new brewer has to spend at least two years under my mentorship to master the process effectively,” Mr Mkolwe says, challenging upcoming brewers to adhere to ethics of the profession.

 

His latest creation at TBL is the Ndovu Special Malt, which scooped the Grand Gold Quality Award at the Monde Selection awards in Germany recently, hardly a year after it was introduced into the market. He is also the brainchild of the TBL's Balimi and Eagle Dark products.  Mr Mkolwe played a significant role in the improvement of Kilimanjaro larger and he is currently engaged in the formulation of new brands.  “I am very proud of my work. None of the brands I formulated has been rejected,” he boasts.

 

 While barley is a major ingredient in the brewing process, maize and sorghum are used for producing starch that later turns into natural sugar, which is an essential ingredient for the fermentation process.    Sour grain-like particles of hops give beer the vinegary taste and aroma, making them also an essential ingredients in the brewing process.  Qualified beer tasters sample all processed and packed beers before the products are distributed into the market to ensure boozers get value for their monies.  Ends